These best practices are from a White Paper on Video Signing Room drafted by McCarthy Tetrault. The full White Paper is available by writing sales@syngafii.com.
Procedures for Prudent Remote Witnessing- The technological measures noted above for a PRW system should be accompanied by the following procedures for PRW so that the remote witnessing process serves as the functional equivalent of the measures traditionally used in an in-person witnessing:
(a) Standard Technology – the web-based technology used for the PRW system should be standard product offerings that are easy to use (i.e., widely accepted web browsers);
(b) Scan of the Room – at the commencement of the remote witnessing, the witness or host would have the signer scan the room around the signer with their laptop or pc camera to indicate there is no one else present – or if there is someone else in the room, that person’s identity would be noted, and possibly they would be asked to leave the room (just as is the best practice when giving spousal independent legal advice – the interested spouse is asked to step outside); and
(c) Opportunity for Questions – the same questions that a witness might ask in an in-person witnessing could be asked in a remote witnessing; the conversation could elicit whether there are any language barriers that need to be addressed, or whether there are any other special circumstances that need to be addressed (again, essentially the same issue needs to be addressed in an in-person witnessing as in a remote witnessing).
For additional insights on using iinked Sign and Video Signing please see:
https://syngrafii.com/news/art-of-virtual-meetings/
Syngrafii advises that the platform operator confirm that the quality of the Video Signing Room video feed during the session with respect to lighting, visuals of the signer, and voice and facial recognition requirements meet the compliance standards set by the operator and the participants in the session. The recorded copy should also be reviewed.