The company is currently working with "several firms" that will use its technology to complete online loans for commercial real estate, says DocuTouch spokeswoman Katherine Ord. To make sure it's on the right track, the company has on its board of directors Kurt Johnson, the Seattle-area president of Trammel Crow Co. "He's helping us understand the commercial real estate marketplace," says Ord.

DocuTouch provides for secure, online business-to-business transactions using legally binding digital signature services. The company has some 700 users in vertical markets including real estate, mortgage, finance, insurance and in corporate procurement arenas. The timing is good. Congress recently passed - and President Clinton signed - a law with respect to digital signatures. The law requires user consent, permanency, privacy, audit trails and digital authentication when using digital signatures to create online contracts -- a process DocuTouch has had in place since last year.