A new authentication technology is emerging as a potential aid in corporate efforts to establish e-mail verification processes.

Similar to its paper-based counterpart, registered e-mail provides certification that a message was sent and received. It also certifies who sent the message and when.

When the option is activated, a self-contained receipt is electronically delivered to the sender, said Zafar Khan, CEO of Los Angeles-based RPost Inc., a maker of the technology.

San Diego-based Quality Assurance International Inc. has used the RPost software for more than two years to ensure compliance with U.S. Department of Agriculture standards, said Hector Flores, an IT administrator at the company.

Quality Assurance, whose clients include restaurants, food producers and retailers, certifies that organic food meets federal standards.

“It minimizes our need to resort to legal counsel,” said Flores. “In a few cases, we’ve had clients question us about receiving communications. When we ask them if they want to see a record, they get back to us shortly and say they found the e-mail.”

Flores said that 90% of Quality Assurance’s e-mail documents travel through the RPost system. Next month, RPost will unveil a new managed service called Transactional Email Archival.

Brian Babineau, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, said the software’s upside may be limited because the sender still ultimately decides whether to activate the registered format.

“I may be in a questionable conversation, so there’s an unlikely chance I’ll use that in registered verification,” said Babineau. “If people wanted do mess around and do bad things, technology may not stop them.”