Introduction

Esign Documents is the module through which you can send documents to your customers or vendors for signatures and track the updates. 

Wondering how is that possible? Well, all thanks to DocuSign’s integration with Vtiger.

DocuSign and Esign documents work in tandem, and hence your business will become digital. This will enable you to accelerate your sales cycle and close more deals faster without any hassles.

Using the Esign Documents module with DocuSign, you can:

• Send PDF files (internal, uploaded, or generated by Print Templates) to Leads, Contacts, Organizations, Vendors, etc.
• Get documents signed electronically.
• Track transactions and update the transaction status automatically. 
• Attach documents to the Esign record.

To know more about DocuSign’s integration with Vtiger, click here.

Benefits of Esign Documents

Using Esign Documents will,

• Reduce all the manual back and forth that you have to do to get a document fixed.
• Help you make the most of your time by getting the documents signed by more than one signee with just a click. 
• Reduce paper wastage as everything is done electronically.
• The Recipient Email field is masked for Esign documents (records) created by admins.

Feature Availability

Installation

If you are searching in the product and wondering where the Esign Documents module is- here is your answer.

Esign Documents module in Vtiger is not available by default. To enable this module, you must download the Esign extension from the Extension Store.

 

Follow these steps to install the Esign extension:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the User Menu on the top right corner of the screen.
3. Click Settings.
4. Go to Extensions.
5. Click Extension Store.
6. Install the Esign extension.
7. Click Launch to open the Esign Documents module.

But the process does not end here… you must complete a few prerequisite steps. 

Prerequisites

Are you eager to send your documents to signees for their signatures? 
Then you have to make sure you have these two mandatory prerequisites configured: 

1. Creating a DocuSign account

You must first create an account with DocuSign before integrating it with Esign Documents in Vtiger. 
To learn how to create a DocuSign account, click here.

2. Configuring DocuSign account in Esign Documents

After you create an account with DocuSign, enter your credentials and configure your DocuSign account in Vtiger’s Esign Documents. This will enable you to send the documents to your signees for signatures.
In the next section, you will learn about configuring the DocuSign account in Esign Documents.

Don’t give up on us already! Continue reading… :)

Configuration

If you have installed the Esign extension, you can now access the Esign Documents module. But as mentioned in the previous section, it is necessary for every user to create a DocuSign account and configure the credentials in the product.

Let us now learn how to configure the DocuSign Account in Vtiger.

Follow these steps finish the configuration:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials.
4. Select Esign Documents.
5. In the List View, click Configure Service on the top right.
6. Enter your DocuSign credentials. 
7. Click Authenticate.

You are now ready to send your first Esign document to your signee.

Creating an Esign Document

Once you have configured your DocuSign details in the product, you can create an Esign Document from the List View.

Follow these steps to create an Esign Document:

Step 1: Go to the Esign Documents module

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials.
4. Select Esign Documents.
5. In the List View, click +Add Esign Document.

Step 2: Enter the mandatory details

6. Select the Signee, the person who must sign the document.

1. Select Contacts, Organizations, Vendors, Leads, or Users from the drop-down.
2. Select a record or add a new one.
3. The Email Address field will be automatically filled based on the email address present in the record.

7. Select the document that must be sent to the signee for signature. You have three options to do so:

8. Enter the Email Subject of the email.
9. In the Email Note field, enter other messages or information about the email.

Step 3: Send the document for signature

10. Click Save and Send for Signature if you want to send the document immediately.
11. Here you will see two options:

• ​​​Send Document

When you click on this option, the document will be sent for open signing, and the signee will decide where to sign in the document.

After the document is sent, you will be redirected to the Summary View of the sent record.

• Add Signature Tags and Send Document

When you click this option, you will be redirected to the DocuSign website. You must decide and place the DocuSign tags and send the document for signing.

1. You can drag and drop the signature tag in the appropriate positions on the document.

• Note: You can also drag and drop other fields listed on the left panel. 

2. Click Send.

The document will be sent for signature, and you will be redirected to the Summary View of the sent record.

Creating Esign Documents from Other Modules

You can create an esign document from other documents using the More button or the Esign Documents widget in the Summary View.

These options provide a way to add an esign document either by creating from scratch or duplicating one of the recently created esign documents.

Let me explain the process using the Contacts module. It will remain the same for other modules as well.

Follow these steps to add an esign document from Contacts:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials.
4. Select Contacts.
5. Open contact record.
6. From the Summary View, there are two ways:
   1. More button
      1. Click the More button on the top right of the screen.
      2. Click Esign Documents.
   2. Esign Documents widget
      1. Click the Esign Documents widget in the right-side panel.
      2. Click the + icon.
7. Regardless of what you choose in step 5, you must next choose one of these options:
   1. Select Esign Documents
      1. If you want to add an existing esign document, select this option.
      2. Hover over a record in the list of all existing esign documents to display the radio buttons.
      3. Click the radio button on the left side of the record to select the record.
      4. Click Add present on the top right.
   2. Create Esign Documents
      1. If you want to add a new esign document, select this option.
      2. Fill in all the necessary details. Refer to this section for more information. 
      3. Click Save and Send for Signature if you want to send the document immediately. Refer to this section to know about the options in send for signature.
         1. Click Save as Draft if you want to send it later.
         2. Click Cancel if you want to cancel the process. 

This newly created esign document will be linked to the contact. It is visible in the Esign Documents widget in the Summary View of the contact record.

Note: Esign Documents can also be created from Contacts, Organizations, Events, Tasks, Documents, Quotes, Deals, and all Inventory modules

Esign Documents and Records 

• Esign documents and records that you create and directly upload will retain the original name of the document. 
• This will not apply to internal documents, print templates, or PDFs you send for signatures.

Signing the Document

Your signee might have received an esign document for the first time, and he might be wondering how to sign it. Don’t fret, because we are here to help you guide them.

The signee will see an email from DocuSign in their inbox. The email will contain the request for the signature. They can review documents and sign using one of the signing options supported by DocuSign.
 

 

 

Have you sent a document for signatures? Then communicate to the signee to follow these steps to sign the document:

1. Click the Review Document button in the email to review and sign the document.
2. You will be redirected to the DocuSign website.
3. Click Continue.
4. Click the Sign tag to sign digitally.

• Note: If sign tags are not present, you can add the fields to sign the document.

 

 

5. Adopt suggested signatures or sign digitally using a mouse pad or digital-write pad.
6. Click Adopt and Sign.
7. Click Finish.

You will receive an email saying that the document is signed.

 

Did you know? Vtiger will automatically track the document and update the Esign Document record’s status. The signed PDF will be automatically attached to the record along with the timestamp. You can see the signed PDF in the Attachments widget in the Summary View.

​​​​​Understanding the Statuses

Do you want to know the status update of your Esign Document? Then understanding the meaning of every status is necessary.

Listed below are the statuses and their descriptions.

Created:   Sent:   Delivered:   Seen:   In Progress:   Signed:   Declined:   Cancelled:

Esign Document is just created.   Esign Document is sent for signature.   Signee has received the document.   Signee has seen the document.   The document is being signed by all the signees mentioned in the document.   Signee has signed the document.   Signee has declined to sign the document.   Signee has discarded the document.

List View in Esign Documents

List View sorts and lists all the Esign Documents based on the last modified esign document. Let us learn more about the List View in the Esign Documents module.

• Columns in List View 

The columns that are visible by default in the List View are :

• Esign Document Title -  Displays the name of the esign document.
• To - Displays the signee to whom the esign document is sent.
• Service - Displays the service through which the esign document will be electronically signed. (currently DocuSign)
• Status - Displays the state of the document. To understand the different statuses, refer to this section.
• Email - Displays the email address where the document is sent for signature.

• List actions

You can perform a few quick actions such as Delete, Email, Export, etc., on the Esign Document records displayed in the List View. 

To learn more about List View actions in Vtiger CRM, click here.
 

Did you know? You can create lists to sort and store the records displayed in your List View and save them for future reference. This feature enables you to create different lists for multiple purposes.  To know more about creating a list, click here.

 

Searching for Esign Documents

The search bar in the List View is a unique feature on its own. It is one of a kind because it filters, searches, and delivers the result brilliantly.

The search bar helps you search for a record as well as filter the rest of the records using field names that you specify. This feature comes in very handy if you have a large number of records in the CRM.

To know more about the search bar in List View, click here.

Summary View of an Esign Document

Summary View is the view that appears when you click a particular record from the List View. The Summary View displays the key information of a record.

Summary View can be divided into six sections. Each section has a particular functionality.

• Summary View actions

  • Follow: You can follow any Esign document record to get updates on all the activities performed on that record.
  • Tags: You can add tag names to the record to identify the record easily.
  • Open in a new tab: You can open the Esign document on a new tab in your browser.
  • Link: You can copy the URL of the record directly.

• Esign Document details

  Details like the number of signees, their names, email addresses, when the document was sent and signed, etc., will be displayed here.

• Activity

  You can see all the activities performed on that particular esign document. You can define filters to view the updates and add internal comments.

• Other icons

  If your document is in Created status, then you can see these two icons on the top right of the record:

  • Edit -You can edit the details of the esign document record.
  • Send for Signature  - You can send the document for signature. Refer to this section for more details.

• More

  You can do the following from the More button:

  • View the followers: You can see the users who are following the article.
  • Print: You can print the article or save it as a PDF for future references.
  • Duplicate: You can duplicate the current record and reflect all the details in a new one.
  • Delete: You can delete a record by clicking this button.

If you have defined relationships between the Articles module and other modules in Settings > Module Layouts & Fields, then you will be able to add records of those modules from this button. The records added will be displayed in their respective widgets.

• Widgets

  • One View - All the modules related to an esign document are displayed here. 
  • Attachments - Displays the signed PDF document and the PDF document sent to the signee.
  • Email Details - Displays the email subject and email note sent to the signee.

Quick Send in Other Modules 

Here is another unique and helpful feature in Esign Documents. You can now quickly send a document for signature right from the module without creating an Esign document. 

Note: This feature is available in Leads, Contacts, Organizations, Deals, Projects, Project Milestones, Tasks, Quotes, Invoices, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Work Orders, Bills modules.

 

Wondering how? Well, it is not rocket science. All you have to do it follow these steps:

Let us consider the Quotes module as an example. These steps are the same for other modules as well.

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Sales.
4. Select Quotes.
5. Open a quote record from the List View.
6. In the Summary View, click the More button on the top right.
7. Click Send PDF for signing under Reach out now section.
8. In the Send for Signature window, add the following:
   • Signees
   • Print Template
   • Email Details
9. Click Send to send the document for signature.
   • Note: You can click on Tag and Send if you wish to add signature tags.

Your document is now sent for signature, and a record will automatically be created in Esign Documents.

Using Esign in Print Templates

You can customize a Print Template from the Summary view, print, and send the PDF for signature without saving the changes to the Print Template. This means you can customize a Print Template on the fly before sending it to their contacts or before sending it for e-signatures. This option is available when creating an Esign Doc from a record and also after you send the PDF.

One View

​​​​One View widget is a one-stop destination to view all important modules related to Esign Documents.

One View widget in the Esign Documents module will show the following details:

• Related Company details - Parent company’s details are shown
• Related Contact details  - Parent contact’s details
• Related Deals - Deals related to the esign document

The Esign module's default One View now includes Status and To fields, which give important information about the status of sent or received documents.

If you have sent a quote for approval and signature through eSign, you can view the status of the document (Sent, Processed, Signed, Rejected, etc.) as well as the recipient's name.

To learn more about One View, click here.

Limitations

Esign Documents ease your job, right? But you must remember these limitations to make the most of the module. 

So here is this list of all the limitations under one umbrella:

• You can create an Esign document but cannot send it for signature if you have not configured the DocuSign account in Vtiger.
• You can add up to three signees only in a single esign document.
• If you have more than one signee, then the second and third signees can sign the document only after the first signee. 
• If the first signee discards the document, then the second and third signees cannot sign.
• You can only upload one document for a signature at a time.
• If you add a user as a signee, then the Select Related Module field is disabled.
• A single record can have more than one Esign Documents.
• You can edit the Esign Document only if it is in Created status.
• You can send the document only once for signature.
• You cannot edit a document that is already sent for signature.
• While uploading a document, the maximum file size allowed is 50 MB.
• While uploading a document, the supported formats are pdf, text, ms word, png, jpeg, vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet, vnd.ms-excel.