DocuSign - Can You Hide Recipient Signatures from other parties - docusignapi

I'm trying to find out if it is possible using the DocuSign API to create a signing request that is sent to multiple parties for signature with nobody seeing the other parties signatures until they have all signed?
Once all parties have signed I would download the final PDF and review this then send to all parties, but not sure if it's possible to hide these as it goes from one recipient to another?

Well, one technique would be for each signer to have their own signature page for the document set. The signature page would actually be a separate document within the envelope. (But signers are not particularly aware of the fact that there can be multiple documents in an envelope since they all flow together.)
You'd use the document visibility feature so each signer would only see the main document(s) and their own signing page.
Try it out first via the web tool, docs within the developer sandbox. Then automate via the API.

Related

Docusign API: Multiple signatures in same ceremony

I'm investigating the feasibility of my company using the DocuSign API for a specific scenario. We are generating PDFs on our side which we then wish to use embedded signatures to sign on our end. The form must be signed by two parties, who are both physically present in the same session.
It sounds like Docusign isn't friendly towards the idea of submitting custom PDFs with signatures on them, as opposed to applying signatures to uploaded template PDFs. It also sounds like it does not want to do two different signatures in the same ceremony for security / auditing reasons. Is this correct? I'm not interested in doubling my number of round trips.
DocuSign can handle this scenario via one embedded signing session per signer. That way, each signer sees what is appropriate to them, the auditing is complete, etc.
You could also enable each signer to sign via their own mobile phone rather than passing around a tablet or somesuch.
Yes, there would be more than one API call to set this up. API call times to create a new signing session are quick. This is a frequent use case for DocuSign customers and developers.

Docusign Embedded Signing , How can sender share the “recipient signing URL” with multiple signer?

I am building a customer web portal or a self-service platform, one of the features of the portal is for customer to upload required documents. Customer would have to go through full authentication to access the web portal to upload required documents and perform other functions.
I want to embed DocuSign and use its signature capabilities for customer to fill out forms and provide signatures. Some of the documents requires multiple signatures from legal parties of an organization.
My questions:
How do I send DocuSign to multiple signers?
Would each signer have to authenticate to the portal to sign documents or is there a way DocuSign can route document to the signers without all of them authenticating to the portal?
Each signers/recipient can have their own unique URL which is different based on the recipient involved.
You can have multiple recipients sign the same document/envelope and each of time can sign, either in turn, or whenever based on the routing order.
URLs for signing should not be shared, as they are private for the signer.
Your app can either embed the URL inside, or if you would rather use remote signing, then each recipient would get an email with the link to sign.
There's no need for signers to authenticate, unless you wish them to do so, which is certainly more secure, but not a requirement of DocuSign.
Here is a code example for embedded signing in 7 languages.
Here is a code example for remote signing in 7 languages.

Recipient type : InPerson vs Remote

We are using REST API to create envelopes and the Template is set up in DocuSign, with signer roles etc. Our customer wants to be able to decide in every separate occasion whether to use InPerson signing or send the signing link via email to the recipient.
Currently/originally we implemented Embedded signing, but our customer wants the "security question" (e.g. ask for driver's license number) to be there before the signing. So that they can prove that the buyer has actually been there to sign.
Is there a way to do this? I have the DocuSign Template set up with "needs to sign" option, but when sending the request to create a new envelope, somehow change a signer to be InPerson and trigger a workflow for that?
I managed to find information about Embedded signing and clientUserId, but is there a way to deliver information for example to the Certificate of Completion, like with the InPerson case with the input showing there?
In order to switch from In-Person (embedded) to remote signing and vice-versa, you will need to use the property ClientUserId. It is well described in the DocuSign article Embedded Signing.
If you're willing to switch after the envelope is created, see my recent question here that deals with the same issue.
To implement the "security questions", DocuSign offers multiple authentication option. It seems to me that you are looking to use the "ID Check" authentication here
In C#, it would look like this when you try to implement ID Check for a given signer :
signer.RequireIdLookup = bool.TrueString;
signer.IdCheckConfigurationName = "ID Check $";
Lastly, for your question regarding the authentication method and the certificate of completion, the Embedded signing article I mentioned above explains well what happens for the authentication method in the certificate completion below :
The authenticationMethod is an enumerated value that indicates the convention used to authenticate the signer. Since, with Embedding, you are telling Docusign that you are handling authentication this is your way of telling the platform how you authenticated the recipient. This information will also be included in the Certificate of Completion, a PDF that is automatically generated for every completed envelope.

Docusign API possibilities

A question from a non-developer. I am getting a website made of my business where our product is to email signed documents. I want to automate that process by incorporating Docusign.
The documentation is written for developers, so I just want a laymen's version.
Can I get the API to sign a document with my signature, add the signed date and two other custom fields and then email to the customer?
The way I think it may work is by creating a template in docusign and adding the tags then the api going to work to email it.
Am I correct?
Technically speaking, the scenario you describe is achievable with the DocuSign REST API -- with a couple of caveats:
The API call would have to supply the document(s) as part of the API call. It's not currently possible to auto-apply signatures with the API when you're using DocuSign Templates as a basis for creating the envelope.
Regarding the "two other custom fields" you want to auto-populate on the document(s) via the API at the same time that the API auto-applies your signature and signed date -- the only two types of fields that are supported in this scenario are Text and Checkbox.
Although you can't use a Template to specify the document(s), fields/tags, recipients, etc. -- all of this can be specified via the API call itself. Assuming you have control of the document(s) being sent, you could use DocuSign's "anchor text" feature to specify where each field/tag should be placed in the document(s).
Keep in mind that the audit trail for the Envelope will show that the API auto-applied the signature to the document(s), rather than an actual human purposefully and intentionally (electonically) signing the document(s) themselves. I'm no lawyer and this is certainly not intended to be legal advice -- but common sense may imply that a programmatically-applied signature might not be considered equal to a signature that a human actually purposefully and intentionally (electronically) applied themselves. IMO, one of DocuSign's strengths is the audit trail information recorded for each transaction that can be used to prove the authenticity of each signing transaction -- if you start auto-applying signatures via the API, you might risk losing that ability to prove the authenticity of the transaction(s).

How to use Docusign API to get one link for multiple signatures

Hello Docusign Team Member,
Currently we are using the docusign for e-signatures and it is working very well. However, we need to integrate to with our internal project management tool called as AtTask.
AtTask has its own approval process, all I need from docusign is a link which managers can click into while being asked for signatures.
To briefly explain the process:
We have these set of documents, which is first being approved by the procurement manager, then it automatically goes to the Project director, When he signs it, it automatically goes to the Assistant Director, when he signs it, it gets routed back to the project admin that initiated the process.
Now, my question is, how can I create this process on docusign and get one link that I can use in our PM tool..? I was seeing that one possible way to do it is by using your API feature.. Could you please help me with that..?
Your help is very much appreciated.
There are a couple of ways you could set up your desired workflow however please note that you will not be able to do all of this with just one link. You'll either need to generate a unique URL for each recipient, or you can use email to initiate the requests. Both are very easy to setup.
In the DocuSign system there are two general methods for initiating your signature requests-
1. Email Delivery
2. Embedding Feature
I'll briefly describe each but for a good explanation of the differences please see this page from the DocuSign Developer Center
http://www.docusign.com/developer-center/explore/features/embedding-docusign
When you setup signature requests through the DocuSign Console they are sent using the first method- Email - and the recipients are known as "remote" recipients. This means that each recipient receives an email when it's their turn to sign, and they start the signing workflow by clicking the link in the email request.
You can add as many recipients you want to the envelope and using the Routing Order property you can control the order that each recipient signs the documents. If two recipients have routing order 1 and 2, for example, then the second recipient can not sign until the first recipient is done signing. If they have the same routing order, then they can sign at the same time.
With the second method - Embedding - your recipients are known as "captive" or "embedded" recipients, and they will start the signing process directly by clicking on a hyperlink (i.e. instead of waiting for an email and clicking from there they can access it immediately). This is done by generating a URL token. For more info on how to create URL tokens for your recipients please see the above link to Dev Center.
You can intermix your recipients on a given envelope, meaning you can have embedded and remote recipients in the same envelope, so if you want you could make your Procurement Manager an embedded recipient (so that they start signing by opening a URL) and then all the remaining recipients remote recipients so that once the procurement manager signs the system then automatically emails the next manager for their signature, and so on. Or if you don't want to ever wait for any emails then you could make each recipient an embedded one, but they will still have to at least click a link (or have one automatically opened for them) to start their signing workflow.
The two best resources for this are the above link, which I'm referencing here again, and the API Walkthroughs. The last three walkthroughs all focus on Embedding DocuSign...
DocuSign Embedding Feature
DocuSign API Walkthroughs

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