Zoho Sign: Product Updates - Mid-2021

Zoho Sign: Product Updates - Mid-2021

Hello!

We are halfway through 2021, and it has been a busy journey for us at Zoho Sign.

Driven by the rise in remote work culture, the adoption of e-signatures by businesses and other organizations has become increasingly widespread. Here's an outline of all the features and enhancements we have introduced in Zoho Sign over the past six months and a sneak peek of what is coming.

What's new?
  • Document sharing
  • Template sharing
  • Windows app for signing with USB Token DSC
  • Print and sign support for regional conventions
  • Document type and folder management
  • On-demand bulk backup to cloud
  • Short-hand text tags
  • Merge enhancements in bulk send
  • Enhancements to limiting responses in SignForms
  • Enhancements to field properties in Document Viewer
  • Email bounce notifications
  • Support for spreadsheet upload
Document sharing
Administrators can now enable document sharing between users across the organization, allowing users to access and track the documents of other users that have been shared with them. This enhancement can be accessed by visiting the Users section and selecting the desired users to share documents between. It allows for better collaboration without compromising on internal data privacy.



Template sharing
Functioning largely similar to the document sharing enhancement, this allows administrators to now choose the users whom they want to share each template with. This helps with segmented access and prevents templates from being readily accessible to all the users upon creation. However, the users with whom a template is shared can only view and use it. Template creation and management is still only accessible to the administrators.



Windows app for signing with USB Token DSC
Zoho Sign now offers a USB Signer app on Windows that enables users to digitally sign documents using a USB token or drive carrying their digital signature. A USB token for digital signature is a digital signature certificate (DSC) in a password-protected device and in the physical form. This digital signature certificate is self-acquired by the signing individual from a regional certificate authority or identity provider. This type of signature is also referred to as advanced electronic signatures (AeS) in some legal contexts. Thus, this now allows users to sign documents using their personal or organizational digital signatures. The app can be downloaded on Windows from the Microsoft Store.



Print and sign support for regional conventions
Signers can now download the documents sent to them for signature, sign them physically, and then upload a scan of the signed paper documents back onto Zoho Sign to complete the digital signature process. Zoho Sign will attach its digital signature certificate onto the scanned copy that was uploaded and then proceed with the sign workflow as defined by the sender. This is handy in scenarios where regional conventions dictate that signers must sign documents physically and also maintain a copy in the form of signed paper documents. Alternatively, senders may also upload a scan of the signed paper documents they receive from signers, physically or via fax, on behalf of the signer and mark their signing activity as completed to advance the workflow onto the next recipient.



Document type and folder management
Users can now manage their document types and folders in Zoho Sign. By accessing the respective tabs in the Account settings section, users can edit or delete existing document types and folders or create new ones. Deleting a document type or a folder will not delete the documents associated with them. Users can associate documents with a document type and a folder, or modify existing associations, by editing the document signature requests from the Documents tab.



On-demand bulk backup to cloud
Users can now back up all their completed documents in bulk to one of the integrated cloud storage providers on-demand. Upon initiation, the backup task will immediately start saving a copy of all the completed documents belonging to their organization to the location specified in their cloud storage. Once the backup task is completed, an email notification containing a summary of the activity will be sent to the user from Zoho Sign. However, due to its potential to create a greater load on our servers, this feature will only be activated for organizations at the request of their administrators. Administrators can send a mail to our support team at any time requesting its activation.



Short-hand text tags
Users now have the option to use much shorter text tags in place of the older text tags in Zoho Sign. These tags function like merge tags for signer fields. When these tags are placed alongside the content in a document, they are automatically replaced by the corresponding signer fields upon upload to Zoho Sign for the signing process. An example of the newer short-hand text tag would be using {{FN:R1}} instead of {{First Name:Recipient1}}. For further information, users can send a mail to our support team requesting assistance and documentation.

Merge enhancements in bulk send
Apart from the predefined signer fields, users can now also merge recipient data onto custom text fields in documents when sending them for signatures using the bulk send feature. The data for the custom text field must be included in the bulk recipients CSV file in additional columns with the columns carrying the same headers as the respective fields' data labels. Similarly, a private note can also be added for each recipient by including the data in a column titled 'private_notes' in the CSV file.



Enhancements to limiting responses in SignForms
Users can now disable duplicate responses from the same email address in SignForms. When disabled, anybody trying access a SignForm document by entering an email address already used in a response made in the last 7 days, will, by default, be asked to contact the form owner. However, users also have an option to allow signers to resume signing the SignForm document if their previous response was incomplete.



Enhancements to field properties in Document Viewer
We have introduced new properties that can be set for signer fields in the Document Viewer screen - Resizable, Fixed width, Fixed height, and Character limit. It is now easier for users to duplicate a custom text field to create multiple occurrences of it containing the same data and properties. To do this, users can simply select the text field and then copy-paste it onto the document and reposition it wherever it needs to appear again. Alternatively, users can add more fields and set a common data label to make them share properties. This functions such that once the signer inputs the data in the first occurrence of the field, it is automatically filled into the subsequent occurrences.



Email bounce notifications
Users now get an email bounce notification when an email sent from Zoho Sign is not delivered to its recipient. This notification is received by the user in their mailbox and will carry a reason identifying the cause of failure due to which the email could not be delivered. This can be essential for organizations to identify and fix when a breakage occurs in communication related to paperwork due to email delivery issues.



Support for spreadsheet upload
Zoho Sign now supports the upload of spreadsheet documents for signing and sending for signatures. The supported file formats belonging to this type are XLS, XLSX, and ODS.

What's coming?
  • Qualified Electronic Signatures (QeS)
  • Signing with cloud-based identity providers for different regions
  • Trusted timestamping in documents
  • Offline signing
  • E-sign workflows in Google Docs
  • Software development kit (SDK) for mobile development
We are now in the final stages of introducing options to sign documents with several integrated regional and cloud-based identity providers. For the EU region, we will have Qualified Electronic Signatures (QeS) available via bit4id, a certified provider of digital signature services. For businesses in India, we will have cloud-based eSign or e-KYC (based on the guidelines laid out by the Controller of Certifying Authorities or CCA) available via eMudhra, a leading provider of digital identity services. We are also working with a few more vendors to make these capabilities available across other regions and hope to introduce them in the coming months.

Additionally, we are also working with several regional timestamping authorities (TSA) to introduce trusted digital timestamping in documents for added document security and validity. This also greatly reinforces Zoho Sign's legal applicability for use by governmental bodies and other public administration organizations.

Soon, there will also be an offline signing capability that enables agents to collect signatures in person from signers in remote areas without internet connectivity and also allows signers to download documents on their mobile apps and sign them offline at their convenience. Besides this, we are also nearing the release of a full-fledged software development kit (SDK) for mobile application and integration development using Zoho Sign's services. Users of the Google Workspace ecosystem will also soon have the capability to initiate sign workflows directly from their documents in Google Docs using Zoho Sign.

Do follow this space closely for our announcements (very soon!) introducing these capabilities.

If you need further details on any of these features or enhancements, feel free to comment below. For any other support or assistance needed, please write to support@zohosign.com.

Happy Zoho Signing!

Regards.
Sai Anand

    Access your files securely from anywhere







                            Zoho Developer Community





                                                  Use cases

                                                  Make the most of Zoho Desk with the use cases.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  eBooks

                                                  Download free eBooks and access a range of topics to get deeper insight on successfully using Zoho Desk.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  Videos

                                                  Watch comprehensive videos on features and other important topics that will help you master Zoho Desk.

                                                   
                                                    

                                                  Webinar

                                                  Sign up for our webinars and learn the Zoho Desk basics, from customization to automation and more

                                                   
                                                    
                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Ask the Experts


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner






                                                            Manage your brands on social media



                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                        Zoho Books Resources


                                                                          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                            Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                              Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                Qntrl Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                      Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                      • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                        CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                      • Kaizen

                                                                                        Kaizen

                                                                                      • Functions

                                                                                        Functions

                                                                                      • Meetups

                                                                                        Meetups

                                                                                      • Kbase

                                                                                        Kbase

                                                                                      • Resources

                                                                                        Resources

                                                                                      • Digest

                                                                                        Digest

                                                                                      • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      • MVP Corner

                                                                                        MVP Corner







                                                                                          Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                          Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                          Get Started Now


                                                                                            Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                              Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                              Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                              Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                Zoho CRM コンテンツ








                                                                                                  Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                      ご検討中の方




                                                                                                            • Recent Topics

                                                                                                            • Scan & Fill with double quote key/value pairs

                                                                                                              Hi, An old Ticket moved to a Topic/Idea: I love the idea of the new Scan & Fill as it nearly covers my previous request for a QR Scanner to read a multi-part QR Code. My QR Codes are hard-coded as below: {"key1":"value1","key2":"value2","key3":"value3"}
                                                                                                            • Analytics SQL Queries should allow # as comment

                                                                                                              # and // are very common for commenting in SQL. Not sure why analytics only allows /* and */ for commenting. Especially when # grays the line as if it's being commented out. This should be added for sure.
                                                                                                            • SalesIQ Operator Activity Reports in Zoho Analytics

                                                                                                              I'm busy building a dashboard in Zoho Analytics and I want to include SalesIQ stats in the dashboard, but I'm unable to get the statistics mentioned in the attached image. Any idea where I can get the stats for Operator Activity?
                                                                                                            • Default in fields on Form B based on the user selection in Form A

                                                                                                              Hi Everyone, I have added an action button to a form report to bring up a new form based on user selection, see it indicated in red below: Then when the ne form loads, I want to default in some of the fields based on the record the user was selected on.
                                                                                                            • No longer can indent

                                                                                                              Hey there! Is it just me or were we used to be allowed to used tab or indent when writing. It’s not working right now, has this always been the case?
                                                                                                            • Upcoming Changes to the Timesheet Module

                                                                                                              The Timesheet module will undergo a significant change in the upcoming weeks. To start with, we will be renaming Timesheet module to Time Logs. This update will go live early next week. Significance of this change This change will facilitate our next
                                                                                                            • Free webinar alert! Seamless Transition with Lossless Migration: Zoho One + Zoho Mail

                                                                                                              Hello Zoho Mail Community! 🚀 Attention IT Admins and Email Administrators! Are you planning to migrate your organization's email to Zoho Mail within the Zoho One ecosystem? 📧 Join our exclusive webinar, Seamless Transition with Lossless Migration: Zoho
                                                                                                            • Add Resource to Export

                                                                                                              The Export Data feature does not include a column for the Resource field. Without this column, Zoho Bookings cannot be used by any business for resource-based services or event types e.g. room bookings, equipment bookings. It seems to be an oversight,
                                                                                                            • Client Script | Update - Client Script Support For Custom Buttons

                                                                                                              Hello everyone! We are excited to announce one of the most requested features - Client Script support for Custom Buttons. This enhancement lets you run custom logic on button actions, giving you greater flexibility and control over your user interactions.
                                                                                                            • Mandatory field via deluge code

                                                                                                              I would like to ask you if it is possible to make a field mandatory via deluge script. For example, if I have a decision box and I click on it then I want a single line field to be mandatory. If uncheck the decision box then to do the single line as optional. I think it is not possible to do that and I have to do it via validation in 'on validate' field. 
                                                                                                            • Revenue Management: #1 What does it mean to "recognize" revenue?

                                                                                                              Earning revenue isn't just about collecting cash from your customers. It's about recording the income correctly and consistently. Revenue recognition is the process of deciding when and how to record revenue in financial statements so that they reflect
                                                                                                            • Power of Automation :: Auto-Populate Integration Field in Projects with CRM Account Data

                                                                                                              Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate
                                                                                                            • Zoho Forms and ChatGPT - populating a field using AI.

                                                                                                              I have a form where I would like the user to enter a response or query, and have another field populated using AI. For example, user enters Field 1, AI populates Field 2 in response. I want to be able to wrap some additional instruction text around the
                                                                                                            • campo tag para api

                                                                                                              debo conectarme a una api de zoho inventory y ocupo tomar el campo tag para poder asi jalar el articulo que cuente con el campo correcto en tag ejemplo que tag existen carro y avion que cuando busque los articulo con tag carro arroje solo estos por mas
                                                                                                            • Connecting Zoho Inventory to ShipStation

                                                                                                              we are looking for someone to help connect via API shipStation with Zoho inventory. Any ideas? Thanks. Uri
                                                                                                            • Uploading file as attachment to Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                     Hi,   I am trying to attach a file to a Zoho CRM contact using Zoho Flow. Right now, I try to do it through the “Upload File” field in Zoho CRM (In my screenshots, it’s called Téléchargement du fichier 1).   Here is what I tried:   Case 1: Webmerge document The Flow is called “Custom Function” (see screenshot 101).   Step  1: Creating a Webmerge document (screenshot 99)   Step 2: I use “Update module entry” to upload the created file. I upload Webmerge’s “Document” in my “Téléchargemet du
                                                                                                            • Zia Answer Bot - Create Ticket

                                                                                                              Surprisingly, the current iteration of Zia will try to answer a question and unless you have "transfer to SalesIQ chat" enabled, it won't create a ticket for the user or offer them a method to create a ticket. We don't want it to create chats for us,
                                                                                                            • meassure leads phases

                                                                                                              Hi, I need to create a table to meassure the time that a lead stay in blueprint phases. the phases are first contact, second contact, lead spam, contacted, appointment. any idea? I have attached an example
                                                                                                            • Zoho Desk API Documentation missing a required field

                                                                                                              We are trying to create a section using this information. Even after preparing everything based on that page, we still get an error. The error we get is this: {"errorCode":"INVALID_DATA","message":"The data is invalid due to validation restrictions","errors":[{"fieldName":"/translations","errorType":"missing","errorMessage":""}]}
                                                                                                            • In the Custom Module I have 500 Records , this 500 record only want to view to the specific user only example user A ,

                                                                                                              In the Custom Module, I have 500 Old records that should only be visible to a specific user, for example, User A. Any new records created from today onwards should be visible to Record owner in the Custom Module. Pls help how i achive this .
                                                                                                            • Invoice template, how to change the text under "Notes" and "Terms and Conditions"

                                                                                                              In "Invoice templates", there are two text/info sections at the bottom:"Notes" and "Terms and Conditions". It is possible to change the names of these two headings, but how is it possible to change/alter the text under it. As a standard it says "Thank you for your business" under Notes - I need to change it into something different- How? Thank you.
                                                                                                            • How to reply to thread via API

                                                                                                              We have built a webapp for our customers that uses the Zoho Desk API to enable each customer to view their full list of tickets, view individual tickets and raise new tickets. The Zoho Desk API doesn't have the ability to reply to a ticket/thread. Replies
                                                                                                            • Sending merged mail templates for signatures fail since today

                                                                                                              We have ZOHO one, we use merge templates in CRM to edit in ZOHO Writer, and from there send it for signature through zoho sign. This all worked up until today, suddenly we read in the log that the merge is succesfull but the sending for signature failed.
                                                                                                            • Feature Request - Make Lead List Larger and Adjustable

                                                                                                              Hi LandingPage team, I recently started using LandingPage and I am happy to share my feedback to help improve the app. I've noticed on the Leads page, there is no option to make the columns wider. It would be great if the comlumns expanded to fit the
                                                                                                            • Zoho Projects - Pin Recent Projects

                                                                                                              Hi Projects Team, It would be great if I could "pin" projects on the Recent Projects list in Zoho Projects. We have some internal projects which we regularly have to add time and some regular client projects. It would be great if I could pin those projects
                                                                                                            • ZDK Error

                                                                                                              I get this error when trying to trigger a CRM Function from Client Script: Uncaught (in promise) ZDKError: {"code":"NOT_ACTIVE","details":{"api_name":"activate_client_from_prospect"},"message":"api is inactive for the given custom function","status":"error"}
                                                                                                            • "Disbursing product components in phases, monitoring them, and displaying only the final product."

                                                                                                              i have a product composed of multiple components, and these components will be delivered to the customer in batches. However, the final invoice should only show the finished product. How can I issue (or release) the components and track their delive
                                                                                                            • Followed Subtasks doesn't show up in the Subtasks Section

                                                                                                              I have a task assigned to me now in the same task, there's a subtask and I am added as the follower on that task Even though I am a follower I still don't see that in the subtasks section The view permission for the profile is Related It's supposed to
                                                                                                            • Tip #39- Strengthen account security with Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) – ‘Insider Insights’

                                                                                                              Securing your organization's data begins with verifying that only the correct individuals have access to it. One of the simplest yet most effective ways to accomplish this is to enable Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) within Zoho Assist. MFA introduces
                                                                                                            • Automate timeout chat tracking with Workflows in SalesIQ

                                                                                                              With our feature-packed Nova release, Workflows has become one of the most powerful tools in Zoho SalesIQ. They let you automate follow-up actions when key events occur, such as when a chat ends, a visitor leaves a bad/good rating, or a lead is updated.
                                                                                                            • Mass edit / Mass update products

                                                                                                              Hi, Is there any way to mass update or bulk edit product fields in Zoho Inventory?
                                                                                                            • Automatic Verification of IMAP Integration Status

                                                                                                              Our sales staff have their O365 email integrated with CRM, over time this integration requires re-authentication via the UI. I can manually check the integration status by accessing Settings -> Channels -> Email -> Email Sharing -> "Configuration Type"
                                                                                                            • Tip of the Week #68– Share and access files faster with Zoho WorkDrive extension.

                                                                                                              Have you ever wasted time searching for the right file to attach to your emails—or worried whether the right people could access it? Without proper sharing settings, files might end up inaccessible to teammates or, worse, visible to people who shouldn’t
                                                                                                            • CV-Library: The Newest Source Booster in Zoho Recruit!

                                                                                                              We’ve expanded your sourcing toolkit — CV-Library, one of the UK’s largest and most trusted online job boards, is now available as a Source Booster in Zoho Recruit. This gives recruiters instant access to millions of UK-based candidate profiles, all without
                                                                                                            • Zoho AI Translate Task as Rest API

                                                                                                              I cant find any docs on how to use Zoho AI Translate Task from a rest api call https://www.zoho.com/deluge/help/ai-tasks/translate.html I am working on a custom Widget and I dont think I can execute zoho deluge ai translate task from a custom widget.
                                                                                                            • Is there the possibility to book less than 250 customer portal users?

                                                                                                              If you use the Creator, which is included in Zoho ONe, you can create a customer portal and give access to a maximum of 3 external people / customers, right? On the Creator website I saw that you can add 250 users for 100€/month. However, we don't need
                                                                                                            • Display Parts custom fields in the Work Order

                                                                                                              Hello, I see that is it possible to add custom fields in the Parts module. Would it be possible to also add those custom fields in the Work Order Module under Parts? This would be very useful for customer who want to showcase more information about parts.
                                                                                                            • Unable to edit Saved Estimates

                                                                                                              We are facing issue with editing the price or discount for a saved estimate for nearly 1 week.
                                                                                                            • Translation Blueprint & Picklists with Custom Values

                                                                                                              Hello everyone, I downloaded the translation file and I'm not finding the blueprint transitions. Does this means that the transitions cannot be translated? Also, the picklist values to be translated in the document are not the same that are actually used the in module. For exemple, for my lead module, the picklist values for Lead Status are : Not-contacted, contacted, junk and lost lead. In the translation document (English to French), this is what I see: PicklistValues.Leads.Lead_Status.Contact
                                                                                                            • How to create a custom sales signal?

                                                                                                              I want to create a custom sales signal for a custom module. is it possible to create one? If anyone know please let me know
                                                                                                            • Next Page