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






                                                • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                • Digest


                                                • Functions


                                                • Meetups


                                                • Kbase


                                                • Resources


                                                • Glossary


                                                • Desk Marketplace


                                                • MVP Corner


                                                • Word of the Day


                                                • Ask the Experts





                                                          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

                                                                                                          • transforming 1D tables to 2D and the other way round

                                                                                                            Does Dataprep have tools to convert 1D tables to 2D tables and the other way round? The actions that are commonly called "pivot" and "melt". What I mean is transitioning between these two kinds of table: 2D id ____ name ____ surname ____ age 00 ____ Matt
                                                                                                          • How I Migrate data from one SharePoint Tenant to another

                                                                                                            I want to perform SharePoint tenant to tenant migration, but the problem is I don't know how to do so. I’ve heard about different SharePoint Migrator, but I’m not sure which one is the best for this type of migration. Any guidance would be really he
                                                                                                          • Rebrand your CRM with the all-new custom domain mapping setup

                                                                                                            UPDATES TO THIS FEATURE! 19th Jan, 2024 — Custom domain mapping has been made available for portal users in Zoho One and CRM Plus. 23rd June, 2023 — Custom domain mapping has been made available for all users, in all DCs. Hello everyone! We are elated
                                                                                                          • authentication

                                                                                                            We cannot connect via IMAP. We are receiving the following error: Error: You are yet to enable IMAP for your account. Please contact your administrator (Failure)
                                                                                                          • Bad User: Authenticated but not connected

                                                                                                            Zoho CRM cannot send/receive emails and it appears as if it may be an api configuration change either via Zoho or MS. Does anyone have information on how to fix this error message? I am admin on all my accounts. Zoho and MS are blaming each other.
                                                                                                          • Edit email address that appears on invoice

                                                                                                            Hi How do I change the email address that appears on invoices, it is showing the email address that i used to sign up to zoho with but I want to change it to another email address that we use for accounts. also is there a way to edit the position of a
                                                                                                          • Zoho Tasks - Add Sorting by Priority

                                                                                                            We are able to Group by and Filter by Priority but for some reason we can't Sort by Priority on the Task lists. Please allow for sorting by priority if the current view is not grouped by priority.
                                                                                                          • customize payment page

                                                                                                            Is there a way to customize, other than the theme colour, the payment page that customers are taken to from invoices? I can't seem to find a way. I just don't like the formatting of the current page and would like to make it look better. I've looked at
                                                                                                          • Zoho People > Candidate Form > error Editable Primary Lookup is needed to set add permission

                                                                                                            Hello All I have try to turn on the add feature in the candidate form It show the error Editable Primary Lookup is needed to set add permission What is missing from my side?
                                                                                                          • 6 time-saving tips for working with tables in Zoho Writer

                                                                                                            Tables have always been the best way to represent data. They help you structure and categorize information systematically and present them in a simpler way. While tables in Zoho Writer are easy to implement, some tasks might not be that obvious.  Here are some time-saving tips to help you work better with tables in Zoho Writer:    1. Insert Multiple Rows / Columns in a Table Adding more rows and columns is the most common action performed while working with tables. Instead of using the Table tab,
                                                                                                          • Add Built-in "Partner Finder" / "Contractor Directory" Tab to Zoho Desk Help

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request a new feature for the Zoho Desk Help Center: A built-in, configurable "Partner Finder" / "Contractor Directory" tab or section, similar in concept to your own Zoho Partner Finder at: 🔗
                                                                                                          • Can't get sender adress to work

                                                                                                            Hi, I am having some trouble getting the sender adress to work for responses on tickets. I would like to configure a sender adress that is different from the zohodesk emailadress that is normally used. These are the steps I have followed: 1. Add a new
                                                                                                          • Question Regarding Deleted Reports in Zoho Desk Analytics

                                                                                                            Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, I hope this message finds you well. We have a question regarding the Analytics module in Zoho Desk, specifically related to deleted reports/dashboards. We would like to understand the following: Is there a recycle bin, recovery
                                                                                                          • Add an option to start zobot when user clicks the Chat with Us button

                                                                                                            I would like to have an option to start the zobot when user clicks on "Chat with us" button when chat widget is maximized that way visitors could see first the homepage and decide which channel they would like to use to connect, or to see the quicke help
                                                                                                          • Zoho Books - Feature Request - Provide "Show PDF View" toggle on Invoice records

                                                                                                            I have noticed it is possible to activate or deactivate the PDF preview on some records but not all. This would be very helpful on Invoices when a custom template is being used and the PDF preview does not represent the output file. Not available on:
                                                                                                          • Incorrect Handling of XLSX data

                                                                                                            Trying to import an XLSX schedule of bills into Zoho Books I ran across the problem of date formatting. To replicate: Build a CSV file with bill dates in whatever format you like and import it - this should work if you match the "dd/MM/yyy" etc. format
                                                                                                          • Disable Smart Filters By Default

                                                                                                            The smart filters "feature" is causing confusion for Zoho Mail users. New emails should be delivered to the inbox unless they have specifically opted to redirect them somewhere else. People don't understand that new emails might be waiting in a random
                                                                                                          • Adding Columns to Reports

                                                                                                            Hi, Is it possible to choose fields to be added as columns in the reports? Thank you.
                                                                                                          • How do I automatically assign the project owner for all tasks in Zoho Projects?

                                                                                                            I have been researching for days on how to automatically assign all the tasks to the project owner on creation of the project in Zoho Projects. I have been having to go in and manually change all the task owner from 'unassigned' to the owner of the project
                                                                                                          • CRM Kiosk - Action for GetRecords

                                                                                                            I have a Kiosk screen with GetRecords and want to use the selected records in a custom function. My particular case is to set a lookup value on the selected records. Generally speaking though, I want to work with the selected records in a function. I
                                                                                                          • Extract Archived Projects using Zoho Projects API

                                                                                                            In my organization we archive the projects when they are already completed, charged, invoiced, so that only those that are still pending process remain active. I need to access all projects (active and archived) from an external system, but the API v3
                                                                                                          • Email for customer to provide payment information

                                                                                                            Is there a way for customers when you set up a subscription to get an email that prompts them to put in their billing information to start their subscription? Also, can you show the subscription in their portal?
                                                                                                          • Unable to display field label from a hidden Single Line Textbox in Description

                                                                                                            Hi folks, I'm unable to display my hidden field, e.g. ${zf:SingleLine4} , in my description. I'm pre-filling this hidden Single Line Text box via "Field Alias - Pre-fill URL" settings. I noticed that my decimal form fields work, e.g. ${zf:Decimal}, and
                                                                                                          • Lookup fields

                                                                                                            Is there any way to add Lookup fields to Zoho FSM -- I do not see the option but I see default lookup fields in different modules
                                                                                                          • Zoho Analytics - Bill Table

                                                                                                            Hi I am new to Zoho and mainly work in Books. Recently learned of Zoho Analytics and am exploring it to create reports that would be useful for me. For example, I want to create a bills cash forecast by week for cash flow planning. When I start to create
                                                                                                          • Creating a tax - amount table in Analytics

                                                                                                            Hi everyone, I would like to create a report in Zoho Anayltics that creates the tax and amounts in a table. I have been able to create a report that shows me all the tax accounts, but I can't get it combined with the amounts of the accounts. Is there
                                                                                                          • Is it possible to do custom domains on test accounts that use saml setups?

                                                                                                            In Zoho Billing, Is it possible to do custom domains on test accounts that use saml setups for the customer portal?
                                                                                                          • I’m facing an issue while trying to upload a PDF file to a custom file upload field within the Leads module via the Zoho CRM API.

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho Team, I’m facing an issue while trying to upload a PDF file to a custom file upload field within the Leads module via the Zoho CRM API. I am able to manually upload a PDF into this field through the UI. I am also able to upload files as attachments
                                                                                                          • No chat option

                                                                                                            Chat option is not available in Android app.
                                                                                                          • How to add custom templates in zoho sheets mobile

                                                                                                            How can I add custom templates in Zoho spreadsheet mobile?
                                                                                                          • Order Items

                                                                                                            Hi .. We have to implement orders with line but each line should have a separate record and not as a subform, does anyone have experience with that kind of solution what is the best practice for that kind of thing Thanks
                                                                                                          • Trello: Invalid Client - Client ID passed does not exist

                                                                                                            Hello, I am trying to authorize the Zoho CRM power-up in Trello but always land on the following page: I tried adding a trello client to the Zoho API console but this generated a different client ID to the one in the link of the page in the above picture.
                                                                                                          • Zoho Sprints - Q2 updates for 2025

                                                                                                            Hello everyone! We’re excited to share the latest updates from Zoho Sprints for Q2 2025! This quarter, we rolled out a few highly-requested features designed to enhance collaboration and time management across your projects. Here's a look back at the
                                                                                                          • CRM Email Insights Not Working - Status not Changing

                                                                                                            I used to be able to see if a customer opened/read an email in CRM, but I no longer get those status changes inside their record. I have everything enabled and I am sending the email from CRM. The experience center has the status' enabled as well. Any
                                                                                                          • The use of Ticket statuses

                                                                                                            When your support team mark a ticket "Closed" before I had a time to check what your team has done on the ticket - I have to consider this as you consider the ticket closed even if I dont consider it closed. Which automatically produce a negative sentiment.
                                                                                                          • "Replace" an existing version of CRM

                                                                                                            Hi all, I have a question, I saw an article about this once, but I now cannot find it. I am working with a client who has had their CRM in Zoho One built and extensively modified. But it is non-functional now, and rather than try and unpick the system,
                                                                                                          • Data Import From a private PostgreSQL RDS Instance

                                                                                                            Hello All, I feel like the problem I am experiencing has been seen before; however, I am having a difficult time finding any solutions. Hoping the community has some insights. I am trying to import data from a PostgreSQL RDS instance that is behind an
                                                                                                          • Assistance Required: Authentication Error When Sending Credit Application Form

                                                                                                            Hi, I'm encountering an error message that states: "Authentication unsuccessful – the user credentials were incorrect." This occurs when I attempt to send the credit application form to our customers. I've attached the form I’m trying to send for your
                                                                                                          • Missing Fields in Lead Conversion Mapping

                                                                                                            I’ve been using Zoho CRM since 2013 to manage leads and convert them into contacts and jobs. When I convert a lead to a customer, I create a new contact and a job. Previously, this process automatically transferred key information from the lead to the
                                                                                                          • Allow selection of select inactive users in User data fields

                                                                                                            Hello, We sometimes need to select a previous employee that has an inactive account in the User data field. For example, when doing database cleanup and indicating actions are done by a certain employee that weren't filled out when they were part of the
                                                                                                          • Next Page