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

                                                                                                          • Business Hours with lunch break

                                                                                                            Our business hours are: mon - fri 08:30 - 13:00, 15:00 - 18:30. How can I handle the lunch break? If I use 8:30 - 18:30 it obviously breaks SLA. Thanks
                                                                                                          • Default/Private Departments in Zoho Desk

                                                                                                            1) How does one configure a department to be private? 2) Also, how does one change the default department? 1) On the list of my company's Zoho Departments, I see that we have a default department, but I am unable to choose which department should be default. 2) From the Zoho documentation I see that in order to create a private department, one should uncheck "Display in customer portal" on the Add Department screen. However, is there a way to change this setting after the department has been created?
                                                                                                          • Ask the Experts 21: Power up your support game with Zoho Desk Automation

                                                                                                            " In every business, there are tasks to automate, Zoho Desk helps with features that integrate Assignments to manage tickets and teams to align,Macros for quick actions and workflows to streamline Contracts and schedules to hold things tight, Plans run
                                                                                                          • If leads are assigned to a person before 4:00 PM and the stage is "Fresh Lead", then an email should be triggered at 4:00 PM to all assigned users. If leads are assigned after 4:00 PM and the stage is

                                                                                                            If leads are assigned to a person before 4:00 PM and the stage is "Fresh Lead", then an email should be triggered at 4:00 PM to all assigned users. If leads are assigned after 4:00 PM and the stage is "Fresh Lead", then the email should be triggered the
                                                                                                          • Multiselect lookup in subform

                                                                                                            It would be SO SO useful if subforms could support a multiselect look up field! Is this in the works??
                                                                                                          • Tasks as calendar events? What about a way to verify a meeting actually happened?

                                                                                                            I'm not sure how to best ask this, but i'm looking to add some guard-rails into zoho for the end-user. However for guardrails to be effective they can't really add extra steps for the end-user. i.e. every step that's added for the user, is another place
                                                                                                          • Attachments should sync between Zoho Finance in CRM and Zoho Books

                                                                                                            It would EXTREMELY helpful and practical if the attachments added to an invoice via Zoho Finance in CRM synced with the invoice updates in Zoho Books. Currently, attachments to an invoice updated in CRM DO NOT appear as attachments when viewing the same
                                                                                                          • Introducing a new home page view and UI enhancements for Dashboards

                                                                                                            Hello everyone,  In CRM, the home pages provide a quick view of the various happenings in a business with the help of dashboards. The home pages also help to organize one's and the team's day's work. There are three views in the home tab: Classic User's
                                                                                                          • Call result pop up on call when call ends

                                                                                                            I’d like to be able to create a pop up that appears after a call has finished that allows me to select the Call Result. I'm using RingCentral. I have seen from a previous, now locked, thread on Zoho Cares that this capability has been implemented, but
                                                                                                          • Data Template Amending

                                                                                                            Hi, is it possible to remove data templates once you have applied them in Workdrive? Also, once I have added a new field to a data template can I mass update multiple files who have already been allocated that template and amend just that one added
                                                                                                          • Zoho Flow y subformularios de Zoho CRM

                                                                                                            Buenas tardes, En mi empresa vamos a empezar a usar los subformularios de zoho crm pero estos los voy a tener que rellenar con zoho flow ya que va a ser el encargado de rellenar dichos campos del subformulario. El problema es que a la hora de intentar
                                                                                                          • Recurring Invoices

                                                                                                            We are looking at moving our invoices to ZOHO Billing, I have started the trial period and like that I can et up for four different companies. The one feature we need which is mentioned in the documentation is Recurring Invoices so we can send our Rent
                                                                                                          • Implement Meeting Polls in Zoho Bookings

                                                                                                            Dear Zoho Bookings Support Team, We'd like to propose a feature enhancement related to appointment scheduling within Zoho Bookings. Current Functionality: Zoho Bookings excels at streamlining individual appointment scheduling. Users can set availability
                                                                                                          • Zoho Projects App update: Arabic and Hebrew language support

                                                                                                            Hello everyone! In the latest version(v3.10) of the Zoho Projects iOS app update, we have brought in support to access the app in RTL(Right to Left) languages (Arabic and Hebrew). Note: RTL is yet to be supported on the Calendar and Gantt charts modules
                                                                                                          • I want to cancel @mention group in the notes in Zoho CRM

                                                                                                            Hi Everybody, I want to prevent people from mentioning a specific group in notes in Zoho CRM. We have one group called Team Sales, and although we've asked users not to mention groups, they still mention the group name. My workaround is to change the
                                                                                                          • Kaizen #193: Creating different fields in Zoho CRM through API

                                                                                                            🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.
                                                                                                          • How to install node packages in Zoho Creator cloud functions

                                                                                                            I wanted to create some functions which requires node packages like axios, fetch, multer etc., How and where can i install the node packages in Zoho creator to use it in Zoho creator Nodejs function.
                                                                                                          • Session "Ask Me Anything" Zoho France - Le 26 Juin 2025 14h à 17h (en Français

                                                                                                            Chers Utilisateurs, Vous cherchez à mieux comprendre Zoho CRM ou Zoho Desk ? Nos experts seront disponibles pour répondre à toutes vos questions lors de notre session Ask Me Anything. Rejoignez-nous ici pour en discuter en ligne. Pendant trois heures,
                                                                                                          • Option to Crop Existing Agent Image in Zoho One Directory

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho Team, We hope you're all doing well. We would like to request a small but useful enhancement to the Zoho One Directory. 🎯 Current Limitation At present, the system allows cropping an agent image only during the initial upload of an agent's
                                                                                                          • Introducing Sub-Accounts in Zoho Books!

                                                                                                            Hello Everyone, Sub-Accounts is LIVE! Yes, you read it right. The much needed and most requested feature is now live in Zoho Books. The sub-accounts feature in Zoho Books will help you to classify your accounts further which will give you a more detailed view of your accounts while running reports. You can create sub-accounts for the below Accounts: Asset Cost of Goods Sold Expense Liability Fixed Asset Other Asset Other Current Asset Long Term Liability Other Current Liability Other Liability Other
                                                                                                          • Sesión "Ask me anything" Zoho en Español - 26 de junio de 2025, de 14:00 a 17:00 (en español)

                                                                                                            ¡Hola Comunidad! ¿Quieres entender mejor Zoho CRM o Zoho Desk? Nuestros expertos estarán disponibles para responder a todas tus preguntas durante nuestra sesión "Ask me anything". Puedes comentar este artículo y durante tres horas, nuestro equipo estará
                                                                                                          • UI Update: We've Reorganized Invoice Settings

                                                                                                            Dear users, We’ve reorganized invoice settings to offer you a streamlined and intuitive experience when managing your subscriptions. Starting from 2 July 2025, subscription-related invoice settings will be accessible from a new page called Billing Preferences
                                                                                                          • Marketer’s Space – Automate Subscription Management for CRM Contacts Using Workflows in Zoho Campaigns

                                                                                                            Hello, marketers! Welcome back to Marketer’s Space. In this week’s post, we’ll look at how to simplify subscription management using Workflows for contacts synced from Zoho CRM in Zoho Campaigns. There are multiple ways to assign topics to your contacts:
                                                                                                          • CRM and Finance Tab - Add Invoice "Subject " Column

                                                                                                            When On a contact in CRM, and you click the Zoho Finace tab, how can I put in the invoice subject line? Or even a custom field for this.  We need to see what that invoice is for, without opening it.   If we have tons of invoices we need a way to quick
                                                                                                          • WhatsApp to shift to per-message billing from July 1, 2025

                                                                                                            Greetings Recruiters, If you’re using WhatsApp to connect with candidates through Zoho Recruit, there’s an important pricing change coming up that you’ll want to plan for. What’s changing? Starting July 1, 2025, WhatsApp is moving away from conversation-based
                                                                                                          • Implement full RTL support in Zoho Cliq, including text alignment and character positioning, regardless of the interface language.

                                                                                                            Dear Zoho Cliq Support Team, We are writing to request a significant enhancement to the current RTL language support within Zoho Cliq. Currently, while Zoho Cliq allows users to input text in RTL languages, the text alignment remains LTR, resulting in
                                                                                                          • Email Alerts with Affected Flow Details When Deprecating Modules in Zoho Flow

                                                                                                            Dear Zoho Flow Team, We would like to request an enhancement to the module deprecation process in Zoho Flow. 🧩 Current Limitation: Currently, when a module is deprecated by the Flow team: No email notifications are sent. There is no automated way to
                                                                                                          • are there Url parameters to group records in the report/view?

                                                                                                            There are URL parameters to filter records in target report.  Is there any way to group records in report by certain field, using URL parameters or embed report parameters? Or any other workaround, apart from creating second report for dofferent grouping?  Aim: I want to provide user a quick link to re-group embed report by different fields.
                                                                                                          • Setvalue() client script not working

                                                                                                            I have created a client script on the load the record(detail view page). I wanted to populate some default information in the single line field. for that I created the client script. below is the script: var field_obj = ZDK.Page.getField( 'Designation'
                                                                                                          • Power of Automation :: Automate Deal Status Update in Zoho CRM upon Project Completion.

                                                                                                            Hello Everyone, A Custom function is a user-written set of code to achieve a specific requirement. Set the required conditions needed as when to trigger using the Workflow rules (be it Tasks / Project) and associate the custom function to it. Requirement:
                                                                                                          • Leverage the power of Zia (AI) to create Marketing Projects in Zoho Marketing Plus

                                                                                                            Hey everyone, Zoho's advanced AI assistant, Zia, now works with OpenAI to offer personalized marketing activity suggestions for your marketing projects in Brand Studio. With information such as your campaign's objective, duration, marketing channel types,
                                                                                                          • Use Zoho Flow to Supercharge your Zoho FSM Integrations

                                                                                                            We are thrilled to announce that Zoho FSM is now included in Zoho Flow - Zoho’s powerful no-code integration platform. With this, you can connect Zoho FSM with your most-used applications—without requiring technical expertise. What does this offer? Zoho
                                                                                                          • Zoho Flow triggers not working

                                                                                                            Hi , I have set up a flow which triggers when a new record is created in a Zoho Creator app. This flow works great when I initiate the flow with  "test and debug". However the flow does not trigger in live mode.  I have tested all the connections used
                                                                                                          • Can you sync your Apple Calendar with Bigin Activities/calendar?

                                                                                                            I've searched everything I can find and nothing is coming up... I've got a number of things in my calendar for the future, and it would be easiest if I can sync between them to update my availability for my booking page (also syncing the other way would
                                                                                                          • How to track salesiq on google analytics without GTM

                                                                                                            Hello! We had to move the installation of the SalesIQ widget from GTM to directly do it in our wordpress site. The SalesIQ widget was being blocked by Adblockers which caused a lot of our visitors to not be able to see it. This issue was fixed from deleting
                                                                                                          • Custom Module Count

                                                                                                            We are on Zoho One. CRM says that the three modules which support Zoho Sign integration are "custom modules." Do these count against the 200 custom modules permitted by the One access to "enterprise-level" CRM features?
                                                                                                          • Marketer's Space: Bookmarks by Zoho Campaigns

                                                                                                            Hello Marketers, In this week's Marketer's Space, we'll look at a simple yet powerful feature that makes a big difference in your workflow: Bookmarks. Bookmarks is a built-in feature in Zoho Campaigns that enables you to create a personalized library
                                                                                                          • I need a custom AI Chatbot to be integrated with ChatGPT to Handle Customers inquiries

                                                                                                            I need a custom AI Chatbot to be integrated with ChatGPT to handle Customer inquiries, and save the data to Zoho CRM as a Leads, Also to schedule a demo with clients and more options
                                                                                                          • User Management > Agents request

                                                                                                            I have a few suggestions for the Agent page: 1) Please add a way to filter Full agents. The list currently shows Light agents as an option but sometimes it would be helpful to view only the full agent licenses or non-light agent. 2) Add the ability to
                                                                                                          • Mandate Assessments in Zoho Recruit's Candidate Application Form

                                                                                                            We're excited to announce the Include Assessment option for the Candidate Application Form, which lets you display the pre-screening assessment associated with the job opening along with the application form fields. This ensures that every candidate applying
                                                                                                          • Next Page