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How to eSign a document: electronic signature licitness for contracts

the broadcast is now starting all attendees are in listen only mode good morning and welcome to our third in our series of four town halls today we're going to be talking about contract management knee signatures within filebound um i want to also remind you that our last installment of the town halls will be on december 16th where we're going to talk about filebound connect and that's one that i'm kind of excited about and i hope you can attend with us if you're a file bound user you have filebound connect but you may not be using it and so you get an idea of what that that module can do for you not only from the ability to add documents to the system but a completely different way in which you can retrieve documents as well i also want to remind you that our two previous town halls the first on october 11th which was on al ap gl coding in the second that was november 11th on automating your onboarding processes are available on our youtube channel and there are links to it on our website as well my name is jack arnstein i am one of the principals at the brighton group and joining me this morning is bill perhota my business partner and jd arnstein a senior systems engineer with the priyan group our agenda for this morning we'll uh we'll start by talking about how this specific enhancement came about so what were the things people are asking for and what brought us to develop this then we're going to get under the hood from a technical perspective and take a look at how we actually designed and built it once we finished that we're going to look at how it actually works for an end user to give you a chance to to see what that's like and at the end we're going to have questions now this is a town hall and as before when we've had these participation is key so you have a couple different ways in which you can participate the first is you can ask a question via the chat section section of the go to meeting dialog and you can see that there's an area you can type that in you hit the send button and i'll be monitoring those and i will ask those at the end of the of the webinar the other option is you'll also notice that there's a little hand with a red arrow pointing down if you click on that hand it will turn to a upward facing arrow and turn green and that lets me know that you have a question you'd like to ask i will be monitoring that as well and will unmute you introduce you and let you ask your questions at that time i also want to let you know that we'll be recording this session and we will make it available to you afterwards so if you'd like to rewatch part of it or i'd like to share with a colleague you'll be able to do that as well so with that i'm going to turn it over to bill and let him get started bill thanks jack good morning everyone so to start with we're going to cover uh what's the big idea and then what's the big benefit and when we start thinking about what's the big idea behind the contract management and renewal management process our clients kept asking us we need to find a way that we can automate this process for contract creation from renewals and so we sat down we took a look at some of the things that we needed to address in order to find a way to create this this solution form for them um first of all we we heard that they we need to find a way to automate the creation and signing of the contracts instead of having it be a manual process all the time for creation and distribution we need to automate that uh we need to try to leverage the current signing technologies the digital signatures because that's the way of the future especially with the times that we've been in with the distributed work environments and the distributed relationships with our clients we need the way to leverage those digital signing technologies to make it easier for customers or anyone signing the documents we needed to leverage the workflow to make sure that we followed the appropriate authorization processes so that everything went uh ing to the design and and things are returned in a timely fashion and returned appropriately and then finally be left with the ability to create and find and identify the audit process so we can always identify where the documents were where they went how they got signed when they got signed and have that available to us so with the various technologies we work with with this solution we can provide that auditable process so what are the big benefits well first of all we find that by employing these technologies and the automation we actually create an accelerated contract distribution as well as accelerated contract signing process because it's easier and if it's easier people are going to tend to migrate toward it and to participate in it in a more timely fashion so the ability to get the contract signing back to you and to resolve that element whether it's a new contract or renewal is actually being accelerated we can automate now the reminders uh when contracts are up for renewal or reminders when the contracts are out for signature and so this automated process will will prevent things from falling between the cracks we always know where everything is in the process because of the weight workflow both bob ons were flowing and the digital signing system like uh will follow as well and so we always know where the document is at all times and that's important to something some get lost in in the cracks and then finally we're continuing as we strive in all of these webinars that we've been giving and these other things that we're seeing is that we're able to leverage the forms in the workflow to serve all of our ongoing forms and workflow needs um without a doubt these two elements are key toward driving great efficiency and great outcomes for our clients and so these are some of the great benefits that occur so with that said the first thing we're going to do is sort of walk you through how we configure and create the platform for leveraging the contract management workflow in the eSignatures and jd is going to take us through those various elements and when he's done then i'll be returning and we'll kind of walk you through what it looks like when it actually occurs um in the actual practice of those processes so jd if you could take it from here and sure all right so the first thing uh i'm gonna do is just kind of walk through this uh process in a nutshell so uh what kicks off the uh this whole process is that a contract is created via a template be that in word excel or a pdf um that contract is then saved as a pdf to filebound and that initiates the workflow in filebound um when that workflow is initiated it'll take that contract and send it out via the esign stencil from there reminders can be also sent out via workflow escalations and those can be sent out to the client the contract owner both or other people involved in this process as well such as managers and so on uh the contract is then signed and returned via integration and when it comes back into filebound we can also evaluate how that document was managed in so if the signer rejected it we can we can tell and we can route it differently in the workflow depending on how it comes back in and finally once uh upon renewals dates are then updated for the eventual renewal workflow and so that includes the review date notification date and the expiration date so we're going to start by looking at an overview of our initial contract workflow so from here we use the esign stencil to send out the contract for signature we can also configure initial notification emails to be sent out from the esign stencil as well uh we can also use a standard step to send out reminder emails so for example in this one we send out a reminder if the contract hasn't been signed after one day and then we send out a second reminder if it hasn't been signed after three days and those that time limit can be customized depending on the solution finally once the document is signed the workflow will automatically pull the signed document back into filebound and then we just do any additional updates that we need to do to the document or file notes and the index fields before exiting the workflow so now we'll move over to the side of the fence where we'll look at building that contract template so we create a variety of templates for different types of documents that need to be signed in this particular case we're just going to be looking at our service contract um so in the configuration allows us to simply drag and drop a pdf of the contract that needs to be signed and then we simply configure the recipients for who needs to sign the contract in this case we simply have one recipient which is the customer and we actually leave the name in the email fields blank because we dynamically fill that in from the filebound side so once that is done we can simply then uh drag and drop our fields from the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen onto the contract so in this case we've got our signature field the date signed the full name of the signer and their title once that is all laid out we then simply save and close and our contract template is ready to go so it's super quick and super easy to take care of it on that side and now you can see we've got our service contract um all ready to go so let's take a look at the contract renewal workflow side which takes place when it is time for a signed contract to be reviewed for renewal so you can see here we have this workflow broken up into four main parts so we'll take a closer look at each of those and kind of pick them apart a little bit the first step is just the initial value updates and housekeeping in here we start by checking the contract for any missing fields that are required and then we also update the contract status ingly so once that's all taken care of uh then the contract is routed to its owner where it will then be assigned for review that owner can either cancel it uh or approve it and so once that is uh has been reviewed we can then assign that contract for additional approvals so in this case we have a business office review and further reviews can be done only if certain criteria are met so for instance in this case if the contract does not meet proper length or cost criteria we can then send it over to management for approval so finally once all of the approvals have been met we send that contract out for signature much like we do with that previous smaller workflow that we showed you and once the document is then signed we simply do any necessary final updates again to the file or the document notes and the index fields and then the document completes the workflow so the last component to the contract renewal process is in the file bounce use of scheduled workflows so if we look at the inside of a scheduled workflow you can see that we have the option on how to set our schedule so we can either choose to run this workflow hourly daily weekly monthly or yearly in this case we're simply running uh our contract renewal once a week on sunday at 8 am with no end date so once we have that all configured we simply enable the schedule and it is now set to run this contract renewal workflow once a week so the next part of the configuration in here is uh looking at how the scheduled workflow knows to find what contracts need to be routed for review so we set our schedule workflow to search for in the customer contracts project and then locate any files by evaluating the review date so in this case we actually use a custom variable to tell the scheduled workflow to search for any contracts with a review date of the current date which is that dollar sign dollar sign date uh up to the current date plus seven days forward so now that i've kind of walked through all the uh ins and outs of that i'm going to hand it back over to bill and he's actually going to walk through this process in action with you thanks sadie all right so let's take a look at the new contract workflow this is that small simple workflow that we showed to begin with just to help get everyone's visual heads wrapped around the workflow and how it works so in this case we have our contract that's been created by the contract owner and that contract is then sent to the eSignature stencil which then distributes that contract out to the customer to be reviewed and then signed and if we were to look into the workflow assignments once that has happened uh we'll be able to see that it has been sent out for a signature uh there is we're waiting on one signature to occur which is going to come from the customer signing the document and because of the integration with um with that integration will then once it's signed bring it back into the into the fob on folder and replace it so in this case um you can see that the contract has been sent it was waiting signature so then what happens when that is out and in the hands of the customer to be signed they receive an email and this is what the email looks like jd had talked about how we can configure what the email body of the email is set for in this case where we're saying hello you've got a contract needs to be signed the contract number is available and the contract date is available to them you also have the review document button when they click the review document button that will take them directly to the document and they can begin the process of signing it now in this case the example that jd shared is that we dragged in the signature um the signature date the printed name of the customer's signature or the signer of the contract and then we ask them to input their title so when they click the signature button they'll enter their title and this is the result they'll have their signature they'll have their date the printed name and then their title and that all appear right here in the contract when that's done they'll click the finish button and that will then return the document to file bound through the integration component within filebonds workflow and and then it will store and replace that contract from the original which was unsigned with the current signed contract and the user receives a screen that says hey you're all done the contract was submitted back effectively or successfully and you're all done at that point they can close the window down and go about the balance of their data but now if we look inside of file bound now we're going to see that the document has actually been signed and we've been able to validate the um the various dates so right now this contract is sitting with a new review date of 10 31 2021 so approximately a year from now because this is nearly contract for the renew or review date the actual contract expiration date is january 31st of 2022 and the notification date is that date that's calculated to indicate when the document needs to be signed and back to us to be filed into the system so if we were to take a look at this uh contract now from within file bounds viewer we're going to actually see that it has been signed and that the contract is completed and the date has been up to date so further retrievals of this document over the course of this next year is going to reflect all of the current information as it was signed including the signature um and the date and the title and so it's all set ready to go it's in force effectively so let's take a minute then let's look forward now a year let's just say that we've gone forward a year and this contract that was just signed is now starting to come up for renewal as our other contracts throughout the year so this is where the scheduled workflow comes into play a file bound scheduled workflow can be set to kickoff as jd showed us every week on a sunday at 8 am and it's going to use our variables which is today's date that's that sunday day and a day seven days forward so it's going to look over the next week and grab all of the agreements all the contracts that need to be reviewed in that time and it happens to find this contract which is what we had signed approximately a year ago and what we do is we take a look when we do this retrieval at the review date and the review date is actually taking the review days and it's subtracting it from the notification date which is the date that we have to have it back in and signed in in our file and so what it does is it calculates the review date based on that so that even though the contract expires in january we have to have it in force ready to go for our records by the 30th of no of november and so we have to back forward go back up 30 days to give us the review date of 10 30 20 21 so that then kicks off the workflow and sends it to the contract owner now when the contract owner is assigned they also receive an email and that email identifies that uh it went to jd ernst who's the owner of the agreement or the contract for renewal and review and it sent the body of the text and said you know we have a service contract number x for abc company and uh we have to have it back by 11 30 because it expires 131 2022 so give them the information to build the contacts that they need then when jd cooks the review assignment it'll launch the workflow and then he'll sit down and generate a new agreement and as you can see this new agreement has the new date for expiration which is a year from the review date of the review the current expiration date which right now is 131 2021 and it it builds it for 2022 also reflects the new contract dates and so then when it is ready to go it stores it into file bound and that kicks off the element of the workflow which as you saw earlier in our original smaller workflow it sends that document out and then when it comes back in it will do our final updates of our data and we'll see that in a second here so when this contract comes back in signed a second time for the renewal for this new year you'll see that the second copy of that document is out there and is dated for 10 11 3 of 2021 so that's the second contract a year later and you'll see that it is signed and dated and if we were to scroll down the document you'd also see the other elements that were part of this contract that went out for and then finally if we were to take a look at this data and and see how it's been updated the workflow is actually taking care of that for us if you notice it looked at and reviewed the contract length in months which updated the expiration date for one year from the previous expiration date same thing with the notification date of being 60 days back from that expiration date and the review days are 30 days back from the notification date which i showed you earlier is what kicks off the workflow to tell jd he's got a contract to review but now that that contract has been reviewed and renewed and signed by the customer it's now been updated so that the new dates are in place for the expiration date of 13123 and then our review and notification date so that cycle now is in play and in place and it continues to go with every new review and every new renewal for all of our contracts in the project so with that said i'm going to turn it back over to jack uh we suspect that there are some questions that have come in we're happy to answer those questions and so jack if we have any please share them and i'll be happy to answer them as always jd thanks bill um we do have a few that came in and i invite you to either raise your hand or or type some in the chat section if you have any others uh bill the first one is that someone said i have a the workflow license for file bound uh well the processes that you just demonstrated work with my license yes it will because you have workflow however you do need to have the enterprise version of filebound in order to create the workflow leverage the esign stencil and then send it out to your eSignature software to um to get that you know that level of integration um and so yes it we do use workflow but you have to have the enterprise version in order to build the full integration with auto signatures okay thanks and here's another one bill uh kind of a follow-up but does this solution work with any product other than yes um we showed today because that's the the the first that we've um had as far as our integrations and it's been around with five on for a long time but there's another product as well called hello sign and those are the two products that right now file bound um the integration and workflow e-sign module works with so it works with and with hello sign and so the only thing that you have to do in terms of being able to work with that is you have to have as a company your own account and relationship with either or with hello sign and then once that's established then the stencil and the eSignature component that we showed you today can be configured to reach out to that account and then build that integration back and forth as we demonstrated today jd here's a workflow design question it says i have multiple types of contracts within my company do i need to create a new workflow for each of those um yeah so the answer is kind of yes and no on that one so it depends uh on the solution we have one client right now where we are sending out different types of contracts from the same workflow but it's partially because those contracts are quite similar so depending on how drastically different these contracts are and if they're stored in different projects and what your index fields are uh you may send them out through different workflows but you may also use the same one okay and then uh bill here's another one do the the people signing the document need to be filebound users no they don't uh in fact that's one of the beauties of this integration with or potentially hello sign is that it's designed to be able to facilitate this communication port along with the signatures of the documents being sent back in to individuals who aren't part of your organization may not be even employees in your company in most cases they're not it's either customers or vendors or outside people and so this integration facilitates that communication uh through the stencil to send out the contract for signature and then the return of that contract back into bob bound all through the api integration so the people who are on the outside world signing those documents don't have to be associated with file bound or even associated with your organization at all so there's a real flexibility there that makes it quite powerful bill i'll throw this one at you as well it says if my i'm sorry can a document be signed by more than one person in the approval process yes it can um within you have the ability within to identify the path to the template that jd showed you of where the document will go it'll be signed and then when the final signature is completed and that particular component of the workflow that path of the workforce has been completed then the integration will return that document back to us and as you saw in our workflow we replace the original unsigned document template with the science document itself uh jd here's uh here's one for you if my con if my contract contact hard for me to say changes how do i update that in filebound yeah so the um that contact information that email address or phone number any of that is all stored just as an index field in filebound so changing that is pretty simple you just open up that contract and file bound and make that change and then save that change to the index field like you would for any other project and file bound perfect thank you well we're at the the bottom of the hour and i think we covered all the questions that came in thank you for submitting those if you have any further questions feel free to give us a call i want to remind you that we do have our final webinar coming up that will be held on december 16th and that's going to be on file bound connect you'll be getting an invite coming in via email on that we invite you to join us for that other than that have a great day we appreciate you participating today and we look forward to talking to you in the future bye you