Add in-person signature fields
Last updated
Last updated
© Ascertia Limited 2024
In-person signatures are very much similar to the initials, but they are done on behalf of someone else. SigningHub lets you configure in-person signatures for document signers and meeting hosts in a template. You can also add multiple in-person signature fields against a signer/ meeting host.
After you have:
Configured special privileges for each recipient/ placeholder as required in a workflow package:
Select the document from the right panel -> pages tab of document viewer screen, on which in-person signature is required. You can also manage the added documents from here.
Select the recipient/meeting host from the right panel -> recipients tab of document viewer screen, for whom you want to add an in-person signature field. You can also manage the added recipients from here.
Click the "In-Person Signature" option, and drop it on the document.
You can drag and drop the field anywhere in the document by using your mouse. The grid lines will assist you in better alignment of fields accordingly. Resize the field with respect to its height and width or use the bottom right corner to resize it diagonally as required. The system will remember the field size and its display preferences (i.e. visible or invisible) for adding new In-Person signature fields on the same documents package. By default, upon dropping the "In-Person Signature" field, the edit dialog is automatically displayed. However, if the user is only allowed one level of assurance, the dialog will not be automatically displayed.
Click "Save".
To add multiple in-person signature fields, repeat the above steps.
| Fields | Description |
|---|---|
Name of Signer | Specify the In-Person signer name that will sign the document. The specified name will be shown in the below grid and under the In-Person signature field on the document. |
Level of Assurance | This is a mandatory field to be selected in order to perform In-Person signatures. In case of an enterprise user, the levels of assurance will appear in the drop down list as configured in the user's user role. In case of an individual user, the levels of assurance will appear in the drop down list as configured in the user's service plan. By default, the level of assurance will be set for an In-Person signature field as per the configured default level of assurance for an In-Person Signature under Personal Settings>Signature Settings. The terms for a level of assurance are as per the eIDAS Standards. For details of these terms click here. Possible values are:
If the document owner tries to add a higher level of assurance, as a "Level of Assurance", in combination with "Simple Electronic Signature (SES)", the "Simple Electronic Signature (SES)" will be removed. Similarly, if the document owner tries to add "Simple Electronic Signature (SES)", as a "Level of Assurance", in combination with a higher level of assurance(s), the higher level of assurance(s) will be removed.. For a smoother workflow, while adding more multiple signature fields on the document, the system will simply use the level(s) of assurance of the last field for the latest one instead of asking for every signature field. You can always modify the level of assurance for each field manually. |
Display | This field will only appear when you are allowed (in your role) to add the invisible signatures on a document, and also allowed (in your service plan) to add witness digital signatures. When this field is available:
In case of "Simple Electronic Signature (SES)" is selected as the "Level of Assurance", the "Display" field will not appear. |
Authenticate signer via OTP | Enable this toggle to enable field level authentication through OTP process when attempting to sign the document. By default, this option is unselected. This option will be available for the document owner in Draft, In-Progress, and Pending modes. On enabling the "Authenticate signer via OTP" toggle, the following options will be displayed:
This authentication option will let the recipient sign the document after they have entered the Time based One Time Password. Whenever the recipient will try to sign this document they will be prompted to enter the Time based One Time Password from the authenticator app configured on their mobile device. In case the recipient has not configured two factor authentication (2FA), upon trying to sign a document that requires Time based One Time Password, an email will be sent to their email address to configure two factor authentication (2FA). The document will be signed only upon providing the correct Time based One Time Password. |
Do not show this dialog automatically when a signature field is dropped | Enable to automatically apply the "Level of Assurance" of the current signature field to the ones that you will drop afterwards. This option is helpful when you need to drop several signature fields on the document without making an extra effort to manually set the same Level of Assurance for each of the signature fields separately. |
Details Tab | |
Field Name | An auto-generated (unique) field name which is used when you need to sign this form field through the API calls. You can change the name as required, but make sure the uniqueness of a field name is not compromised i.e., two or more fields in a document cannot have the same field name. This field is only available when the status of a document is Draft. |
Dimensions | Use this section to relatively set the on-screen and PDF coordinates/position (Left, Top, Width and Height) of the signature field. However, you can also manually move the field to the desired position in a document using drag and drop and these coordinates will be updated accordingly. These coordinates are only available when the status of a document is Draft. |
Replicate In-Person Signature Tab | |
Replicate to Pages | Enable the page number(s) (of the document) on which In-Person signature(s) are required from the signer/ meeting host. This will replicate the In-Person signature field on the selected page(s) and display their record in the below grid. |
Save and Cancel buttons | Click the "Save" button to save the configurations, or click the "Cancel" button to close this dialog. |
In the following cases, the "Authenticate signer via OTP" option is not available:
If recipient is a group signer or a placeholder.
If One Time Password (OTP) and Time based One Time Password options are disabled in the service plan.
In case of an Individual workflow type.
If there is an unprocessed signature/in-person signature field with the "Authenticate signer via OTP" option configured, the user will not able to "Bulk Sign" and "Bulk Sign and Share" the document.
This OTP authentication option will only be displayed if the "Enable One Time Password (OTP)" option is enabled in the document owner's service plan. If you cannot find this option in your account, upgrade your service plan.
The OTP method for "Authenticate signer via OTP" will be the same as per the configured OTP method in the document owner's service plan.
"(Email)", in case only "Email OTP" is configured in the service plan
"(SMS)", in case only "SMS OTP" is configured in the service plan
"(SMS and Email)", in case both "Email OTP" and "SMS OTP" are configured in the service plan
If the signer's mobile number exists in the user's personal or enterprise contacts, the "Mobile Number" field will be auto-populated with the mobile number.
For the current logged-in user, in case two different mobile numbers have been configured in the user's profile and the user's contacts, the system will auto-populate the "Mobile Number" field with the number configured in the user's profile.
When the delivery method is either "SMS" or "Email & SMS", the provided mobile number of the recipient, will be auto-populated in the the "Mobile Number" field.
The Time based One Time Password option will only be displayed if the "Enable Time based One Time Password (TOTP)" option is enabled in the document owner's service plan. If you cannot find this option in your account, upgrade your service plan.
If the user does not have two factor authentication (2FA) configured, they will be sent an email to set up and to provide a Time based One Time Password. If the user has already configured two factor authentication (2FA) they will be prompted to provide the Time based One Time Password from the authenticator app configured on their mobile device.
To configure the two factor authentication (2FA) the user will need to install an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, etc.) on their mobile device. The email sent to the user to configure two factor authentication (2FA) will contain:
QR Code
Manual Key
Recovery Codes
To set up, the user can either scan the "QR Code" or manually input the "Manual Key" in the Authenticator app. Once the registration is successful, the user can provide the automatically generated Time based One Time Password from the Authenticator app to SigningHub in order to proceed. The list of recovery codes included in the configuration email can be used in place of a Time based One Time Password, once each recovery code, to regain access to your SigningHub account, in case you lose access to your mobile device. It is advised to save the recovery codes in a safe place. The user can however, regenerate a new list of the recovery codes from the Manage Two Factor Authentication (2FA) option. In case enterprise user loses access to your mobile device and recovery codes, or have used all of the recovery codes, you can ask your enterprise admin to reset the two factor authentication (2FA) against your account.
In case a recipient is changed and the "Authenticate signer via OTP" option was configured, the system will require the mobile number of the new recipient.
The following OTP preference will be followed while signing, in case of configuration of field-level OTP, Document Signing OTP Authentication, and Secondary Authentication against the Signing Server:
| Field-level OTP is configured | Document Signing OTP Authentication OTP is configured | Secondary Authentication against the Signing Server is configured | OTP preference |
|---|---|---|---|
No | No | No | - |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Field-level OTP |
Yes | No | No | Field-level OTP |
Yes | Yes | No | Field-level OTP |
Yes | No | Yes | Field-level OTP |
No | Yes | No | Document Signing OTP Authentication |
No | Yes | Yes | Document Signing OTP Authentication |
No | No | Yes | Secondary Authentication against the Signing Server |
You can only edit the on-screen dimensions but not the PDF dimensions.
Click on the in-person signature field in the document to delete, and select "Remove" option.
The in-person signature field will be removed from the document.
A document signer/ meeting host can have multiple in-person signatures in a workflow document.
Only those signing capacities will appear for in-person signing, which are having Electronic Seal (eSeal) as a level of assurance.
An in-person signature will be a witness digital signature, it is generated by using a witness certificate which is a public signing certificate available on the server for digital signing.
An invisible signature doesn't have any visible appearance on a document. However it entails all other verifiable characteristics of e-signing, i.e. Time Stamping, Certificate Chain, Certificate Status, etc. An invisible signature can be a Digital Signature, Witness Digital Signature, or Witness In-Person Signature as configured in a workflow.
You can also add an in-person signature field on a previously signed document, if the document is not certified or locked.
The document owner (and the shared space collaborator, if any) can update the level of assurance of an "In-Person Signature" field, while the status of the document is, "In-Progress" or "Pending".
In case of the document owner is an enterprise user, they can set any level of assurance as allowed in the Enterprise Role.
In case of the document owner is an individual user, they can set any level of assurance as allowed in the Service Plan.
In the edit dialog, only the "Level of Assurance" field will be editable, the rest of the fields will be read-only.
The level of assurance of an In-Person signature field can not be updated if a read-only template has been applied.
Only the level of assurance of unprocessed fields can be updated.
Where previously, the level of assurance of an In-Person signature field was set to "Simple Electronic Signature (SES), the system will not allow updating the level of assurance.
Where previously, the level of assurance of an In-Person signature field was any other than "Simple Electronic Signature (SES), the system will not allow updating the level of assurance to "Simple Electronic Signature".
Disable the "Display" option, if you require an invisible witness in-person signature from the signer on this field. An invisible signature entails all the characteristics of an electronic signature and is duly verifiable like a visible signature. However, it does not have any appearance on the document. When an in-person signature field is marked as invisible, an eye icon is placed on the field as shown with the red arrow:
This option will let the document owner send an OTP to the recipient that will used for the purpose of signing authentication. Whenever the recipient will try to sign this document an OTP will be sent to the recipient's email, mobile number, or both depending upon the document owner's service plan configuration. When the service plan allows "SMS OTP", a field to specify the mobile number of a recipient to send an OTP will be displayed. The document will be signed only upon providing the correct OTP. By default, the specified number is displayed partially masked to comply with the GDPR policy. Click to view the complete number.
In the "Mobile Number" field, enter the recipient's mobile number on which the OTP will be sent via SMS. The full international number must be entered in the 00 44 234334334 or +44 234334334 format. By default, the specified mobile number is displayed partially masked to comply with the GDPR policy. Click to view the complete number.
