Today, we announced our latest innovations in on-demand electronic signature solutions, with the release of the DocuSign version 10.1. This version of our award-winning e-signature service offers unique features and functionality designed to support workflow and productivity including automation of form fields and other workflow enhancements to simplify the user experience.

ESIGNControl, a custom DocuSign application specifically designed for Apple® iPhone users by Smart Mobile Solutions, further extends this rich feature set. DocuSign, combined with ESIGNControl, supercharges sales teams, real estate professionals, mortgage brokers, and business development and operational professionals who rely on the DocuSign e-signature service to close deals online in minutes.

Gartner predicts that worldwide Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) revenue will exceed $14 billion for the enterprise application markets by 2013, up from $7.5 billion in 2009.* Organizations of all sizes are deploying affordable, on-demand solutions like DocuSign to automate core business functions, reduce costs and increase employee productivity. Whether it’s a simple NDA or a complex global sales agreement requiring multi-party signatures, DocuSign helps companies operate greener, faster and more profitably by removing the hurdles associated with the signing process and by offering more ways for users to access and complete their transactions online.

This release of DocuSign version 10.1 adds more sophisticated capabilities that make it faster and easier than ever to get documents signed online, and to share data with other core business applications. DocuSign is creating an e-signature ecosystem that makes it possible for organizations across all industries to close deals in the cloud and operate more efficiently. – Tom Gonser, founder and vice president of product strategy at DocuSign

DocuSign Version 10.1 At-a-Glance

Automatic Conversion of Adobe® PDF Form Fields. Now, when uploading Adobe PDF forms into the DocuSign system, the service automatically recognizes and converts all PDF form fields—including text boxes, radio button groups, drop downs and check boxes—along with their attributes, directly into secure DocuSign fields that can be assigned to specific recipients. These fields can be manipulated without any additional software, and the forms can be saved as templates in the DocuSign online forms library and shared with all account users.

DocuSign for Salesforce New Enhancements. Salesforce users now have access to all functionality DocuSign offers from inside Salesforce. Salesforce users can use DocuSign to send any document for signature as easily as sending email from Salesforce. Unique to DocuSign is the ability to drag and drop form fields associated with Salesforce data directly into documents, enabling these documents to collect data during the signing process and automatically update Salesforce in real time. This new capability eliminates rekeying of information and dramatically streamlines the sales process.

In addition, users can set up DocuSign for Salesforce accounts and manage users within the Salesforce application through the new DocuSign Admin Tab. Users can be up and running in a matter of minutes with no new user interface to learn. These new capabilities are expected to be released through the Salesforce Spring Update on March 6, 2010. DocuSign for Salesforce customers include Acteva, Community Energy, Drawloop, EDGAR® Online, LinkedIn, Yamaha and others.

Expanded Capabilities with ESIGNControl for the Apple iPhone. ESIGNControl enables DocuSign clients to use their Apple iPhone to access, send, sign and manage electronic documents. It is a powerful tool for managers to track their sales through robust reporting functionality. ESIGNControl is available today for download from iTunes® and a variety of other Web sites.

The iPhone is quickly becoming a must-have business productivity tool and ESIGNControl makes it easy for DocuSign clients to maximize efficiencies when away from the office. ESIGNControl was developed for the iPhone and thoroughly tested for performance. This new application offers a fast, convenient and mobile method to use DocuSign from any iPhone. -Tony Tonchev, founder of Smart Mobile Solutions and creator of the ESIGNControl application

ESIGNControl is a DocuSign transaction remote control that lets users manage documents sent for e-signature from any iPhone. ESIGNControl offers a rich feature set that makes it fast and easy for DocuSign users to:

• Send a document for signature straight from your iPhone
• Conveniently view, track and access sent documents
• Easily send, revise and resend documents for eSignature
• Quickly access document signing status, envelope details, archived documents and history
• Share easy-to-read graphical reports that even shows transaction times
• Electronically sign a document from anywhere, anytime
• Remotely log in to the DocuSign Console

These powerful new features within the DocuSign eSignature Service, further demonstrate DocuSign’s leadership in the ESIGN market. DocuSign currently commands more than 70 percent of the SaaS-based electronic signature services market and recently surpassed 58 million signature events. The company has experienced accelerated growth of more than 300 percent over the previous year and serves more than 20,000 customers ranging across all markets. In 2009, DocuSign delivered more than 480 customer-driven features while maintaining 99.993 percent system availability over the past 28 months.**

Pricing and Availability of DocuSign Electronic Signature Solutions

DocuSign for Salesforce is scheduled to be available March 6 with additional product information available online. Salesforce users will be able to download the DocuSign for Salesforce application at no charge at the Appexchange.

ESIGNControl is available now from iTunes for $2.99.

* Gartner report “Market Trends: Software as a Service, Worldwide, 2008-2013, Update,” November 4, 2009. http://www.gartner.com/resId=1221513 .
** DocuSign, http://www.docusign.com/news_and_events/press_releases/2010-01-27.php.

With approximately three weeks left in 2009, do you have enough time to accomplish everything you would like to before the start of 2010? Perhaps you’re thinking about new initiatives for next year – with electronic signature, you can start saving time NOW while implementing an environmentally friendly, “Green” business process.

How many pages are the real estate contracts you prepare for your clients? If you’re writing an offer with all of the associated addendums, you could easily create nearly 30 pages of paper.

If you’re faxing the offer, that’s another 30 pages created by the fax machine. This transaction has created 60 pages of paper – and no signatures at this point! Your client then has to sign each page where you’ve indicated and if he or she faxes it back, this process has now created 90 pages of paper.

Of course, if you have to get your client’s spouse to sign, you’re looking at more faxes and more paper. If you’re using a scanner, you can minimize, but not eliminate, the amount of paper you generate.

In a multiple offer situation, say five, the number of pages multiplies and could become 450 pages for the fax-back-and-forth process of collecting signatures, just for this one client. If you’re working with multiple clients… the number of pieces of paper multiplies as well.

With seller addendums… you get the picture.

The Solution: Electronic Signature from DocuSign

With this much paper, you need a solution that enables you to implement a paperless and green business process. DocuSign is the leader in electronic signature services that securely enable you to electronically send, sign and manage your documents with confidence.

You can create your documents with your current forms creation software – Adobe, Microsoft Word, zipForms, WINForms, TrueForms, Flexmls Forms, IRES, Realfast2Go, TransactionPoint, or DocCentral.

Once you’ve created your documents and saved them to your computer, you can log into DocuSign. You upload your documents, enter your client’s information, tab the documents for signature and click to send. See the video below:

Your client receives an email from DocuSign with a message that you’ve requested their signature on documents. Once your client clicks the link included in the email and authenticates him or herself into the DocuSign system, DocuSign takes them through the electronic signature process, step-by-step. See the video below:

Once your client has signed or initialed the document in each location you’ve tabbed, accepted or declined each tab for optional signature or initial, and completed the signing process, you will receive an email notifying you that your documents have been signed.

If you choose to “CC” the other agent in the transaction, he or she will receive a clean, legible copy of the documents with all of the associated signatures.

No faxes. No paper. DocuSign electronic signature provides clean, clear electronic signatures on documents without software to download or equipment to buy.

As the official and exclusive provider of ESIGN services for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and its 1.2 million members under the REALTOR Benefits® Program, and is designed to provide unique offers to NAR members through its new “ESIGN Advantage Promotion for Realtors®.”

With the “ESIGN Advantage Promotion for Realtors®,” we’re currently offering a special promotion to Realtors® through December 31:

• All the capabilities of DocuSign for Real Estate Standard Edition,
• Custom branding that will enable you to tailor your account for a more personalized client experience,
• And special pricing: the cost for the promotion will be as low as $13.95 per user/month (annual commitment) or $17.95 per user/month (month-to-month). You can save as much as 21 percent on the best available monthly subscription rates with a risk-free 30-day money back guarantee.

You can implement paperless processes and go green at the same time with electronic signature from DocuSign!

For Windows:

For purposes of this discussion, I’ll use WINForms in this example. However, the steps are similar for the other forms creation software tools.

The virtual print driver allows DocuSign to communicate directly with WINForms.

To download the virtual print driver:

1. Go to the sender download page on the DocuSign web site
2. Click on the blue Download button underneath the top option, Download DocuSign Professional Standard
3. Select “Run” when prompted to save or run
4. After the driver completes its download, it will automatically launch the installer

Once the installer is finished installing the DocuSign virtual print driver, you’ll be able to upload documents directly from WINForms into a DocuSign Envelope.

To use the print driver:

1. Open the document you want to send for esignature via DocuSign
2. Go to File
3. Select Print
4. Select the printer: “Send in DocuSign Envelope”

If your computer gives you a message indicating that your .NET framework needs to be upgraded before the driver can be properly installed, here’s what you do:

1. Click here to download the necessary .NET framework
2. Click download
3. .NET framework downloads and launches an installer that automatically replaces the older version on your computer

You can now download the DocuSign virtual print driver properly. If you’re using Firefox, you can download the .exe file and then open it directly from your computer.

Want to see how to use zipForm 6 / WINForms with DocuSign? Click this link to see more training videos.

Enjoy the questions and answers – as always, please feel free to head over to the DocuSign forums to ask us your questions about electronic signatures, share your expertise developed from your early adoption of electronic signatures, and give us feedback on what features you’d like to see in future releases!

Q: Is there any way for signers to be able to read rather than jump to next tab, during the online contract execution process?

A: Signers can use the navigation bar to scroll through the document at their leisure. The signer can also print or download the document. Another option for signers is clicking on the “printable version” button near the top of the screen once they are viewing the electronic document. A menu will pop up and the signer can select the ‘envelope PDF’ and either save the PDF to their computer or print out a copy.

Q: I got an email saying that my document had been signed… how do I get the copy?

A: Once the document is uploaded, tagged and sent, it stays on the website. The client(s) get a notification to sign, and then you get a notification that electronic contract execution process was completed. No actual documents are ever transferred back and forth because emailing sensitive documents as email attachments is against many state and federal laws. “Solutions” that actually email documents back to signers after they have been signed create some potentially serious legal issues for the users.

Also, you can check the status or retrieve your documents any time by logging into your DocuSign account, going to your Sent Items folder, and selecting the envelope.

Q: I have opened a document that was signed by DocuSign and it says “problems with one or more signatures”. How can I correct this?

A: There is nothing wrong with the DocuSign signatures on the document. The message you’ve encountered is usually caused by Adobe Acrobat not automatically trusting the VeriSign PKI Certificate (digital signature) on your DocuSign document. This is fairly easy to remedy. Follow the steps below:

*Adobe Acrobat 9

- Log-in to DocuSign
- Open up the DocuSign Envelope and double-click to open.
- Click on PRINTABLE VERSION in the upper right.
- Adobe Acrobat will launch in a new window with your file displayed in PDF format.
- Click on “Signature Panel Button” (upper right) and the signature panel opens to the left
- Right click on “Rev.1: Signed by DocuSign, Inc.”
- Click on “Show Signature Properties”
- Click “Show Certificate button” (under the summary tab) – the Certificate Viewer opens
- Click “Trust” tab.
- Click “Add to Trusted Identities”
- Adobe Security window opens, click “OK”
- Click OK again until you exit from the all the dialogue boxes.

Next time you open up a PDF, the DocuSign Signature should be valid (trusted). Find more information from Adobe about digital signatures, changes and improvements.

Come to the DocuSign Forum and join the discussions about electronic signatures and electronic contract execution.