WhatsApp joins Docusign multi-channel delivery

Brandon Somers

Technical Product Manager, Sign Platform

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Summary•3 min read

Docusign has released WhatsApp delivery, a new feature that lets you send documents for esignature via WhatsApp. See how with the eSignature REST API.

Example use cases

Getting started

Additional resources

WhatsApp delivery is the latest addition to Docusign eSignature’s Multi-Channel Delivery offering. WhatsApp delivery enables customers to send real-time agreement notifications to signers’ mobile devices via WhatsApp. Now, senders can reach signers faster and provide a superior customer experience while accelerating business with a multi-channel approach.

With two billion monthly active users, WhatsApp stands as the foremost communication platform globally. Across numerous countries, WhatsApp serves as a pivotal tool for both personal and business communication. Recognizing the significance of meeting customers on their preferred platform is crucial for seamless business transactions. Given the extensive user base on WhatsApp, it becomes an obvious choice to allow senders to leverage the delivery capabilities via Docusign.

Meta has granted Docusign an "Official Business Account," distinguished by a distinctive blue checkmark badge displayed in both Docusign’s profile and chat thread headers. This verification assures signers that the Docusign account is a legitimate entity, eliminating any concerns of it being associated with spam.

DocuSIgn is a Meta Official Business Account.

Example use cases

WhatsApp Delivery can be used in many different industries and can even unlock new use cases with the ability to reach new signers, including:

Financial services and insurance:
- Loan applications, account openings, and insurance agreements
Retail:
- Lease and purchase agreements
Public sector and education:
- Student agreements

Getting started

WhatsApp Delivery is available via the Docusign web application user interface and the Docusign Envelopes:create API.

User Interface

Starting with the UI, WhatsApp can be found when creating a new envelope or template:

Within the Prepare page, three Delivery checkboxes will be available to select in the recipient card: Email, SMS, or WhatsApp (Note: WhatsApp delivery is a standalone delivery method and does not work in tandem with email or SMS).
After entering the recipient's name and selecting WhatsApp, enter the recipient's phone number (Note: Docusign allows for five WhatsApp recipients per envelope).

API

For existing customers who are already using Docusign’s SMS Delivery solution, integrating WhatsApp into the API will be a simple update. When creating the envelope definition for the Envelopes:create API call, set the deliveryMethod value of the signers property in the recipients parameter, as shown in the code below.
Note: Previously, deliveryMethod was optional. Moving forward, deliveryMethod will be required to use WhatsApp delivery; if deliveryMethod is currently not set in your integration, SMS delivery will be used by default.

SMS delivery:

{
  "emailSubject": "Please sign : Non-Disclosure-Agreement",
  "documents": [],
  "recipients": {
    "signers": [
      {
        "deliveryMethod": "SMS",
        "name": "John Smith",
        "phoneNumber": {
          "countryCode": "1",
          "number": "425xxxxxxx"
        },
        "recipientId": "21877990",
        "recipientType": "signer"
      }
    ]
  },
  "status": "sent",

WhatsApp delivery:

{
  "emailSubject": "Please sign : Non-Disclosure-Agreement",
  "documents": [],
  "recipients": {
    "signers": [
      {
        "deliveryMethod": "WhatsApp",
        "name": "John Smith",
        "phoneNumber": {
          "countryCode": "1",
          "number": "425xxxxxxx"
        },
        "recipientId": "21877990",
        "recipientType": "signer"
      }
    ]
  },
  "status": "sent",