Overview
Some organizations (or document requirements) demand that a document be signed physically, not electronically. And occasionally, you may encounter a customer that will not sign electronically for personal reasons. When this happens, the recipient may send you the physical document instead of completing the upload process themselves.
Allowing the sender to upload the document on behalf of the recipient permits the signature process to be resumed and logged correctly in the Acrobat Sign system.
How it's used
Only the original sender of the agreement has the authority to upload a signed version of it on the Manage page.
Upon receipt of the physical document, the sender accesses the agreement on their Manage page and uploads it using the Upload Signed Document link in the Actions list on the right of the page.
The audit report tracks this activity, and the agreement resumes the configured signature flow or completes the agreement as per the agreement design.
Best practices
Organizations that do not have a strong demand for electronic or digital signatures may decide that leaving the option for customers to convert to a written signature flow enabled reduces friction in the signature process. If the option for written signatures is available for agreements sent through a group, it's likely best to enable the option to upload a signed document, just in case you get one.
Documents that demand a digital signature should not permit the option for a sender to send agreements requesting a written signature, nor should recipients be allowed to convert the signature flow to a written format if possible. Accounts with Users in Multiple Groups enabled can use the group structure to manage the signature options for the documents sent from that group.
Organizations that do not want to accept any written signatures should disable this feature along with the ability to send for written signatures and the option for customers to convert to a written signature.
Configuration
Availability:
Uploading a signed document is available for all license plans.
Configuration scope:
- Individual accounts have the action enabled by default.
- Team accounts can enable or disable the feature.
- Enterprise-licensed accounts can enable or disable the setting at the account and group levels.
To access the feature controls, navigate to Account Settings > Global Settings > Upload Signed Document.
Related settings
Two settings related to the written signature option that should be considered. If you want to disable the option to upload signed documents, you should probably disable the below settings:
Allowing the written signature type will ultimately get you some written signatures. Eventually, you are going to need to upload a physical copy for the signer.
If you have no desire to allow a written signature in any case, disable this signature type so your senders don't have the option to create the situation.
Allowing recipients to convert the signature flow to a written signature style is generally a good idea if you depend on a fast signature process and you have no demand for an electronic signature.
Signers that aren't comfortable with electronic signatures can place a physical signature and the process moves ahead.