Skip to navigation
Design

Key Docusign eSignature features

View as Markdown

The eSignature API is built around a core set of features that can be easily accessed using the Docusign eSignature REST API. To build the best integration possible, make sure that you consider which key features are right to implement for your app.

  • eSignature Signing Session: You can begin a Docusign signing session in several ways, including by:

  • Sending an email invite (remote signing)

  • Sending an SMS message (can also be combined with an email)

  • Redirecting from your website or app (embedded signing)

  • Recipient authentication: As the sender of an envelope, you have many choices on the level of authentication Docusign should apply to your signers. Adding authentication steps helps establish that the signer is who they say they are, but can also decrease signer satisfaction with the process due to the additional complexity and time needed.

Recipient authentication options include:

  • Email

  • Access code

  • SMS & Phone call passcode delivery

  • Knowledge Based Authentication (US only)

  • ID verification

  • Notary public verification (US only)

  • Video verification via ID Now

  • Document formats: You can attach documents for eSignature in PDF, HTML, DOC, DOCX, graphics, and other formats, and your envelope can include multiple documents of different types. When sent, all documents are converted to PDF format for signing.

  • Responsive signing: You can set documents to be automatically reformatted from PDF format to a responsive (HTML) format. This improves the signing experience on mobile devices. HTML source documents can also include inline tabs and other features.

  • Payments: You can configure an envelope to request payments from the signer.

  • Signer input: Signers can provide text, choice selection, and document attachments to your application during the signing session.

  • Multiple recipient types: In addition to signer recipients, Docusign supports the cc recipient, who receives a copy of the documents; certified delivery recipients, who must acknowledge receipt of a copy of the document; and several other types of recipients. See Recipients for details.

  • Monitoring envelope status: You can use the Connect webhooks feature to subscribe your application to receive notifications from Docusign whenever an envelope or envelope recipient moves to a specific status. By using a PaaS system as an intermediary (see the blog post Building best practices webhook listeners, part 4), your application can receive notifications from behind a firewall, with no changes to the firewall. Connect provides account-level webhooks, and per-envelope webhooks are available for envelopes sent via the API. Set the eventNotification attribute to enable per-envelope webhooks.