Requesting and Tracking Signatures
A signature request is a document, a set of signers in their roles, and a state you can watch.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → Forms:
- Signature Requests — requests in flight, their signers and their state
Architect Panel → Activity:
- Correspondence — the request and the signed result on the record
Requesting
A request names the document and the signers. Where roles have an order, the next signer is invited when the previous one completes — so a witness is not asked to witness a signature that does not yet exist.
Tracking
Signature Requests shows what is outstanding. Two things are worth watching:
- Requests sent and never opened. Usually a wrong or stale email address, and the fix is to correct the record rather than resend to the same address.
- Requests opened and abandoned. Often the signer hit an identity check they were not expecting, or could not complete on the device they were using.
Chasing
Pair a signature request with an obligation where there is a deadline, so chasing is systematic rather than somebody remembering. A signature outstanding for three weeks with nobody chasing is the normal failure mode, and it is entirely preventable.
When somebody will not or cannot sign
Have a fallback. Some people cannot complete an electronic ceremony — no smartphone, no email, a disability that makes the interface impractical, or simply a refusal. A process with no wet-signature route excludes those people, which is both a service problem and potentially a discrimination one.
Record the alternative on the case so the file shows why a signature was taken differently.
What you end up with
A signed document stored as a document, linked to the record, with the audit trail of who signed, when, and under what assurance. That is what you produce if the agreement is ever disputed — so check once, early, that you can actually retrieve and produce it.
Worked example
A care provider sends care plan agreements for signature with a seven-day obligation. The dashboard lists requests outstanding beyond five days. Where a client cannot sign electronically, a paper copy is signed at the next visit, scanned, and attached with a note — so the file is complete either way and the exception is visible rather than looking like a gap.
Recommendations
- Pair every request with a deadline obligation.
- Have a documented non-electronic route and use it without friction.
- Check the email address before sending, not after three chases.
- Retrieve one signed document as a test before you rely on the process.