Updating DocuSign Envelope Templates from FileMaker

When we first released our fmESignature Link (DocuSign Edition) solution we included support for working with DocuSign Templates. DocuSign Templates are perfect for almost any Docusign workflow that you do over and over again, for example sending the same document/s to different recipients such as non-disclosure agreements and rental agreements.

DocuSign Templates allow you to include one or more documents and configure placeholder roles (e.g. landlord and tenant for a rental agreement) which you then assign recipients to – the recipients and signers will likely change every time you use the template.

For Templates that don’t change the fmESignature Link solution can be used to quickly create a DocuSign envelope and assign recipients to the roles and send the envelope via the DocuSign API. However there may be situations where you need to replace one or more documents in a Template with a dynamically generated file – the documents in the template act as placeholders for the actual document you wish to send.

Recently we have worked with a number of medical practice clients that wished to automate the sending of various forms (e.g. new patient consent forms) that they were previously sending manually using DocuSign Templates and copying data from their internal FileMaker solution. Some of their Templates required the user to create PDF files from their FileMaker CRM and replace files from their Template with these FileMaker generated PDFs which contained information specific to each patient.

We were able to extend the functionality of the fmESignature Link file to perform the following actions:

1. create a new Envelope using the DocuSign Template and set the status to ‘Draft’ so that it is not sent
2. create multiple PDF files from FileMaker and replace the placeholder files in the Envelope with these PDF files by updating the Envelope Documents
3. we also were able to remove roles that were not required for individual Envelopes (for example where a patient did not have a partner that also needed to sign an agreement)
4. once the Envelope had been updated with the new PDF files and any redundant signer roles removed we then changed the status of the Envelope to ‘sent’ and the email was then sent by DocuSign to the first recipient/signer

Using the power of the FileMaker Platform we were able to automate this workflow that previously involved multiple manual steps:

1. login to DocuSign and create a new Envelope from a Template
2. create the PDF files from FileMaker and uploaded to DocuSign in place of the placeholder files
3. manually enter the names and email addresses for all recipients/roles and remove any roles that weren’t required
4. manually send the envelope from DocuSign

down to a single button click in their FileMaker CRM.

If you would like to discuss integrating DocuSign with your FileMaker solution please get in touch to arrange a free consultation to discuss your requirements.