Box Sign expands capabilities and developer tools to digitize agreements in the content cloud

Box announced new and enhanced capabilities, integrations, and developer tools for its native e-signature product, Box Sign.

These new capabilities include workflow features that automate processes once a document has been executed and APIs that power e-signatures in third-party and custom applications. Box also announced new and deepened integrations with UiPath and SIGNiX. With these new capabilities, Box Sign can now power even more advanced signature-based processes, helping customers move more of their transactions to the cloud.

“E-signature technology drives a number of benefits for organizations, including reduction in transaction time and cost, increased security, and improved employee, supplier, partner, and customer experiences,” said Steve Charbonnier, Research Manager of Enterprise Content Strategies at IDC. “That being said, e-signature is only one component of a fully digitized workflow, and it is most beneficial when it’s included in a broader portfolio of content sharing, collaboration and workflow automation solutions. We expect that the approach Box has taken to integrate Box Sign into its Content Cloud platform positions it well for organizations globally who are looking to digitally transform their end-to-end business critical processes.”

Box Sign makes it easy for users on Business and above plans to execute unlimited e-signatures where their content already lives at no additional cost. Since the global rollout in November 2021, thousands of customers have enabled Box Sign within their organizations. In addition, Box was named a Major Player in the IDC MarketScape Worldwide eSignature Software 2021 Vendor Assessment.

New Box Sign features

The future of work is digital-first and paper-based processes hold companies back from reaching their full potential. Customers are already using Box Sign to execute employee, customer, and partner transactions digitally, from employee onboarding documents, to sales contracts, to vendor agreements, and more. To extend the power of Box Sign, Box announced the following new features to the Box Sign web application:

• Compatibility with Box Relay. Customers using Box Relay for secure workflow automation will be able to trigger downstream workflows based on document status in Box Sign. With this new integration, for example, HR teams will be able to kick off new hire onboarding steps if the signature status is complete, or if the status is declined, assign a task for the recruiter to follow up with the candidate. This new feature is expected to be available in the first half of 2022.
• Lock template fields. Customers will be able to lock template fields when creating signature templates, helping reduce the need for additional auditing requirements and preventing senders from making alterations to pre-defined contract templates. This new feature will give teams, like sales operations and finance, precise controls to standardize documents such as NDAs sent for signature. This new feature is expected to be available in the first half of 2022.
• Customized signature settings. Admins will be able to manage electronic signature disclosures in the Admin Console, with the flexibility to use either disclosures they provide themselves or disclosures provided by Box. Also, end users will be able to upload signature images and stamps that can be applied during signing. These features give customers more personalized signing options and will be available later this month.
• Improved access to Box Verified Enterprise. Available now, this enhancement makes Sign compatible with Box Verified Enterprise (BVE), which is used by security-conscious customers to protect sensitive content by preventing non-corporate Box access within their organization. This enables BVE customers to address internal and external e-signature use cases without any changes to their network settings.

“According to IDC, the worldwide e-signature market is expected to grow from $2.3 billion in 2020 to $6.4 billion by 2025, making it one of the fastest growing markets in enterprise software,” said Diego Dugatkin, Chief Product Officer at Box. “Since entering the space with our acquisition of SignRequest less than a year ago, we have already brought seamless, native e-signatures to all of our customers on Business and above plans at no additional cost. Today’s announcements build on our promise to expand on Box Sign’s core capabilities by delivering customers and partners with a richer set of features, new and deepened integrations, and a world-class developer experience. We have only begun to scratch the surface on what is possible within the e-signature space, so customers can expect to see even more value from Box in the coming months.”

New developer tools

At BoxWorks 2021, Box rolled out a core set of Box Sign APIs to reduce time to production for custom and third-party application development. In just three months, developers are already building on Box Sign APIs, leveraging Box’s powerful and secure e-signature technology to create custom experiences that meet their unique business and customer needs. To deliver a more seamless experience, Box added the following new developer tools available now:

• SDK support for .NET, Node, Python, Box CLI, and iOS. Box has expanded SDK support from Java to add additional server and mobile SDKs, including .NET, Python, Node, and iOS. Now developers can work with Box Sign APIs, in the language or environment of their choice, to build secure e-signature experiences into their in-house tools and custom integrations, as well as in their native mobile apps.
• Box Sign API for signer verification and password protection of docs. Box Sign has added API support for SMS-based two-factor authentication and for password-protection of documents sent for signature deliveries. Together, these APIs give an added layer of security to customers by helping to verify the identity of signers in third-party and custom applications, and enable customers to address use cases requiring additional authentication.

New and deepened integrations

This robust set of APIs, combined with SDK support and the rest of the Box platform, delivers a seamless experience for partners to integrate e-signature functionality directly into their systems instead of building a similar solution from scratch.

From workflow automation to notarial services, partners such as UiPath and SIGNiX are already leveraging Sign API’s to help joint customers save development time and enhance business productivity. For example, Box is also announcing the following new and deepened integrations:

• Expanded UiPath integration for Box Sign. As one of the most popular integrations for the UiPath platform, UiPath for Box already makes it easy for users and teams to leverage UiPath advanced technologies to automate processes that rely on files, data, or documents in Box. UiPath also plans to add Box Sign to UiPath Integration Service to help customers accelerate complex enterprise workstreams like contract processing, HR onboarding, and sales operations.
• Box Sign with SIGNiX for secure, remote online notarization. Some jurisdictions require notarization of entire classes of documents, including commercial leases, mortgage documents, and legal affidavits. Available now, Box Sign with SIGNiX is designed to help reduce bottlenecks by providing a seamless experience for using SIGNiX’s remote solution and automatically storing SIGNiX documents in the Box Content Cloud.

“As interest in accelerated processes amongst organizations continues to grow, the expanded UiPath integration with Box enables enterprise organizations to easily begin or continue their enterprise automation journey, successfully mature and scale their automation initiatives, and refocus their workforce on business transformation,” said Param Kahlon, UiPath Chief Product Officer. “We’re proud to be partnering closely with Box to build integrations that help users improve productivity and get faster results at scale.”