Tablet for customers to sign pdf

[Frimley111R]

We have quite a long customer form for our customers to sign after completing works at their homes and I am wondering if it is easier to give our engineers a tablet with the form on that they can sign and then email back to us.

It seems to make sense but how easy is it to do in practice? They would need a tablet, some type of pen to write on the screen and a 'signable' pdf document.

[48k]

It's easy enough to do but there might be a better solution. What do you do currently when the form is sent to you by the engineer?

[NDA]

Do your customers need to read the long form? Having on a tablet might be awkward in that case.

As an aside, I had a play with an iPad and an Apple pen/pencil recently - it was extremely good. I could write perfectly and sign perfectly. I was very impressed.

[Frimley111R]

We have a 12 page document which we have to print out, give to the engineers, the customer signs and then the engineers return the form. We then pdf it and send to another company

It would be easier if they just opened the tablet, told the customer where to sign, signed it and then saved/uploaded it.

[Frimley111R]

NDA said:

Do your customers need to read the long form? Having on a tablet might be awkward in that case.

Theoretically yes but they never both reading it.

[Tony Starks]

We have a laser templater (laser products US LT55) that has a Surface tablet and that allows us to have customer sign off on the tablet.

Our Surface tablet is about 4 years old, so a newer one should be able to easily do what you need.

[anonymous-user]

Such a thing definitely exists

The man repairing my microwave under warranty had such a thing: an iPad with a three page form that I signed with an Apple Pencil on each page.

[technodup]

I've got a Samsung Galaxy Note I bought about 4/5 years ago for that very purpose. The pen slots into the casing and overall works pretty flawlessly. At the time Apple stuff couldn't do handwriting but I know it can now.

In my case the hardest thing about it is remembering to 'save as' customer X rather than just save, to keep the original file/form clean. Same as any other doc, but for whatever reason it's not as intuitive for me on a tablet. TBH I fking hate the things.

[Mojooo]

Can be done - quite a few repairmen have used it.

My car breakdown guy also used it and the form was also emailed to me at the same time.

On a related note, I had a guy come and quote me for a job and he had what I would describe as a jumbo tablet. The screen was at least the size of an A4 sheet so much bigger than an iPad so may help with issues of customers wanting to read the form.

[surveyor]

Have a look at the app Forms by Device Magic.

Should do what you want....

[CoolHands]

Frimley just out of interest I see you link to chargebase in your profile, but I thought you installed wooden garden playsets? Or have I got the wrong poster

[jonamv8]

We’ve developed this for a client a couple of weeks back, not difficult

[ringram]

Dont pay anyone a penny for it.

Just use this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....

Can even use a normal smartphone and sign the screen with finger(nail)

Email it back to HQ and a copy for customer etc as needed.

Staff will need to not be braindead, other than that you are good to go..

[Frimley111R]

ringram said:

Dont pay anyone a penny for it.

Just use this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....

Can even use a normal smartphone and sign the screen with finger(nail)

Email it back to HQ and a copy for customer etc as needed.

Staff will need to not be braindead, other than that you are good to go..

Thanks, I'll have a look at that. I think there is also something called Docusign too

[Frimley111R]

surveyor said:

Have a look at the app Forms by Device Magic.

Should do what you want....

Ok, will do thanks

[Frimley111R]

CoolHands said:

Frimley just out of interest I see you link to chargebase in your profile, but I thought you installed wooden garden playsets? Or have I got the wrong poster

No, same one. That was a business I jointly set up a few years ago but am no longer part of. It's all going well with Gardenatics and I still do work with the business owner so if you know of anyone who is looking for premium treehouses and climbing frames please let me know or ask Gardenatics direct.

[surveyor]

One of the gotchas to watch out for is offline access. It’s a bit annoying if your mobile signal stops your customer signing your form..

[Stuart12]

I Use office 365 with OneDrive and word on my iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil.

When I have a client meeting I use a word template and have a section for client to sign and date at the end. At the end of the meeting I then save it as a pdf, email a copy to the client and save it in OneDrive.

All works very well except when there is no cellular or WiFi I can use which has happened once in the last 18 months

To get around this I looked at a Microsoft surface pro so I could do the same process but offline if required. I decided against it as I didn’t like the size of it.

Hope that helps

[Autopilot]

Frimley111R said:

Thanks, I'll have a look at that. I think there is also something called Docusign too

I'm not entirely sure what options you have with DocuSign as I only use it as the person that signs it. I'm an IT contractor and the agency that sit between me and the company use it. I receive an email, click on the link, choose a writing style and just click the buttons to insert my digital signature. I get a copy, the agency gets a copy, works very well for people like me who aren't in the physical presence of the person who sends the form. I have no idea if there is a DocuSign version that runs without the emailing part of not but if it is an option, DocuSign works well.

[Frimley111R]

Thanks, it looks like there are a few options to explore.