Forms

Overview

This guide covers management of the Forms module, the creation process, and best practices.

Key Considerations

b. When a form is sent, a form icon appears in the conversation summary box.

c. When the customer submits the form, a new conversation is automatically opened in the Forms channel. This new conversation contains a link to the completed form and is meant for agent remarks. It also includes a reference to the original conversation.

d. When both the agent and the customer have the form open, a green dot appears on the form icon, indicating that both are viewing the form.

The agent can then click the forward arrow next to the form to open it in a dialog box and fill in the form fields on the customer’s behalf. When the agent clicks the signature field, the signature dialog opens on the customer’s screen, allowing the customer to provide their signature directly.

e. Form links can be generated via an API. Learn more at our Developer Center.
Post /forms/createlink/{FORM_ID}
Post /forms/createpredefinedlink/{FORM_ID}

Forms Channel

The Forms Channel presets form settings, including communication before and after submission and signature field text.

Settings

1. At the CommBox Settings page, select the Forms module (in the Settings & Tools section), and click the +Forms Channel button.
   

2. Name the new channel and click Create Channel.

3. Modify (optional) the new channel settings:
   a. Language of instruction
   b. The legal message displayed with the signature field. Consult your legal advisor regarding the appropriate content for this message.
   c. The confirmation message the customer receives after submitting the signed form.
   d. Confirmation icon
   e. Set the number of hours the form link remains available.
   f. Enable customers to download their completed form.
   

If you change the default settings, click Save at the top of the page.

Granting Agent Permissions

Once you set up the form channel, create or edit a permission profile for the form channel, or navigate to the Agents page (in the Settings sidebar) and grant permissions to specific agents.
Note that “Viewing only” rights will not allow the agents to use forms with that channel or subchannel.

Creating New Forms

Creating and managing forms requires Admin access or Forms admin permissions, available under the General section of the permissions list.

Forms consist of fillable fields that can be added over an existing PDF or to a blank page. In the following example, we will upload an existing PDF and add fields that customers can fill out and sign.

1. At the selected Forms channel, click on Click here to set up forms which will open a list of all existing forms.
   
2. Click on +New Form at the top of the page to create a new form.
   
3. In the dialog box, fill in the general information about your form:
   a. Enter the form’s name
   b. Select the type of template that will be sent to the customer (in our example, a PDF we preloaded).
   c. Select the Form channel for the new form.
   d. Upload the background PDF that the customer will fill out.
   e. Click Save.
   
4. As the form opens, move your mouse to the location where you want the customer to fill in information and double-click at that spot.
   
   a. Name the field (no spaces)
   b. Select the Type of data the field will contain based on the expected answers of the customer.
   

• Text – Allows the customer to enter general text.

• Label – Adds static text to the form for instructions or additional information.

• Number – Allows the customer to enter numbers only.

• Signature – Opens a signature dialog for the customer to provide a signature. The Digital Signature Declaration displayed beneath the signature is configured in the Forms channel settings.

• Email – Allows the customer to enter a valid email address.

• Date – Allows the customer to enter a valid date.

  • Enter the desired format using the d-m-y initials (day/month/year)
    

• Checkbox – This field creates a checkbox at that spot

• Approval – Adds an approval checkbox to the form’s submission bar for a legal declaration.
  

  • Text - Enter the declaration text for the field at the bottom of the document. We recommend limiting the text to 130 characters.

  • Note: This field option will only appear on the last page of the document. To edit its content, double-click the approval box. (If you don’t see the checkbox, make the form public)

    

  • Add text to a signed form – When selected, an additional page is added to the signed document with “Signed on: [date]”. Use the field below to add text that will appear before the automatically generated signing date.

  • Require scroll to bottom – When selected, customers must scroll down the document and not just skip to the last page.

• Design – Will add visual elements to the form

  • Line – Add a line to the document
  • Picture – Upload a picture
  • Region Definition – Box in an area

c. Mandatory field – Checking this box will prevent the customer from returning the form with this field empty.

d. Custom Fields – If the information in this field matches a specific field in the Customer Information pane, you may select this custom field to be populated automatically when the customer submits the form. For example, when setting the field for the First name, select the First name form the custom field list.

Note: The menu will only include fields that match the type of data of the custom field. For example, when choosing a field restricted to numeric inputs, you will be able to select only Customer Fields designated for numerical data, such as phone numbers.

e. Dependent field – This field will appear only if another field (selected from the menu) has content. For example, if the customer checks a checkbox field A, field x and field y will appear. When setting up Field X in the form, select Field A from the Dependent Field menu.

f. Click Add to save the field.
Note that sometimes the field will “miss the target”. If that happens, click and drag the box to the correct location in the form

5. Add additional fields as needed (repeat step 4) and click Save when done.
   Note:
   • Note that sometimes the field will “miss the target”. If that happens, click and drag the box to the correct location in the form.
   • When filling out forms, customers often use the Tab key to move between fields. Keep this in mind when creating a form, as the tab order follows the order in which the fields were created.

Managing Forms

Forms Listing

The Forms Listing allows you to edit a form’s content and channel, as well as manage its access settings. You can navigate to the Forms List from any Forms channel by clicking the button in the top corner.

Available options:

• Form name - Click on the form’s name to edit its content.

• Form ID - Required for related APIs

• Number of pages - Displays the total number of pages in the form.

• Channel Name

• Edit channel - Change the channel associated with this form.
  

• Delete form - Permanently deletes the form.

• Active - Only active forms can be viewed and filled out by customers.
  Inactive forms do not appear in the list of available forms when clicking the Forms icon in the Reply Box or Compose screen.

• Allow access to signed forms - When enabled, customers can view their signed forms by clicking the link they received.
  This option is not available for publicly accessible forms that use a generic link.

• Public – When the Public option is selected, a Copy link option appears. Click it to copy the link and paste it into a message to the customer.
  Clients can also embed this link into their product, allowing customers to fill out the form independently, without an active conversation. Forms must be Active to be used in any manner.

Clients can also plant this link into their product and enable their customers to fill it independently of communication.

Organizing Forms into Folders

You can group multiple forms into folders for easy sharing and organization.
To create a folder:

1. Select a Form channel and click the +New Folder at the top of the page.
2. Name the folder.
3. Add forms and click Save.
   

The folders are listed after the single forms.

Sending Forms and Folders to Customers

From the Forms list

At the Forms list, click the copy link and paste it into the message for the customer.
If you don’t see the copy link, check the Public box to make the link appear.

Note: Each Form has a dedicated channel, and agents must have permission for that channel for the Form to work.

From the Inbox

In the inbox, click the Forms icon.

Click on the form name to add the form to the inbox message without editing.

• The inserted form will appear as a link on most communication channels, such as WhatsApp, SMS, Instagram, etc.
• In Email conversations, you can click the inserted form to view it in a new tab.
• In Chat conversations, you can’t click on the inserted form as it becomes a link only for the recipient.
  

To edit the form, click the form icon next to the form's name to prefill the form you want to send. Click Insert when done.

In email channels, you can double-click on the form link to view the prefilled form.

From the Compose Screen:

At the Compose screen, click the Forms icon to add the form to the message you want to send.

Submission of Forms

Customers who receive the form can complete and sign it, then either send it back or save a copy on their device.

After Submission

After the customer sends the form (clicking SEND at the bottom of their screen), they receive the following message with a direct link to their form.

The signed/returned form is directed to a form channel. Clicking on the link provided enables the customer to view the submitted form - but not to edit it.
If you assign this customer to yourself, the conversation will be added to your assigned conversations. Click on the link in the conversation list to view the signed form.

Agents can also follow which forms were signed by the customer by clicking the form icon at the top of the Inbox. Each signed document listed is linked to the actual document with the date it was received.

Best Practice

1. Custom Fields: Use auto-filled fields to save time (e.g., first name, phone number).
2. Dependent Fields: Make forms dynamic by showing fields only when needed.
3. Adjust Field Sizes: Ensure field sizes match the form's layout.
4. Conditional Signatures: Set up fields that must be completed before the signature field appears.

Some of the features we used in our example:
• The first and last name were entered automatically by the custom fields.
• The business name was entered by the agent before sending the document.
• In section 3a, the box for entering the Corp type’s letter was dependent on the LLC checkbox.

• Changing the field size, changes the size of the information entered. Adjust the size to fit the provided form spaces.
• The signature was dependent on completing another field and appeared only after the customer filled it that other field.