System Setup for Electronic Signing of Rental Agreements
Purpose
RCM has the functionality to allow customers to Electronically Sign (E-Sign) a Rental Agreement.
Once the capability has been setup, there are two ways that a customer will be able to sign a rental agreement:
1. The operator will be able to email a customer with an invitation to E-Sign a rental agreement. The customer follows a link to a signature capture page, from where they will be able to enter their signature using a stylus or fingertip (on a touch-enabled device), or by writing/drawing their signature with a mouse. The signed Rental Agreement will then be available to print by both the customer and the operator. For more about the online E-Signature Capture process, see the Electronic Signing of Rental Agreements (Online) article.
2. The customer will be able to E-Sign an agreement in-branch - we call these Over The Counter signatures. This process requires a separate customer-facing device (e.g. tablet, iPad). For more about this over the counter process see the Electronic Signing of Rental Agreements (Over the Counter) article.
The following sections describe how to set up RCM and enable the E-Signature capture.
Step 1: Request the E-Signature functionality from RCM Support
Send your request for E-Signatures to be switched on to our RCM Support team by email (support@rentalcarmanager.com). Note that there is an extra fee for this service.
Step 2: Go to the E-Signature Set-Up Page
Once the E-Signature function has been configured and switched on there are a few setup tasks you to carry out before you're ready to accept your first E-Signature.
Each of these tasks can be performed from the E-Signature Setup Page.
From the System Setup menu, choose the E-Signature Setup icon.
Step 3 - Choose what type(s) of reservations will allow Electronic Signing
You can select to sign for both Allocated and Unallocated reservations or for Allocated reservations only.
Step 4 - Update Your Rental Agreement Text
The Rental Agreement Template is the section of text that appears at the bottom of the Rental Agreement. It is important to note that a separate template will be used on your Rental Agreement when an E-Signature is recorded, allowing for differences in the way that terms and conditions are listed or referred to. For example, your standard rental agreement may have text like "refer to terms and conditions on the reverse side" which would no longer apply to an electronic agreement - an HTML link would be more apt in this situation.
To set up your new E-Signature Rental Agreement template:
Click on the "Update signed agreement template" button as indicated below:
On the resulting screen, enter the text you would like to display on the lower half of the rental agreement in the main editable section. Note that it may be the same text that is shown for standard (non E-Signed) agreements, but some companies may wish to include HTML links to terms and conditions, or explicitly list these terms, rather than referring to them on the reverse side of a printed document.
Click the "Submit" button when you have entered the text:
Now you can also create custom E-Signature templates based on a Reservations Brand, Vehicle Category Type or Location. If you wish to have this feature enabled, please email support@rentalcarmanager.com and let us know what field you want your templates to be specific to. This is handy toll to use if let's say for example some of your locations require specific information to be added onto the Rental Agreement. This would mean you can have location specific Rental Agreements and also a default one for the other locations that can have a generic Rental Agreement.
If you wish to make your E-Signature RA Template Location(s) different from from one another, simply click on the "For Location" drop down box and select the Location(s). This will then produce the same default template you currently have, where you can then update that template. When you are happy with your changes, click "Submit" to save and activate the template for that Location - Brisbane Airport.
If you no longer want to use that template and would rather reservations for that Location (Brisbane Airport) used the default template, select the "Brisbane Airport" template on the "For Location" drop down box and then click "Delete this Template". This will result in that template no longer being "in use":
Step 5: Modify your Email Agreement Note template
The Agreement note template contains the text that will be in the email when you invite a customer to E-Sign their rental agreement (through the Email Agreement option).
Note that this is different text to that in the email that is sent with the standard agreement (without asking for an E-Signature).
This is to allow different instructions to be given in the two different scenarios. For example, your standard email may say "please sign the agreement and bring it with you when you collect the vehicle", however when inviting them to E-Sign the agreement, the instruction would be very different.
To setup the email agreement note:
From the E-Signature Setup Page, click the "Update E-Sign request text" button as shown below:
On the template screen, enter the text you would like to display on the email that the customer receives when sending an agreement to be Electronically Signed.
The text entered on this screen will appear just after "Dear <customer>", and before the link where the customer can electronically sign the agreement.
Click the "Save" button when you have entered the text:
Now you're ready to email your first E-Signature online request. Next Step: Refer to the Electronic Signing of Rental Agreements (Online) article to see how to invite your first E-Signature.
Advanced Set Up
There are other more advanced options available for use with the E-Signature functionality.
This section will explain each of the options available from the E-Signature Setup Page.
The descriptions below correspond to each numbered item in the following screenshot:
1. Allow E-Signing for Unallocated Reservations - Select whether you want the signatures to apply to both unallocated and allocated bookings
2. Rental Agreement Template Text - This is described in Step 3 above in this article.
3. Extra Signable Sections on your Rental Agreement - If you would like to gather more than one signature per Rental Agreement, for example one signature for the General Terms & Conditions, and another signature for a Credit Card Authority for Infringements, you can set up extra Sign able Sections. See the Gathering Multiple Electronic Signatures article for more information.
4. Over The Counter E-Signatures - You have the option to configure the text that can be displayed under the Rental Agreement link.
5. Rental Agreement Display Format - You can opt to display as an embedded PDF or as a link that will open a new tab
6. Over The Counter E-Signature options after customer has signed and the "Email Agreement" button has been clicked - Email contains a link to the Rental Agreement OR the email contains a a PDF attachment of the Rental Agreement.
7. Over The Counter E-Signature options after customer has signed and the "Email Agreement" button has been clicked - You also have the option to attach a Vehicle Inspection Report to the email (if applicable). This item will only display if you also use RCM's online Vehicle Inspections. Some companies may want to attach a PDF version of the Vehicle Inspection/Condition Report when emailing the agreement to an over-counter E-Signing customer. Only inspections marked as "Ready To Rent" will be attached. By default we will not send the vehicle inspection to the customer.
8. The text in the email that is sent to customer when requesting their E-Signature - This is described above in "4. Over The Counter E-Signature options after customer has signed and the "Email Agreement" button has been clicked".
9. The text in the email that is sent to any Additional Driver when requesting their E-Signature - At the time that you email the Rental Agreement to your customer for signing, you will also be able to email any Additional Driver that is recorded against the booking, as long as you have their email address. The email that is sent to an Additional Driver will have different wording than the email to the Primary Driver. This is where you can set the content of the email, for example - "You have been nominated as an Additional Driver on an upcoming vehicle rental booking. We require all drivers to sign the Rental Agreement. Below you will find a link to this agreement. Please review this and ensure that all details are correct. You may then electronically sign the Rental Agreement - see below for the E-Signature instructions."
10. How to handle a Change of Vehicle once an agreement has already been signed - This section allows you to determine what to do in the situation where you have collected an E-Signature for a booking, and later changed the vehicle for that reservation. Your options are to Void the signature, which means that the signature is no longer valid and will not show on the Rental Agreement. In this situation you might like to request a new signature from the customer. The other option is to keep the existing signature for the new agreement. You may have to place some wording on the agreement text however advising the customer that the vehicle is subject to change.
11. Receiving notifications - If you would like to receive an Email Notification when one of your customers signs their agreement online, set the value to "Notify the pickup location by email". The email will be sent to the pickup location's email address, where it has been set up, otherwise it will be sent to your company's email address.
Note that a PDF version of the signed Rental Agreement can also be attached to this email notification. For more information see the "Receiving Notifications when a Customer signs their Agreement Online" section of the Electronic Signing of Rental Agreements (Online).
12. Delete Signature - If you would like to delete a E-Signature record, click on the "Delete signatures" button. From here you will be taken to screen as seen below.
Here you can delete a Signature record as well as click on the reservation number in red to view the Booking Details. Note if you have extra signable sections set up that were electronically signed, this will also be displayed:
Relevant Links
- Electronic Signing of Rental Agreements (Online)
- Electronic Signing of Rental Agreements (Over the Counter)
- Gathering Multiple Electronic Signatures
- E-Signature Report
- Customise Rental Agreement and E-Signature Rental Agreement Templates based on Brand, Vehicle Category Type or Location
Important Articles
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