We just completed our DocuSign integration. It means that you can ask collaborators to e-sign documents they review on Agilewords.

This integration was a no brainer for us. E-signature is a natural extension to our review workflow and benefits users who collaborate on legal documents with partners or lawyers.

Why DocuSign? First, they’re at the forefront of cloud-based document signature and a leader in that space. Like us, they have an app on Box.net (you know, that great cloud collaboration platform). So the DocuSign integration helps us keep things simple for Box.net users who already use both services.

How does the DocuSign integration works?

We integrated DocuSign e-signature as a natural extension to our review workflow. After completing a document review on Agilewords, you can request the collaborators e-sign the document.

To do so, follow these steps.

• Go to the document folder (or open the document).
• Open the file menu and click “Sign with DocuSign”.
  
• A setup page appears.
  
• Login to your DocuSign account.
• Select reviewers who need to sign the document or type the email of other people who need to sign the document.
• Click Sign with DocusSign.
• A PDF version of the document is sent to DocuSign who notifies all signees.

We introduced two new document icons to show to the owner of the document the e-signature status:

• for e-signature in progress
• for documents e-signed by all parties

The document owner can track the signature progress at anytime by clicking ‘Sign with DocuSign’ from the document drop-down menu (see screenshot above).

The page shows the DocuSign status for each signer. You need to login to your DocuSign account to retrieve the signees latest status.

Summary

With DocuSign integration, you can now review, edit, collaborate, and e-sign documents in the cloud. E-signature is legally binding so it’s a great way to quickly seal deals or agreements once you passed the review stage.

As usual, we invite you to send us feedback and share ideas you may have to improve this integration.

Here at Agilewords, we’re big fans of Box.net . We love the simplicity of sharing documents and how you can collaborate on documents online with tasks and discussion threads.

We’ve always thought that Agilewords would be a great addition to Box.net, especially for companies in need of structured document collaboration.

While Box.net integrates with online editors like Google Docs or Zoho, there was no way to get a business document reviewed and approved by colleagues or clients on Box.net.

So we came up with the remedy!

How the Agilewords-Box.net integration works?

Once you’ve installed Agilewords from the  Box.net apps page, you simply click “Review with Agilewords” from the “more actions” menu and send a Word document to Agilewords for review.

If you have an Agilewords account, you’ll need to fill in your credentials. If you don’t, you’ll need to register a free account with us (maximum three active document reviews at a time).  For more details on our plans, check out this article.

Next, you’ll reach the review setup page. Here you can set a review deadline, invite collaborators, assign them a task (review or approve), and customize your message to collaborators.

We customized this page to further enhance the Box.net user experience:

• Access to Box.net folder members - We added a "Select folder members" drop-down list that lists all Box.net collaborators with access to the document folder.  Click on a user name to add him to the list of reviewers; you can also add all folder collaborators at once.
  
• Access with secure URL link - We provide a checkbox to create a comment on Box.net with a secure link to the document in review on Agilewords. Anyone with the shared URL link can access the document as reviewer. Note that reviewers are still requested to login with a valid user profile (or create one). So you know at all times who is reviewing your document!
  

When you click “Review on Agilewords", the document review starts on Agilewords . Collaborators receive an invitation with a link to the document.

Here's how the document looks with discussion threads:

Why Agilewords is a great complement to Box.net

As Box.net is an improved replacement of Sharepoint, Agilewords is the improved replacement of MS Word Review and Track Changes. Think MS Word in the cloud with collaborative features to boot.

Box.net discussion threads are useful for general discussion but limited when you need a detailed review of your document. Instead, use Agilewords to collaborate on the document, collect group feedback, track changes, and request approval from key stakeholders.

Here's how Agilewords can benefit you:

• Cloud-based, accessible 24/7 - all you need is a browser
• Structured document collaboration (review deadline, review and approval tasks, audit trail)
• Simple and efficient way to collect group feedback
• Track changes for all document edits
• Easy progress tracking (document notifications, daily digest)
• Full audit trail and activity reports (comments, edits, access log...)
• Secure collaboration (login required, role-based permissions, you control who downloads the document)

What’s next?

We believe that the Agilewords integration with Box.net has great potential and plan to enhanced it further. How do you want this integration to work?

We invite you to tell us how we can improve. Post your comments or ideas in our forum (Box.net discussion thread) or email us email us and we'll get right back to you.

The Agilewords team

The old email approach may seem to work fine for you but chances are that you are missing on a big opportunity to boost your productivity and to simplify the life of everyone involved in the document review process.

Without further due, here are five reasons to start using Agilewords online document review solution:

• Shorten reviews from weeks to days – Instead of sending emails to every team member, dealing with multiple versions, merging changes, and chasing up as the due date get closer, use Agilewords to assign tasks, monitor progress, and drive reviews to completion faster.
• Control who can access and download your documents – We’ve all read about staff leaving laptops in taxis or losing memory sticks with confidential data. Agilewords is safer than email or storing documents on a shard drive. Users you invite access an online version. They can’t download your document unless explicitly granted access.
• Streamline your document collaboration – Sometimes you want people to look at a document but not change it. Agilewords lets you do this by assigning ‘roles’ to your review team; for instance, you can invite users are an ‘Author’ or ‘Reviewer’ depending on their requirements.
• Client Access – As your document is stored on the web, you can share a secure link with your clients (or overseas team) allowing them to review the document and see the progress you're making.
• Track document changes online – Agilewords helps you identify changes made to the document by highlighting all edits made to the text. This speeds up the review process as you can quickly view the document changes online and respond where necessary.

Don't take our word for it and  try Agilewords free for 14 days. It takes less than 60 seconds to get started.

The New Rules of Document Collaboration is the first in this series. It’s a short guide to help you navigate through the issues, risks, and other unknowns when it comes to selecting a document collaboration application.

But, it’s more than that. It also shows where you can benefit from Document Collaboration: how to use it in the workplace, make immediate cost savings, and ensure your firm doesn’t miss out.

This book is shared under Creative Commons. So when you're done, feel free to post this on your blog or email it to whomever you believe would benefit.

Thanks for reading it.

Fabrice Talbot
Founder, Agilewords.com

Ivan Walsh
Editor, Business Synchronicity at www.ivanwalsh.com

PS - Thanks also to the Agilewords team who made the project a reality

Why the Document Review Wizard? Well, we realized that many users who wanted to setup a document review were struggling to pass the upload step and needed guidance to select the right document review settings for their project. With this in mind, we created a 3-step Document Review Wizard.

Let's go through each step.

Step#1 - Upload Document

In the Upload Document step, page you select the Microsoft Word document you want to upload and specify the document title and workspace location. Click Next Step to go to Setup Review step.

Step#2 -Setup Review

In the Setup Review step, you set the Review Deadline, Offline Updates privileges, and grant download permissions to collaborators:

• Review Deadline - We made it mandatory (if you're asking someone to provide you feebdack, better tell them clearly when you expect that feedback). You can always change the due date later during the review if collaborators need more time to complte the review.
• Offline Updates - Use this option to authorize authors to download the document while in review and update it offline. The default option is Any Author on the document but you can select Only me if you want to be the only one with offline updates privileges; note that authors can still make online updates.
• Download permissions - Choose who can download the document after it has been reviewed. Select Only me, Authors and Me, or Everyone invited on the document. Reviewers are always able to access a document they reviewed independently of the download privileges.

Click Next Step to go to the Invite Others step.

Step#3 - Invite Others

In this Invite Others step, you invite others to review the document and customize the message to the collaborators

To do this:

1. Enter the email address of the collaborators you want to review the document or select Existing Users (not visible if no reviewers have been invited yet).
2. Click Add or press Enter to add the person to the reviewers list.
3. By default, new collaborators are added as a Reviewer; they can read and post comments on the document.
4. Select Author if you want them to edit the document – Free accounts are limited to one author.
5. Click Request Approval if you want them to formally approve the document. This step is optional – if not selected, collaborators will be assigned a review task.
6. Enter a brief message, such as when the review starts or other helpful information.

Click I'm done. Start Review Now! to complete the Document Review Wizard. An email is sent to reviewers you are redirected to the document.

Why don't you give it a try?

Here are some of the best articles I have retweeted on @agilewords, and read in RSS subscriptions this week.

• Document Collaboration Best Practices
• Social Workspaces Designed For Distributed Team Work
• IBM Collaboration Assessment Tool
• How Cisco Collaborates Internally
• Is Lotusphere really worth the cost?

Collaboration Tip

“It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin

Looking for more great links on Document Collaboration? Here are some of the best articles I have retweeted on @agilewords, and read in RSS subscriptions this week.

1. 5 steps for introducing a collaboration tool into your company
2. Document Collaboration Demystified
3. How a Wiki can help your team better collaborate?
4. Document Collaboration in Second Life
5. Beyond Document Collaboration

Collaboration Tip "Gettin' good players is easy. Gettin' 'em to play together is the hard part." - Casey Stengel

Looking for more great links on Document Collaboration?

Here are some of the best articles I have retweeted on @agilewords, and read in RSS subscriptions this week.

• Should You Sell Collaboration?
• 5 Practical Tips on Making Virtual Collaboration Efficient
• 5 Principles of Effective Collaboration
• What Almost Everyone Gets Wrong About Collaboration
• What Almost Everyone Gets Wrong About Collaboration – Part 2

Document Collaboration Tip

“When things go wrong in your company or dept., chose the collaborative way and get together e.g. once a week or once a month and discuss the lost battles together. Add the discussion of the important lessons learned. Get together! You will improve the collaboration within your team and also you will win trust and new insights plus you avoid future mistakes and business gaps.” Rita Jaskolla

Looking for more great links on document collaboration?

Here are some of the best articles I have retweeted on @agilewords, and read in RSS subscriptions this week.

• Best Practices of Document Collaboration Methods
• Create a Track Changes Document by Comparing Two MS Word File
• Collaboration comparative analysis: Huddle vs Comindwork vs Zcope/
• New Version of Collaboration Service Box.net Targets Simplicity
• The Best Features of Collaboration Solution Software

Document Collaboration Tip: Develop a Formal Approval process. Work with your team to define an approval process that aligns with the document review lifecycle.

Looking for some great links on document collaboration?

Every week we share links to articles related to online document collaboration. Here are some of the best articles I have retweeted on @agilewords and read in RSS subscriptions this week.

• How To Find Collaboration Ideas Online
• How Cisco Collaborates Internally
• Is Lotusphere really worth the cost?
• 97 Tools to Help You to Successfully Collaborate With Others
• 6 Tips For Giving Your LinkedIn Profile A Facelift

Drop me a line if you have any suggestions or found some great blogs that discuss document collaboration.

And make sure to connect on Twitter!