What is an observer?

An observer is someone who automatically receives copies of draft and finalized documents when a party they observe is emailed a signature request or the document set is finalized. 

Adding someone as an observer is a helpful way to make sure that they automatically receive copies of a given document set, even if they aren't signing or editing the documents. When the observed party is sent a signature request email, a separate email notification containing draft documents is sent to all observers for that party. When the document set is finalized, our software emails all parties, as well as observers, copies of the final signed documents.

Observers are often paralegals or secretaries at a law firm or in-house administrative or legal personnel at a company. See How can I have my client add me as an observer? to learn more about how your client can add you as an observer.

You also have the option to automatically add someone as an observer to all future document sets for a team. To do this, you can add the person as a team collaborator and select this option in their settings. For instructions on how to add a collaborator, see How do I add a new collaborator to a team?.

Although observers receive notifications, being an observer alone doesn't give someone the ability to make changes to a document set. See What is a reviewer? to learn how someone can edit document sets.