Signature and Notice Flow
On this page
The guest signs one notice, wherever the signature is taken: on the folio screen, on a signature pad, on a phone or tablet, in the group folio, or in the online check-in page. The notice is written only in the PMS. Whatever the guest signed is stored with the signature and is what the registration card, folio and e-mails show afterwards.
1. Where the notice comes from
- Open Property Setup > Notice Setup and edit or add a notice. In Notice Attached With tick Signpad Notice (category SignaturePad). This is the signing notice. Dates on the notice choose which notice is active for a stay date; only one notice can be the signing notice on a given date.
- If no notice is attached to Signpad Notice, the sign dialogs show an empty text area and the guest signs without terms. Attach one before you make signatures mandatory. A deleted or deactivated notice is never used, even if it was attached before; it is also removed from its events when you delete it.
- The online check-in page uses the same signing notice. Only when none is attached does it fall back to the older Online Self Check-In notice.
- SunHardware (phone or tablet) has no notice of its own. The PMS sends the signing notice with every signature request, the device shows exactly that text and the signature comes back to the PMS. Agreements in SunHardware are read-only history.
- Editing the notice later never changes a signature that was already given: the text signed is kept with the signature (see section 4).
2. When the signature is asked
| Scenario | Is a signature asked? | Refused without it? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reservation (new or edit) | Optional: Sign menu in the Guest section | Never | A signature taken at reservation is kept and counts at check-in. |
| Reservation to check-in, single folio | Yes if Sign Mandatory at check-in is ticked | Yes: Guest signature required. Please ask the guest to sign the notice (Sign menu on the guest, or on the group folio) before checking in. The screen then opens the Guest signature required dialog (On screen / pad / phone or tablet). | A reservation already signed is accepted, no second signature. |
| Walk-in check-in | Same as above | Same | |
| Group member check-in (Check-In button in the group) | Yes, same setting | Yes, same message | The member may use the group signature if the group signed the same notice that is the signing notice now; otherwise the member must sign. |
| Group folio (Sign menu on the group) | Optional | Never | Signing the group once covers all members for the same notice. |
| OTA booking | Only when the property setting SIGNATURE_ONLY_FOR_OTA is on (on by default, set by support) | Same message | |
| Online check-in (guest portal) | The guest must tick the terms and sign | Submission refused: Please sign before submitting. | The desk approves it; on Approve the signature is stored with the signing notice text. |
| Mobile app check-ins | Not asked | No | Same exemption as other mandatory fields. |
3. How to sign (same in every place)
- Sign menu on the guest (or on the group): On Screen, a configured signature pad, or Phone / tablet (SunHardware).
- The dialog shows the signing notice with the guest's details filled in. The guest ticks I Agree to the above terms and conditions., signs and the desk clicks OK.
- Save the folio or group (or Check In). The signature, the notice text and who / when / how are stored together.
- Show Signature reopens it with the text that was signed. It works on reservations, check-ins and cancelled folios alike (the stored signature picture is fetched when you click it). On the folio of a group member that was checked in under the group signature (the member has none of its own), Show Signature displays the group signature with the notice text the group signed against (read only). Change signature asks the guest to sign the notice that is current now.
- On a tablet the guest reads the same text on the device. Nothing is stored until the result arrives and the desk saves.
4. What is stored with a signature
Notice name and id, the notice text exactly as it was at signing (placeholders such as the guest name are filled in again when printed), signature image, date and time, the user, and the source: desk (screen), pad, tablet, portal or group. One record per signature image.
5. Printed and e-mailed documents
| Document | Shows |
|---|---|
| Registration form | The signed text and the signature (the guest's own, or the group's for a member). |
| Reservation confirmation (print and e-mail) | The confirmation text; the signed text only when it is a different notice. The e-mail is no longer lost when the guest has no signature. |
| Folio, detail folio, folio 2, group documents | The signature (when Display Guest Sign is on) and the line Signed against: notice name, date and time. |
| NoticeSignature e-mail | The signed text and signature as a PDF. |
Signatures given before this change have no stored text: the documents show the notice they pointed at, or the notice in use, as before.
6. Messages you may see
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Guest signature required. Please ask the guest to sign the notice... before checking in. | Check-in refused because Sign Mandatory at check-in is on and neither the guest nor (for a group member) the group has signed. |
| Please enter Signature. | The sign dialog was confirmed with an empty pad. |
| Signature received from the device. Save the check-in to keep it. | A phone / tablet signature arrived; save to keep it. |
| No signing notice is set up. Assign a notice to the "Signpad Notice" event in Admin > Notice. | Shown by the phone / tablet dialog when nothing is attached. |
| The text to sign comes from the PMS (Admin > Notice). | SunHardware refused a signature task that came without a notice. |
Rules of the flow in short
- The text the guest signs is the notice attached to the Signpad Notice event in Admin > Notice, per property and date. The online portal uses it too and falls back to the Online Self Check-In notice only when no signing notice is attached.
- A reservation is never refused for a missing signature. Sign Mandatory at check-in applies from check-in on, including group members and OTA bookings.
- A group member can rely on the group signature only when the group signed the same notice that is current now.
- Tablet signatures are stored with the PMS notice that was sent to the device; SunHardware has no notice of its own and its Agreements screen is read-only.
- The small Topaz pad shows only "TERMS AND CONDITIONS." on its display; the full text is stored with the signature.