Flexkids has started providing a tool for managing waiting lists in childcare. This tool has grown into a complete software used by 200 childcare organizations. Flexkids software can be used for planning the children, contract registration and invoicing. Flexkids also offers an application and portals for parents and staff around this. Via the portal, a parent can, for example, view contracts, purchase additional products or cancel.
The link between Flexkids and Ondertekenen.nl makes it possible to digitally sign all documents, such as contracts, conditions, statements or permissions by the parents. A document can already be made available for signature during a telephone conversation with the (future) parent. In this way, the lead time is reduced from a few weeks to just a few minutes and available places can be filled quickly. For the customer, digital signing is a modern, user-friendly and fast service that sets you apart.
A childcare organization benefits from, for example, that the contract for the placement of a new child or the purchase of an extra day is returned signed as soon as possible. After all, every day that an available place remains unfilled costs money. It is therefore important to have an answer from the parents as soon as possible and the option to have documents digitally signed will certainly help with this. Partly due to the extensive legislation and regulations, a childcare organization is quickly confronted with complex information flows. For example, staff planning must take into account not only the number of children in the group, but also the ages of the children and the competences of the staff. “A professional childminder agency, Today’s daycare center or playgroup can no longer do without an automated business process”, concludes Cornelissen.
When digitally signing a document, the ‘signer’ puts his ‘electronic signature’ by placing an ordinary ‘electronic scribble’ in the document, or by entering the login details that are also used to access the Flexkids customer portal. The signature placed in this way has the same legal value as the handwritten signature. Digital signing works very intuitively within Flexkids. “An employee of a childcare organization can define a template for a certain type of document. The employee then prepares the document by, for example, indicating which information must be on it, whether the recipient must sign and where the signature must be placed. After that, the document can easily be inserted into the signing process. The customer then receives an email to sign the document within a secure environment. The recipient also has the option to reject the document.
The company from Haarlem has thus not only automated the business process within childcare, but has also largely digitized communication. Until recently, however, signing documents such as contracts, drug statements and direct debit authorizations was still a manual process. “Many of our clients require a contract to be signed by both parents or guardians. Then you have to deal with a very complicated process in which you have to create a document, print it out in duplicate, put it in an envelope, post it and scan and process it again after receipt. That process can easily take two weeks and during that period an available place cannot be filled, which immediately leads to loss of income for the childcare organization. Both Cornelissen and some Flexkids customers felt that the process of signing documents should be speeded up. The solution was found in Ondertekenen.nl from Evidos, an online service for signing documents that was fully integrated into Flexkids software. “With this we reduce the lead time of an offer from two weeks to two minutes,” says Cornelissen. Developing a functionality such as that offered by Ondertekenen.nl was not an option for Flexkids. “Developing the ‘back end’ would have bought us too much time and distracted us from our core business of developing software that enables childcare organizations to optimize their processes.” an online service for signing documents that has been fully integrated into Flexkids software. “With this we reduce the lead time of an offer from two weeks to two minutes,” says Cornelissen. Developing a functionality such as that offered by Ondertekenen.nl was not an option for Flexkids. “Developing the ‘back end’ would have bought us too much time and distracted us from our core business of developing software that enables childcare organizations to optimize their processes.” an online service for signing documents that has been fully integrated into Flexkids software. “With this we reduce the lead time of an offer from two weeks to two minutes,” says Cornelissen. Developing a functionality such as that offered by Ondertekenen.nl was not an option for Flexkids. “Developing the ‘back-end’ would have bought us too much time and distracted us from our core business of developing software that enables childcare organizations to optimize their processes.”
To make using the option to digitally sign documents as simple as possible, a seamless integration of Ondertekenen.nl was an important starting point. “The distinctive character lies in that integration. The user must be able to define the type of document within the Flexkids software – such as a direct debit authorization or a new contract – and then be able to participate in the signing process.”
“Fortunately, Evidos also recognized the importance of a seamless integration,” Cornelissen continues. “In order to make the integration possible, a few adjustments in the software were needed and these were implemented without much work on it.” Kick Willemse, director of Evidos and Ondertekenen.nl: “We like to work with software partners in a special niche, and therefore ensure that the signing process is optimally integrated into the industry-specific workflow of the software partner. In this case too, we have ensured optimal functioning of digital signing within Flexkids software.”
“A parent can view contracts and invoices via such a portal, ask questions, purchase additional products or cancel.”
The functioning of digital signing as part of the Flexkids can be summarized in five simple steps:
After sending the signed document, the customer receives a copy of the contract in his mailbox and the status is immediately visible in Flexkids. The document is provided with a ‘trademark’ and all necessary digital data such as the time of signature and the IP address of the signer are linked to the document. In Flexkids, a task is automatically created for the employee of the childcare organization so that he or she knows that the document has been signed and can carry out the follow-up actions.
Want to know more?
Please contact us for more information. We’re always happy to answer your questions.
