Appearance
Managing Sessions
Incoming booking requests
When a client books a session with you, you will receive an in-app notification and email. The booking is initially in Awaiting Notary status.
To accept or decline:
- Go to Dashboard → Sessions.
- Open the incoming request.
- Review the client details, document summary, and scheduled time.
- Click Accept or Decline (provide a reason if declining).
Once accepted, the client is prompted to complete payment. The session moves to Confirmed status.
Before the session
- Open the session under Dashboard → Sessions → [Session Name].
- Click Review Documents to expand the document list — this shows all documents attached to the appointment, including notarisation documents and identity documents the client has submitted.
- Check the client's KYC status — the platform shows whether each participant is verified, unverified, or pending.
- If a document has an issue before the session starts, raise a flag (see Document Flags below).
KYC protects your practice — treat it seriously
Requiring identity verification before admitting a participant is not merely a platform formality. It is your primary defence against fraud, document abuse, and impersonation — risks that, if they materialise, fall on your professional record and reputation as a commissioned notary public. A notarial act performed on the basis of a false identity is potentially void and could expose you to disciplinary action or civil liability.
Always require completed KYC before admitting a client or witness. The platform enforces this by default.
If you choose to admit a participant without a completed digital verification — for example, during a confirmed provider outage — you must verify their identity manually and rigorously on camera (hold ID to camera, confirm name and details verbally). Your decision to waive digital KYC and the reason you provide are permanently recorded in the session audit trail, appear on the notarial certificate, and are available for inspection by the NotariseIt compliance team and any competent authority. Exercise this discretion only when genuinely necessary, and document your reason clearly.
Reviewing documents before the session
The document list
Click Review Documents on any upcoming appointment. The list expands in place, below the appointment — it is not a separate screen, and nothing navigates away. Notarisation documents and identity documents appear together in one list:
| Document type | How it appears | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Notarisation document | File icon, turning green once reviewed | Open it — then Mark Reviewed, Flag, and run a deep AI review from inside the viewer |
| Identity / verification document | Indigo shield icon + ID Doc badge, with the document type beneath (Passport, NIN Slip, and so on) | Open and read it. Identity documents cannot be flagged or marked reviewed |
A review progress bar above the list counts notarisation documents only — identity documents are not part of it, because there is nothing to mark on them.
Each notarisation row carries a status badge:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | You have not opened and marked this document yet |
| Reviewed | You marked it reviewed, with the time shown on the row |
| Flagged | You raised a flag on it and it is still open |
| Re-uploaded | The client replaced a document you flagged; it is waiting on you again |
These badges are about your review, not the AI's. The AI verdict is one level in — open the document to see it.
AI document review
Every document is scanned automatically as soon as the client uploads it. You do not trigger it and you do not wait for it: by the time you open the document the standard review is already there.
The result is inside the document, not on the list row. Click a document to open the viewer, then open the AI result from the Document Tools panel on the right:
- Click the document to open the viewer.
- In the Document Tools panel on the right, click AI Pre-Check.
- The review opens full-screen — verdict, summary, every issue, and the Run Deep Review button.
It opens full-screen rather than in the side column deliberately: an issue list squeezed into a 280px panel is not readable, and this is the screen you are making a judgement from.
The verdict is one of three:
| Result | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Clear (green) | No issues found |
| Warnings (amber) | Something worth a look before you proceed |
| Flagged (red) | Something the review considers serious |
All notaries — including Access tier — see the full issue breakdown, summary, and suggestions for every flagged document. Nothing about the findings themselves is held back by plan.
Where to look for what
The list tells you how far you have got. The document — under AI Pre-Check — tells you what the AI thinks. If you are scanning an appointment to see what is left to do, the list is enough; if you are deciding about a particular document, open it.
The AI review advises. It does not decide.
No AI result stops anything. A flagged document can be sealed and notarised exactly like a clear one — the platform will not refuse it, and you do not need anyone's permission to proceed.
This is deliberate. Under s.6(3) of the Notaries Public Act 2023 the judgement about a document is yours and cannot be delegated to a machine, so a tool that could veto you would be putting the statutory duty in the wrong place. Treat the review as a second pair of eyes that has never been wrong about a blank signature block and is sometimes wrong about everything else.
The red badge read Blocked until recently. Nothing was ever blocked; the word was wrong and has been changed.
Two tiers of AI review
Tier 1 — Standard review (automatic, all notaries)
Runs immediately when the client uploads a document. Uses a lightweight model optimised for speed. The result is ready before you open the review panel — no waiting, no action needed from you.
Tier 2 — Deep review (manual, all notaries, credit-limited on Access)
A more thorough analysis using a higher-capability model. To trigger it:
- Click a document in the list to open the viewer.
- Click AI Pre-Check in the Document Tools panel on the right.
- Click Run Deep Review at the bottom of the review that opens.
- The result appears within a few seconds, alongside the standard review, so you can compare both.
Deep reviews consume credits:
| Plan | Deep review credits |
|---|---|
| Access | A monthly allowance — see Comparing the plans for the current figure |
| Pro / Elite / Enterprise | Unlimited |
Under the Run Deep Review button you will see either your remaining balance for this month — "3 credits remaining this month" — or Unlimited (Pro+). That line is read from your own account, so it is the number that actually applies to you.
Once the allowance is used up, the button is replaced by a note saying the monthly limit is reached. It comes back on the first of the next month.
Two numbers that look alike
The panel shows what you have left. The plan comparison shows the allowance you started the month with. If the panel says 4 and the plan page says 5, you have used one — nothing is wrong.
Leaving a note
On a flagged document you can put your reasoning on the record. Open the issue list and click Add a note on why you are proceeding.
It is optional and it is free. Nothing is being unlocked, because nothing was ever locked — you could always have notarised the document. A note is worth leaving precisely because nothing compels it: it is your own account of why you were satisfied, dated and attributed, on a document somebody flagged.
There is no minimum length. Write what is true.
Where it is kept:
- in the session audit trail, timestamped and attributed to you;
- on the document's AI review record, visible to you and to the compliance team.
It is not printed on the notarial certificate. The certificate carries the notarial act — the parties, the documents and their hashes, your commission details — not the platform's opinion of the paperwork.
You can edit a note or remove it. Removing it removes it; there is nothing to justify about having no note.
This used to be called "Override", and it used to cost money
It was built on the belief that a flagged document could not be notarised, and that a Pro subscription bought the right to proceed anyway. Neither was ever true in this platform — no AI result has ever blocked anything, on any plan. So the feature charged for permission that was not needed and demanded a written justification for a decision nobody was preventing.
The plan difference is elsewhere, and it is real: Access has a monthly allowance of deep reviews and Pro is unlimited. That is a difference in how much analysis you are given. Charging you to write down your own professional judgement is not.
In-session batch deep review
During a live session, the notary sidebar shows an AI Review All button (telescope icon). Clicking it runs a deep review on every document in the session, one after another. This costs 1 credit, regardless of how many documents are in the session.
Results appear per document in the sidebar — status, summary, and issue counts — so you can identify any concerns before asking the client to sign.
If nothing could be reviewed, the panel says so and no credit is taken. A batch is only charged when at least one document came back with a real result.
Reviewing a notarisation document
- Click the document row to open the built-in viewer.
- Read through the document using the page navigation and zoom controls.
- Open AI Pre-Check from the Document Tools panel on the right if you want the AI's reading of it.
- Raise a flag from the same panel if something needs the client's attention before the session.
- Click Mark Reviewed once satisfied.
The Document Tools panel can be collapsed with the arrow in its header when you want the full width for the document itself.
Reviewing an identity document
- Click the identity document row (marked with a shield icon and ID Doc badge).
- The viewer opens in view-only mode.
- Verify the document is genuine, readable, and matches the client you are expecting.
Your document library
Documents → Document Library is your own shelf: templates, pro-forma documents and files you want to hand to clients. It is the second tab on the Documents page — the first, My Documents, holds documents from your own sessions.
Attach a library file to a session and the client can view or download it. This is the right place for a standard form you send out repeatedly, rather than re-uploading it every time.
Not the same as Document Settings
Document Settings (in the sidebar) is about which of the 88 document types you accept and what you charge for them. The Document Library holds actual files. Both use the word "document"; they have nothing else in common.
Clients see a different second tab — Verification IDs — holding the identity documents they submitted for a booking. They have no library of their own.
Flagging a document
You can flag both notarisation documents and identity documents if the client needs to take action.
To raise a flag
- Click the document row to open the viewer.
- In the right-hand panel, click Flag this document for client action.
- Describe the issue clearly (e.g. "Page 3 is missing" or "Passport photo is too blurry").
- Click Send flag to client.
The client receives an in-app notification and email. After they re-upload, you receive a notification and can review the new version, then click Mark resolved.
Flag identity documents early
If you need a clearer identity document, flag it as early as possible — ideally the day before. Clients need time to re-upload.
Acts that span several sittings
Some of the bookings in your diary are appearances on a larger act. They carry a reference chip — a small tag reading something like NI-2026-XXXXXXXX — and clicking it opens the instrument workspace, which is where the act as a whole makes sense.
Three of these bookings on your diary is one document, not three jobs. Finishing the last of them finishes all three.
The deadline, and the two warnings
Every act has thirty days from the client's own sitting. Not from when each person was invited, and not from the last sitting — the client's.
You are warned at day seven and again at day fourteen, and so is the client. The warning names exactly who has not confirmed, booked, verified or paid. It is a prompt to act while acting is still possible: after the ceiling there is nothing left to conduct.
What expiry does to your diary
If the thirty days pass with signatures still missing, the act closes. Remaining appearances are cancelled and their slots released — automatically, with nothing for you to tidy, and nobody will arrive for a session that no longer exists.
The sittings you actually conducted are yours. They were attended and they are paid. What does not happen is the act, and with it the notarisation fee that was only ever payable on completion.
What survives an expiry
The part-signed working copy is kept as evidence, watermarked so it cannot be mistaken for a notarised deed, and retained alongside the recordings under the same rule as any other notarial record. It is reachable by you and by an administrator.
It is never offered to the client, and that is deliberate in both directions: evidence that the sittings happened has to survive, and a half-executed deed in a client's hands must not circulate.
When a session may be started
From the start of the appointment's own day. The control is inert the day before, which is not a fault — it is the same rule on the diary and on the workspace, so the two cannot tell you different things.
There is no cut-off at the other end. If you are running late, or an earlier act overran, the session can still be started: lateness is ordinary and being refused would turn it into a cancellation.
When a signatory has not paid
A signatory paying their own attendance fee holds their slot unpaid for a while and then loses it. The slot is released back into your diary and they choose another time inside the same deadline.
You do not have to chase them and should not have to. They are reminded automatically, and the client — who is the only person with any standing to press them — sees the outstanding fee on their own progress page.
Starting the session
Start Session button is greyed out?
The button is disabled until both of the following are in place:
- Payout account — add your bank account under Dashboard → Settings → Bank Details
- Digital seal — register or upload your seal under Dashboard → Digital Seal
Both are required before any session can start. An amber Setup pending pill next to your name on the dashboard confirms when setup is still incomplete.
This is the only thing that greys the button out. The Reg 9 conflict declaration blocks a session too, but it does so differently — the button stays live and the unanswered question is marked instead. See the conflict-of-interest declaration.
If you are late starting
Your client is not left staring at a blank screen. Once their booked time passes, the platform gives them a ladder of options — and the clock starts at the scheduled time, not when you open the app, so it runs whether or not you have touched the booking.
| Time past the slot | What happens |
|---|---|
| ~5 minutes | Your client can send you one reminder — a text message if you are on Pro or above, an email on Access. One only, no matter how long they wait. |
| ~10 minutes | Your client can ask us to find another notary. If they do, the booking leaves you immediately. |
| ~15 minutes | The platform acts on its own, whether or not the client has chosen anything: the booking is reassigned to another notary, or the client's notarisation fee is refunded if nobody suitable is free. |
The reminder is capped at one deliberately — you may be finishing a session that has over-run, and being messaged repeatedly would not help you arrive sooner. If you are running late and can still hold the session, the reminder links straight to the booking.
Losing a booking this way is recorded
A reassignment away from you is written to the session record with the reason. Repeated no-shows affect your standing on the platform — see Personal performance requirement.
If a booking is reassigned TO you
You start the document review from scratch. Any review the previous notary recorded is cleared when the booking moves, and the client's booking shows it as outstanding again.
That is not an oversight. Being satisfied that a document is fit to notarise is your own professional judgement, and it does not transfer from a colleague who is no longer on the booking. Review every document yourself before you start.
The AI pre-check is kept, because the file has not changed and re-running it would return the same result.
What you are told before you decide
The assignment email and the banner on the appointment both carry the three things you need in order to judge whether the session is worth taking:
| The fee | What the booking charges for the act, and what reaches you after the platform commission |
| The documents | How many, and of what type |
| The time | When the session is, including any change of slot |
The fee is the fee the booking already carries — the amount the original notary would have received. It is not re-priced at your own rate, and the client is not asked for more or given a refund of any difference. That is why the amount is shown to you before you commit: your agreement to the figure is what makes it fair, and you are free to withhold it.
The estimate assumes you notarise everything on the booking. The final amount is worked out at session close from what you actually notarised, so it can be lower.
Only sessions near your own price reach you
The platform does not offer you every unclaimed booking. It compares what the booking charges against what you would have charged for the same documents, and only offers it if the two are close — within a percentage the administrator sets. So an assignment far outside your usual range should be rare; if you are seeing them, tell support, because that is a setting that wants adjusting.
Handing a session back
You did not book this session, so you are under no obligation to keep it. If the fee, the timing, or the subject matter does not suit you, use Hand this session back on the appointment (or the same link in the assignment email) and the platform looks for another notary straight away.
This is not a cancellation
Handing back a session you did not book does not count as a cancellation and does not affect your standing. It is a different control from Cancel for exactly that reason — cancelling a session a client chose you for is flagged; declining work you were handed is not.
Do it as early as you can. The sooner it comes back, the more time there is to find somebody else before the client is affected.
There is no deadline attached to the decision, but silence is not a way to decline. If you simply never open the session, the no-show rules apply as they would on any other booking — and those are flagged. If you are not taking it, say so.
Once you hand a session back it does not come round to you again on that booking.
Confirm jurisdiction
When you click Start Session, a two-step pre-flight dialog appears. Both steps are required before the video room opens, and both are recorded.
Step 1: Confirm Jurisdiction
Location scenario — choose one:
- Same State — you and the client are in the same Nigerian state
- Different States — you and the client are in different Nigerian states (an A/V clause is added to the certificate)
- Outside Nigeria — at least one party is outside Nigeria (an A/V clause is added to the certificate)
Your state — select your current state from the dropdown (all 37 Nigerian states and the FCT are listed).
Client's location — select the client's Nigerian state from the dropdown. If the client is outside Nigeria, choose Outside Nigeria at the bottom of the list — a text field appears where you can enter the country or location (e.g. "United Kingdom" or "Dubai, UAE").
Click Continue to move to step 2.
Step 2: the conflict-of-interest declaration (Reg 9)
You are asked one question, and it has to be answered before any session can begin:
Do you have any conflict of interest with the client in this matter?
This is not a form field. Reg 9 of the Notaries Public Professional Practice Regulations 2026 requires the declaration, and your answer is written to the audit trail either way — including when you answer No. The certificate carries that entry.
If you answer No, the button becomes Start Session and the video room opens.
If you answer Yes, you cannot act. Under Reg 9(a)–(b) a notary may not notarise for family members or for entities they hold a financial interest in. The button becomes Reassign, and confirming it hands the client to the next available notary — or refunds them in full if none is free. You are not paid for a session you were never able to conduct, and that is not the client's cost to carry.
You must answer before starting
The Start Session button stays live whether or not you have answered — it is not greyed out, because a disabled button whose reason has scrolled off the screen tells you nothing. If you press it with the question unanswered, the question is marked in red and reads "Answer this before starting." No session begins until you have.
Both steps together take under a minute. Your client is told you have arrived and are completing the pre-session checks, so they are not left wondering.
The pre-join screen (lobby)
Before you enter the session, you will see the pre-join screen with:
- Camera preview — confirm you are visible and well-lit
- Device selectors — choose your camera, microphone, and speaker
- Microphone level bar — speak and watch the bars animate to confirm your mic is working
- Test speaker button — plays three short tones to verify your speaker is working
- Waiting room panel (right side) — shows participants who have joined and are waiting to be admitted
Admitting participants
The waiting room lists everyone waiting to enter, along with their KYC status badge (Verified, Pending, or Failed). For each participant:
- Click Admit to let them in individually
- Click Admit all at the top to admit everyone at once
You can join the video room before any participants arrive and wait inside.
The video session
Device requirements for notaries
Conduct notarisation sessions from a laptop or desktop using Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. The notary controls and document view need a window at least 1024px wide. If you join on a device that is too small, the pre-join screen shows a non-blocking notice ("Best conducted on a laptop or desktop"). Clients and witnesses may join from any device, including phones.
Your in-session toolbar
The control bar at the bottom of the screen contains:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| REC indicator | Shows whether recording is live. It is an indicator, not a button. Hover it for the full recording notice |
| Chat bubble icon | Open or close the in-session chat. You open it; once open, everyone can use it |
| Red phone icon | Ends the session early. You must choose a reason, and what happens next — refund, reschedule, or reassignment — follows from the reason you pick. This is not how a normal session finishes; see Completing the session for that |
That is the whole bar. It is short on purpose.
There are no camera, microphone, pause or screen-share controls
This surprises people, so it is worth stating plainly: there is no mute button, no camera toggle, no pause, and no screen share — for you or for anyone else in the room. They were removed deliberately, not overlooked.
A notarial act under s.6(3) of the Notaries Public Act 2023 has to be captured in full, and every one of those controls is a way to put a hole in the recording of an act you are certifying. The pause control was the clearest example: the overlay said "Session Paused" to every participant while the recording carried straight on, so anything said in that window was captured by a recording the parties had just been told had stopped. That is worse than having no pause at all.
If you need to step away, end the session and rebook. An interrupted session that is properly ended and restarted is ordinary; a gap in the record of one that continued is not.
A participant can of course still mute at the level of their own operating system, or unplug a webcam. The platform notices and says so — see Waiting for all parties to be seen and heard — because a gated act cannot proceed while someone is not visible and audible.
Connection quality and session timer
In the header bar:
| Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green dot | Good connection |
| Amber dot (pulsing) | Poor connection — consider asking participants to move closer to Wi-Fi |
| Red dot + "Weak signal" | Very poor — connection may be unstable |
Session timer (e.g. 00:23:47) | Time elapsed since you joined |
| Amber pulsing timer | 5 minutes remaining in the scheduled slot |
A toast notification also appears when 5 minutes remain, visible to all participants.
Automatic video quality adjustment
The platform continuously monitors each participant's network quality and automatically reduces incoming video resolution when a connection weakens — prioritising audio clarity and keeping the signing panel responsive. If your own upload bandwidth drops to a critically low level, the platform temporarily suspends your outgoing video to preserve audio. Video quality is restored automatically as the connection improves. This is particularly relevant on mobile data connections.
In-session banners
Several banners may appear at the top of the session screen. They are shown to all participants simultaneously so both sides have the same information.
"You cannot hear the other participant — Enable sound" (red banner)
Your browser has blocked audio playback — this happens when autoplay is prevented before you interact with the page. Click Enable sound to unblock it. Without this you cannot hear the other participants, even though they can hear you. The recording is unaffected.
"Connection unstable — session on hold" (amber banner)
A participant's audio or video track has been interrupted by a network fault — a frozen tile or dropped audio, not a deliberate mute. Signing is paused automatically. The banner tells you whose connection is affected and confirms the recording is still running. Signing resumes as soon as the connection recovers; nothing already signed is lost.
"Waiting for all parties to be seen and heard" (dark banner)
A participant's camera or microphone is not producing anything. There is no mute control in the session, so this means their device or their browser permissions — a covered lens, an unplugged webcam, a microphone another application has taken, or camera access never granted. The platform needs everyone visible and audible before gated acts (signing, sealing) can proceed. Ask them to check those.
"Reconnecting… (attempt N) — your signatures and the recording are safe" (blue banner)
Your connection dropped and the platform is automatically retrying. Do not reload the page — a manual reload mid-session is the worst outcome. If automatic reconnection fails, a Rejoin now button appears.
Active speaker
The participant who is currently speaking is highlighted with a pulsing green ring around their video tile. Your own tile has a blue ring.
Recording
Every notarisation session is recorded — camera and audio for all participants — from the moment you join. You do not need to do anything to start it.
A REC indicator is visible in the session header at all times. The recording runs on the platform's servers, not on your connection, which means it continues even if your link briefly drops.
Recording status bar
A status bar visible to all participants shows the current recording state:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| 🟢 On the record | The A/V recording is confirmed live. All actions are captured. |
| 🟡 Starting the recording… | The platform is waiting for the recording to begin (normal for the first few seconds after joining). |
| 🔴 NOT on the record | The A/V recording has stopped unexpectedly. The seal cannot be applied until it is restarted. Use the Restart recording button that appears in the status bar, or leave and rejoin. |
If the recording stops unexpectedly
Click Restart recording in the status bar. Nothing already signed is lost — signatures are saved server-side as they are applied. The seal is blocked until recording resumes, which is the intended behaviour: the law requires the notarial act to be captured (Notaries Public Act 2023, s.6(3)(e)).
If restarting fails, leave the video room and rejoin — the recording starts fresh on your return.
In-session chat
You can open a text chat to communicate with all participants during the session.
Opening the chat
- Click the chat bubble icon in the toolbar.
- A chat panel slides up from the bottom right of the screen.
- All participants see a notice: "This chat is monitored and recorded as part of the notarisation audit trail."
- Type your message and press Enter or click Send.
All messages are stored permanently as part of the session audit trail. Participants can read and reply while the chat is open.
Closing the chat
Click the ✕ button in the chat panel header. The chat window closes for all participants. The message history remains in the audit trail.
Chat is notary-controlled
Only you can open or close the chat. Participants cannot initiate a chat session themselves.
Removing a participant
If a person who should not be in the session has somehow joined, you can remove them:
- In the Participants list (right sidebar), find the person.
- Click the remove icon (person with a minus sign) next to their name.
- Confirm the action.
The participant is immediately ejected from the video room. This action is logged in the audit trail.
Controlling documents during the session
From the session panel (right sidebar):
- Open a document for signing — click the document in the panel. That one click is the whole action: the document and its signing fields appear for every participant, and each client's panel marks it as the one you are on. Documents stay locked until everyone is present and you have verified their identities.
- Switch to a different document — click another document in the list. It becomes the open document for everyone.
- Refuse a document — click Refuse this document beneath its name, choose a reason and add a note. The refusal is recorded against the session, and Withdraw refusal reverses it if you change your mind.
Flagging is a review step, not a session one
There is no flag control inside the video room. You raise a flag on a document before the session — from Appointments, or from the document viewer with Flag this document for client action — so the client has time to fix it.
Once a session is running, a document you cannot notarise is refused with a reason rather than flagged for later. The refusal is part of the session record; a flag is not.
Completing the session
- Once all documents are signed and you are satisfied, click Complete Session.
- Confirm the notarial declaration when prompted.
- The platform generates the certificate, emails all parties, and creates your journal entry automatically.
Completion requires client confirmation
Before you can complete the session, click 👍 Ask client — are you happy to proceed? in the session panel. The client must tick a confirmation box saying they are satisfied with their signed fields. The Complete button becomes active once they have confirmed.
If some documents are still unsigned, the platform tells you which and offers Ask the client anyway. Partial notarisation is legitimate — you may have properly performed the acts you could and be leaving the rest — so this is a warning, not a refusal.
If a witness has gone, you are told before you close
The confirmation dialog checks who is actually connected at that moment and names any invited witness who is not — "Adaeze Okoro is not connected. You can still finalise." — with a line for each witness saying what they did: signed, attended and left, or never attended.
It is a notice, not a gate. Nothing in the Act or the Regulations makes a witness mandatory, and you may complete the session regardless. What the platform will not do is let a witness drop off unremarked while you sign the instrument: whatever you decide, the same facts go into your journal entry and onto the certificate.
If the check itself fails, the dialog says so rather than showing nothing — silence would be indistinguishable from "everyone is here".
The law requires every participant to be seen and heard at key moments
The platform checks that audio and video are actually flowing — not merely that cameras are switched on — at four specific points: identity confirmation, each signature, the client's final confirmation, and applying the seal. If any participant's media is absent at one of those moments, the relevant control is disabled with a plain explanation of who is affected and why.
Network interruption vs an absent camera or microphone: the platform distinguishes between a participant whose connection has dropped (network fault — the gate says "the connection to [name] has been interrupted") and one whose camera or microphone is simply not producing anything ("[name] must be visible and audible"). Both block the gated act, but the message tells you which it is so you know whether to wait or to ask them to fix something.
The second case is not a mute button — there isn't one — so it means their device: a covered lens, an unplugged webcam, a microphone taken by another application, or browser permissions that were never granted. Ask them to check those rather than to "unmute".
Low-bandwidth camera suspension: when the platform reduces your outgoing video quality on a poor connection, it temporarily suspends your camera feed at the lowest bandwidth tier. This is handled as a network condition, not a deliberate mute, and is taken into account — it will not block the seal on an otherwise valid session.
If a participant will not restore their camera or audio after being asked, eject them and reschedule.
Refusing a document
You may decline to notarise any document. It is your commission and your judgement, and the platform does not argue with it.
What changed is that you can now say why — on the record, per document, without ending the session. Click Refuse this document on the document in the session panel, pick a reason, and add a note if you want to.
Why the reason matters
It is the record. Your reason and any note go into the session audit trail, which is retained for six years under Reg 14(3). If a refusal for suspected fraud is ever examined — by a court, a regulator, or your own insurer — this is what they read. An unexplained gap where a document should have been is a much weaker record than a dated, reasoned refusal.
It decides the fee. Three reasons mean you reviewed the document, verified identity and reached a professional decision. That is work, and you are paid a review fee for it:
- I suspect this document is fraudulent or altered
- I could not satisfy myself of the signer's identity
- The signer did not appear to understand or act freely
The other three are not judgements about the instrument, so the client is refunded in full and you are not paid for that document:
- The document is defective and can be corrected — the client rebooks
- I have a conflict of interest (Reg 9) — you cannot act, and that is not the client's cost to carry
- The client chose not to proceed with this document
Each option tells you which it is at the moment you choose, so nothing about the money is a surprise afterwards.
Refusing is not free of scrutiny — nor should it be
A refusal for cause pays more than quietly leaving a document alone, so refusals are recorded against you and reviewed. That is deliberate, and it protects notaries who refuse properly: a reasoned, evidenced refusal is defensible, and the record is what makes it so.
Changing your mind
Withdraw refusal removes it. The original refusal stays in the audit trail — a record that could be silently unmade would not be a record — but the document returns to normal and can be notarised in the session as usual.
What the client sees
They are told which documents were declined and, in plain terms, why. Where a review fee is retained they are told the amount and the reason for it. You do not have to have that conversation yourself unless you want to.
Getting documents back later
Reg 14(3) of the Notaries Public Professional Practice Regulations 2026 requires a notarial record to be kept for six years. NotariseIt keeps it for you — the signed instruments, the Certificate of Notarisation, and the audio-visual recording of the session. Nothing is deleted before the six years are up, and the clock starts on the day the session completes.
The email copy never expires
The moment a session completes, the signed documents and the certificate are emailed to you as attachments. That copy is yours permanently — it is not held on the platform, does not expire, and is the one to file. Everything below is about getting another copy if you no longer have it.
For 14 days after the session
The session page in your dashboard carries direct view and download links for each signed document and for the certificate. This is the quickest route, and it is free.
The window is the same for every notary on every plan — retrieval is not a subscription feature. On day 15 the links expire and the documents move from fast storage to long-term archive.
Any time within the six years
Open Documents from your dashboard and find the notarised document you want. Retrieval after the free window is a one-time paid request. The platform shows you the amount before you commit to anything, and you are never charged without seeing the figure first.
Why the figures are not printed here
The free window and the retrieval fee are platform settings and can change. You will always see the current amount on the Documents page at the moment you ask, which is the only place it is guaranteed to be right.
Retrieval is not the same as your journal
Your journal is a separate record and is always available to you at no charge — see Your Electronic Journal. Retrieval concerns the document files themselves, not the register of acts.
Document copies
Pro and above
Sending a client's notarised document to third parties is a professional-practice capability, so it needs a Pro, Elite or Enterprise plan. On Access the Document copies control does not appear in your session panel.
Everything else on this page applies to every notary on every plan.
If somebody other than the parties needs the notarised document — a solicitor on the other side, a bank, a company secretary — you can have it emailed to them, with the client's consent, arranged during the session.
Each person on the copy list is emailed the notarised document itself, as a PDF attachment. Nothing expires and there is no link to click, which matters when the recipient is a bank or a registry whose mail system blocks unfamiliar links. Nothing is posted — if a client needs a hard copy for a court filing, they print it from the copy they already have.
How it works
- During the live session, open Document copies in the session panel (notary view only).
- Add each person by name and email address. A malformed address is refused as you type, and you can only add one address at a time — so that every recipient appears on the list your client approves.
- Click Request Client Consent. Before anything is sent to the client, the panel shows you the addresses back in a large monospaced list. Read them aloud to your client and check every character. An attachment cannot be recalled once it has gone.
- Confirm the list, and the client immediately sees a pop-up in their session screen asking whether a copy may go to those addresses.
- Once the client approves, the status updates to Approved in your panel.
- If the client declines, the status shows Declined — nothing is sent to them.
The emails go out automatically when the session is completed. If a document was not notarised — you refused it for cause, or it was the wrong version — it is not sent, and nobody is told a document exists that they cannot reach.
The copy list gets the notarised document only. It is not sent the Certificate of Notarisation: that goes to you, the client and the people who signed. Somebody receiving a copy of the deed has no claim on your record of the act.
You are emailed once the copies have gone out, and to how many people.
If a copy does not arrive
Two things can go wrong after the session, and you are told about both.
The address does not exist. A mail server that rejects the copy sends back a reason, and you get a notification naming the recipient, the address and what the server said — user unknown is a typo you can fix, mailbox full will clear on its own. The recipient shows as Bounced in the session panel. To retry, check the address with your client and add the recipient again.
The documents are too large to email. A single email cannot carry more than about 22 MB, and a long scanned deed can exceed that. Nothing is sent, every recipient shows as Failed, and you are notified with the actual size and which file is the largest. Re-scanning that document at a lower resolution, or splitting the act, brings it under the limit.
Consent is required
The client's explicit in-session approval is mandatory before anything is sent. You cannot arrange it without them — the platform enforces this.
Express Document Delivery — on the roadmap
Not yet available. A separate, paid service for Elite and Enterprise: the client opts in, and after the session you arrange for hard copies of the notarised document to be delivered to the named recipients on their behalf. It is an opt-in for you as well — nobody is obliged to offer it.
Until it exists, do not tell a client a physical copy is coming. Document copies above is electronic only.
If the connection drops
A participant drops
When a client or witness loses their connection mid-session, an amber banner appears at the top of your screen:
"[Name]'s connection was lost — waiting for them to reconnect. Session closes in 14:32."
A 15-minute countdown gives the participant time to rejoin. All signing progress is preserved — any fields they had already signed remain saved. When they reconnect, the banner clears automatically and a toast confirms they are back.
If the countdown reaches zero without a reconnect, the banner turns red and prompts you to reschedule.
Document actions during a drop
You can continue working on the session while waiting — opening documents, reviewing fields, or communicating in chat. You do not need to wait idle.
You lose your connection
A red banner appears on your screen:
"Connection lost — Rejoin now"
Click it to reconnect. The platform automatically attempts to re-establish your connection multiple times using progressive delays. If all automatic attempts fail, the banner gives you a manual Rejoin now button. All session state and signing progress are preserved.
If you cannot reconnect, click View session details to reschedule from the session page.
There is no way to pause
A notarisation session runs to completion or is terminated with a stated reason. There is no pause, and there is no way to stop the recording once the room is open — the recording is what makes the act evidentially sound, so it runs from the moment the session starts until it ends.
If you need a moment — to fetch something, to steady a connection, to let a client find a document — take it with the session live and say so on the call. Nothing expires while you do. If you genuinely cannot continue, end the session with the red phone icon and pick the reason that fits; see Cancelling / ending a session.
Personal performance requirement
As a notary public, you are required by law to personally perform every notarial act you undertake — from the start of a session to its completion. This obligation is set out in the Notaries Public Professional Practice Regulations 2026 and is not a platform policy.
What this means in practice:
- Once you click Start Session and the session moves to In Progress, that session is bound to you as the performing notary.
- No other notary — including a colleague in your organisation — can take over a live session from you.
- The platform enforces this: a session that is In Progress cannot be reassigned by anyone, including org administrators.
If you become unavailable before the session starts: Contact your org admin as early as possible. Org admins can reassign upcoming appointments (Confirmed or Scheduled) to another member notary before a session starts. Once a session is underway, this option is no longer available.
If something goes wrong mid-session: There is no way to pause. The recording runs continuously from the moment the room opens, and a notarisation session either runs to completion or is terminated with a stated reason — so take the time you need on the call to resolve the problem, with the session still live. If you genuinely cannot continue, end the session with the red phone icon in the video controls and pick the reason that fits (see Cancelling / ending a session below) — the outcome (reschedule, partial refund, reassignment, or refund) depends on the reason you choose.
One notary, one session — always
A notarial act conducted or completed by a different person than the one whose name appears on the certificate is potentially void and could expose you and your practice to professional discipline and civil liability. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Rescheduling
To propose a new time:
- Go to Dashboard → Sessions → [Session] → Reschedule.
- Select a new available slot from your calendar.
- The client is notified and must confirm the new time.
Rescheduling is not permitted within the locked window before a session.
Cancelling / ending a session
When you end a session before it is complete (from within the video room, or via Dashboard → Sessions → [Session] → Cancel), you must choose a reason. The reason decides what happens to the client's payment and to your profile. In every case the platform service charge and its VAT are non-refundable.
| Reason you select | What happens |
|---|---|
| Document needs correcting — the client should fix it and rebook | The session ends but the client keeps their payment. They're asked to correct the document and rebook (with you, based on your availability, or another notary if you're unavailable). If they don't rebook within the re-attempt window (set by admin, up to 5 days), the notarisation fee is auto-refunded. |
| Cannot proceed for a valid reason (identity/fraud/capacity/unlawful) | The client gets a partial refund of the notarisation fee. You keep a review fee (a % set by admin, default 20%) for the compliance review you performed. No flag — this is you doing your job. |
| My equipment/connection failed | The platform reassigns the client to another notary, or refunds the notarisation fee if none is available. No flag for a one-off. |
| None of the above / no valid reason | Treated as an unjustified cancellation: the client is reassigned or refunded, and your profile is flagged for review. |
Refuse when you must
If something isn't right — the signer seems coerced, ID doesn't hold up, the document looks unlawful — you are expected to refuse. Choose "cannot proceed for a valid reason": you're not penalised, and you're compensated for your review time.
WARNING
Repeatedly ending sessions without a valid reason will flag your profile and may reduce your visibility in search results. Legitimate refusals are tracked but do not count against you.
Session statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Awaiting Notary | Booking request pending your acceptance |
| Confirmed | Accepted — awaiting client payment |
| Paid / Scheduled | Payment confirmed — session is upcoming |
| In Progress | Session is live |
| Completed | Session finished — certificate issued |
| Cancelled | Cancelled by either party |
| No Show | Neither party joined within the session window |
| Expired | Session passed its end time without activity |