Bringing snail mail into this century

According to Image Architects Inc., 34 percent of snail mail deliveries to destinations with multiple buildings are returned. 

From smartphones to tablets & powerful laptop computers, an ever-evolving series of technologies have revolutionized the ways we work, communicate & collaborate. But the reach of those technologies doesn’t always extend into every part of your organization…

Traditional mail processing – a.k.a. snail mail – can inhibit your overall efficiency in the New World of Work. You could be a part of a multi-billion dollar global company on the cutting edge of your field, with advanced workflows across many of your departments… but chances are good that your mailroom is running the same type of operation that it did back in the ’80s: manually gathering, sorting & distributing thousands of pieces of physical mail. Prioritization is rare, if it happens at all, so critical time-sensitive information is often delivered at the same speed as junk mail. It’s time-consuming; it’s costly; and it’s prone to backups & errors.

It’s time for change!

Today’s fast-paced business world is defined by information mobility – having anytime, anywhere access to your critical business information in whatever format you need. Mobile workers, already a big part of modern organizations, will only become a larger share of the workforce in the coming years.

The typical mailroom simply doesn’t work for most mobile workers. There has to be a better way!

There is. It’s called Intelligent Delivery Services. Here’s how it works:

• Step 1: Physical mail delivery — Mail is received by your organization, same as before. This can be done either in-house, or by a third-party at an off-site location.
• Step 2: Scanning & Extraction — Envelope images are digitized immediately upon receipt & advanced OCR software matches the sender & recipient data to your company database. By using advanced capture software, key documents can be identified immediately & prioritized based on urgency for things like invoices, contracts & the like. 

• Step 3: Routing — Recipients are sent a secure image view of the envelope via email. From there they have options for delivery: send to junk; deliver electronically; hold for physical pick up; or forward /copy to another recipient. This centralizes & accelerates the capture of all hardcopy information arriving to your organization while ensuring mail is delivered efficiently & accurately the first time, anytime, anywhere.

Reforming such a paper-intensive process isn’t a step to be taken lightly. But the benefits to your organization can be immense. Imagine a mailroom that is no longer a bottleneck but a performance booster that can help you make better business decisions. Moving to an intelligent mail system can help your organization: 

• Speed up processes: Paper can be slow & costly. Capturing this information earlier in the process allows you to centralize & automate many of the processes that are currently being done manually. This can dramatically improve information flow within your organization. Furthermore, if a company chooses, the implementation can benefit from the intelligence of the software where it can learn repetitive results & apply the same course of delivery after a company-defined number of cycles so that, for example, all invoices could go directly to the Accounts Payable desk without intervention or delay.
• Support information mobility: Physical mail isn’t meeting the needs of most mobile workers. Intelligent mail can take your mail mobile enabling workers to access this information, no matter where they are in the world, providing a boost to collaboration & productivity. Analytics from mail data is also available, including who, how much, trends, departments, etc. to further optimize mail handling & reporting.
• Stay in compliance: Considering the volume of mail that goes through the standard mailroom, it should be no surprise that compliance challenges can arise. With paper-based manual processes, it can be difficult to search for information, retrieve the necessary files & create an audit trail. A centralized hub for mail with easy-to-use search capabilities can make this a much simpler process. Since the mail is ID’d & bar-coded upon receipt, a complete timeline & chain of custody is maintained. Companies can apply security & compliance rules to support their unique objectives & requirements.

ROI, shareholder value & customer experience are key drivers for most businesses. There are very few areas that business leaders haven’t already scoured, looking for ways to improve efficiency & cut costs. Look to your mailroom as a potential area of opportunity. Imagine. Change.