Transforming the Mailroom into a Digital Information Center: Part 1

I have posted often about how today’s businesses are challenged to manage their document workflows smarter and more cost effectively. Within this scenario, the mail center may be slow in addressing such objectives as increasing productivity and adding value. One solution is for enterprises to transform their mail center operations into more automated, digital information hubs that digitize and electronically distribute the mail to employees while ensuring security. This approach allows employees to receive their information quicker, which in turn enables the company to move faster and smarter.

However, mail management typically is not a core competency for many organizations. Consequently they lack the resources and skills to stay current on the latest technologies and best practices. The result: most businesses are not managing the evolution of their mail centers into digital information hubs successfully. If this includes your company, in this and my next two posts I will spotlight potential ways to ease the pain.

Because many enterprises lack the resources to continually support their mail centers with the latest technology, productivity and cost-effectiveness can suffer. The key to avoiding this scenario is to implement best-of-breed mail center technology. Whether managed internally or outsourced, if done right such an initiative can substantially reduce the time and cost of processes and increase the accuracy of deliveries for physical mail, materials and digital content. Here are a few of the technology solutions that can help drive effective mail center management:

Mail tracking software that provides complete custody control of all accountable envelopes and packages. Web-based applications can be customized to a company’s organizational structure and business processes as well as integrated with courier and internal business systems to provide visibility into delivery status.

Automated sorting technology, which ideally is end-user configurable and features optical character recognition, barcode reading and sorting capabilities. The best systems are scalable to fit a wide range of mail volumes and space restrictions. They also provide automated inbound and outbound processing, which can save time and labor and provide critical volume data and significant postal savings.

Office print management services that help ensure knowledge workers can print, copy, scan and fax from any location. If considering outsourcing these functions, an organization may want to confirm that its managed services provider offers state-of-the-art systems that use technology to monitor the equipment and supplies. Additionally, the provider’s mail center services staff should be on call and available within minutes should a problem be detected.

Digital intake center, a hybrid mailroom and scanning system that uses specialized mail scanning technology and workflow techniques to convert physical mail into digital information immediately upon receipt.

In my next post I’ll expand on the last bullet point as more businesses are leveraging digital intake centers. In the meantime, feel free to visit the Mail Services page of our website for additional industry insights and best practices including case histories, research report and more.