POST PRECISION

Neil Phillips of Restore Digital discusses current mailroom trends, how the pandemic propelled change and what challenges they are currently facing

Themailroom is a central nervous system to business operations. But the mailroom we once knew has changed. As technology evolved and organisations began to demand greater e iciencies, the modern-day digital mailroom was born. The days of the traditional mailroom with a post-receiving department and trolley delivery service will soon be a thing of the past. The service has morphed into mail being scanned upon receipt and digital copies dispatched to recipients. This approach allows for more e icient and streamlined management of communications.

The Impact Of The Pandemic

The onset of the pandemic expedited the change that was already in motion, as with it came the prerogative to avoid the handling of post – not to mention the logistics of getting post to the right people, given everyone was sent home, which spiked a demand for a digitised mailroom service. For healthcare and legal practices, the processing of post was still very much vital and did not slow down. During 2020, we saw cases where some services started out as being a traditional onsite mailroom with 95 per cent paper services convert to 95 per cent digital services within nine months as people began to work from home and digital PDF scans were demanded.

The technology we have seen implemented over the last three years isn’t new. It has been available for quite some time but was rarely implemented, largely due to initial set-up costs. The pandemic forced many industries to take a closer look at digitalising and even outsourcing their mailroom services, so they were o site to repurpose floorspace.

As a result of lockdown, many organisations had to re-evaluate their budget and investment calculations. With many employees working remotely, the need for e icient mailroom services has become even more critical, and therefore the upfront cost has become less of a concern. While the initial upfront costs could be high for larger facilities, the ROI brings significant benefits.

Mailroom workers that were used to opening or scanning post were upskilled and now their roles incorporate tech and require digital knowledge.

Collaboration With Customers

Di erent perhaps to common misconceptions that technology drives people apart, tech in the mailroom has brought the mailroom and organisation closer together. Digital integration has led to creating closer working relationships between mailroom providers and customers. The process of setting up and using technology requires an intently collaborative approach; the right set up process is critical. The success of any digital mailroom service is generated three stages before implementation. To future-proof operations, both the mailroom provider and the customer have to have a full appreciation of what and how the end user will access information, how the customer will use it, and how the service could deliver further benefits.

AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CLOCK

The modern-day digital mailroom operates to strict service level agreements. Post can be available to sta in their own workstreams at the start of the working day, which is o en critical for legal practices, banks, insurance companies and importantly healthcare practices. A recent survey conducted by Restore Digital reveals that 30 per cent of respondents who rely on traditional mailrooms cite delays in processing inbound mail as having a negative e ect on their performance or reputation.

For some clients, certain departments are based overseas. For example, HR teams can be based o -shore and that involves a huge amount of data control and security. Typically, the o -shore HR team would receive physical contract declarations and rights to work that they would then load onto their system. Now, this sensitive data can be simply scanned on site in the UK and the mailroom can index and upload into the central repository making it e icient and secure for the HR team to access. This can be saved straight to an employee’s HR file, omitting any need to manually file documents. A number of Restore Digital customers employ a system which uses AI to recognise the information in the PDF without the need for manual input and can send alerts to a designated person to review and validate the information. This means a significant reduction in physical mail and sensitive documents being sent around the country or, indeed, around the world, engineering a far more secure and data sensitive digital data flow.

Secure Stamp Of Approval

Other benefits of a digital mailroom process include increased security. The security aspect of the process is improved by eliminating the need for physical documents that can be lost or intercepted, and by using automated systems to ensure that sensitive information is only going to the right people within the company and not landing on the wrong desks or misplaced. The digital process also significantly reduces the risk of human error, such as information being sent to the wrong place or data entry mistakes. The ability to control access to data and track who has viewed it can further increase security. Restore Digital, in common with many other digital mail room providers, applies ISO 27001 and BSI 10008 controls and procedures.

Responsible Recycling

The environmental impact is reduced by eliminating paper and printing which also lowers costs for businesses. Digitising paper on entry to an organisation means sta do not have to handle incoming paperwork and the method of recycling becomes centralised and recycled in the most appropriate way. This includes data shredding which can be collected and transported using electric vehicles and taken to the nearest site for secure destruction. Ultimately, all companies should be aiming to recycle or destroy all paper waste in an environmentally friendly manner and a digital mailroom can support this.

Beyond The Mailroom

The so ware used by a mailroom now brings benefits for other departments. It can be used for storing di erent types of documents and information in di erent sections within the same platform, including occupational health certifications, quality documents, certificates, inspection reports, financial documents, facilities schematics and plant and equipment information. So ware employed by a number of Restore Digital customers also has an open API structure, which allows it to interact and integrate with other so ware systems such as HR management systems, inventory management systems, and warehouse management systems. This means that the investment in the so ware can be spread out over multiple functions, making it more cost-e ective.

A Continued Evolution

The pandemic has sped up the implementation of tech in many industries

To Getting The Job Done And Now They Are

and the mailroom is no exception. There is no doubt that the mailroom as we once knew it is going to be completely digital before long. What would have taken between five and ten years to come to fruition has been accelerated, mainly due to the onset on of COVID-19. Where costly upfront charges were a turn o before, they became compulsory to getting the job done and now they are embraced as the everyday norm.

Physical delivery of mail is of paper mail is reducing, documents, such as legal and physical mail.

Physical delivery of mail is becoming less common as more and more communication and transactions are done digitally. This shi has had an impact on organisations such as the Royal Mail, leading to a reduction in the volume of mail being delivered. Even though the volume of paper mail is reducing, it will likely never disappear completely. Certain types of documents, such as legal and o icial documents, may still require physical mail.

There is now a further migration towards the mailroom not only being digitalised, but also outsourced to be located away from a client’s premises, freeing up more floor space for their core business activity.

The mailroom is expected to continue to evolve and become more automated and e icient. This includes the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to process and sort mail, as well as the incorporation of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies to improve the overall user experience. The mailroom of the future will become more integrated with other systems and departments, making the mailroom an ever more e icient and e ective business necessity.