Overwhelmed by your inbox?

Every business receives all kinds of mail and email. Invoices, job applications, customer correspondence, reports and documents in need of a review are a few examples. The digital mailroom is an automated alternative to manually handling your mail and email. Read on to learn how a digital mailroom can raise productivity, save money and keep your information secure.

What is a digital mailroom?

Rather than manually receiving and distributing incoming mail or email, organizations use document scanning to digitize incoming paper-based mail and upload the digitized documents (along with email) to a document management application to automate security, classification and distribution.

Some businesses outsource this mail handling work to service bureaus that receive the mail, convert it to an easy-to-use electronic format and load it to a document management application for secure consumption and management.

Why do you need to automate mail handling?

Receiving mail might seem like a simple task. However, if you take a step back and look at the time it takes to process mail, you might think twice about its effectiveness as a process in your business. Plus, the amount of mailed and emailed information is only expected to grow. According to Statista, the volume of data and information created, captured, copied and consumed worldwide continues to skyrocket and is expected to be nearly triple 2020 levels by 2025[1]. Imagine the amount of information you’re dealing with now, and multiply that by several times over.

See the problem? You could spend your entire day just processing mail and email!

[2]
digital-mailroom-post-quote

Manually processing your mail has other drawbacks, including:

  • Inaccurate information and misplaced files. Manual processes rely on human effort and are therefore subject to human error.
  • Compromised and unsecure data. With information growing exponentially, it’s hard to secure your information when dealing with paper and uncontrollable amounts of email.
  • Costly and time-consuming. Paper documents, including mail, add up over time and can be expensive to manage and store. The same applies to your email, which can bog down your desktop and network.

How can the digital mailroom help you?

Don’t worry. A digital mailroom is a solution that can not only eliminate the pains of manually processing mail and email but can completely revolutionize the way you manage your business information. With this solution, you can easily:

  • Eliminate human error and rest easy knowing you have the most up-to-date and accurate information at your disposal.
  • Secure your data with five levels of security, instead of relying on unsecure manual paper processes.
  • Save money on document management, storage, and processing costs, giving you the time and money to grow your business.

In switching to a digital mailroom, choose software and services that deliver easy-to-use, efficient, and cost-effective access to Any Document, Anywhere, Anytime®.

Let’s explore some of the technologies you’d need (and that service bureaus use as well) to automate mail and email workflow:

Enterprise Content Management (ECM)

ECM provides businesses with the ability to capture, manage, store and securely access any information, including electronic files, paper documents, images, and email that delivers any document, anywhere, anytime on virtually any device. Basically, it’s where all your information lives, and it provides a fast and easy way to locate and control your business documents.

Scanning and Capture

Document scanning and capture is the process of physically scanning your paper documents and digitizing them into easy-to-use electronic files. Although scanning is the most common way documents are “captured” into an ECM, additional capabilities enable systems to automatically recognize and capture electronic files from network directories and email servers. Using scanning equipment to convert paper-based information into electronic files with metadata (such as index values) simplifies document security and retrieval.

[3]
digital-mailroom-post-quote2

Workflow Automation

Automate manual workflows by routing documents from step to step automatically, alerting users of pending work assignments, and tracking and reporting progress within the application. This means, simply by uploading a certain type of email or document (such as an invoice), the ECM application will recognize the document type and launch a workflow automatically, like sending an invoice to Accounts Payable personnel for review and approval.

How Can We Help?

Get started on intelligently managing your business information and give us a call! We’ll put you in touch with one of our Resellers who specializes in digital mailrooms; they’ll get you set up with a solution that matches your business’s unique needs and processes.

You can also find more information on digital mailrooms on our digital mailrooms page! On this page, you’ll find resources specifically tailored to this topic. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or aren’t sure where to go next on your road to automation!


Sources

  1. Statista (2021). “Volume of data/information created, captured, copied, and consumed worldwide from 2010 to 2025.” Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/871513/worldwide-data-created ↩︎

  2. IDC Vendor Spotlight (2020). How a Digital or Hybrid Mailroom Strategy can Transform Your Organization Retrieved from: https://www.swisspostsolutions.com/en/market+research/sps_idc_marketresearch_digital-or-hybrid-mailroom.pdf ↩︎

  3. McKinsey Global Institute. (2019). Twenty-five years of digitization: Ten insights into how to play it right. Retrieved from: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business functions/mckinsey digital/our insights/twenty-five years of digitization ten insights into how to play it right/mgi-briefing-note-twenty-five-years-of-digitization-may-2019.ashx ↩︎


Related Links:

Visit the links below to learn more about cyber security.

  • Head to the Digital Mailroom page to learn more about how mail automation can revolutionize your business, especially when working remotely!
  • The benefits of a Digital Mailroom sheet will show you how your business can succeed by automating mail and email processes!
  • Excited about the benefits of digital mailrooms but struggling to understand how they work? Watch as our experts simplify the process in this Digital Mailroom webinar hosted by The Imaging Channel.
  • Are you a technology reseller interested in getting customers set up with digital mailrooms? Read this article, “Could a Digital Mailroom be Your Secret Survival Strategy?” to learn more about this exciting opportunity.