What are Digital Mailrooms? From letterbox to inbox

What is a Digital Mailroom?

A digital or virtual mailroom service transforms inbound paperwork into information that can be securely shared throughout your organisation. The system operates by centralising physical mail delivery for digital redistribution.

Large organisations usually employ digital mailrooms to manage mail at multiple sites. However, they are now seeing growth because of the ability to remove numerous locations as a delivery constraint to a hybrid work environment.

The digital mailroom seamlessly merges inbound mail and email to empower decision-making and improve customer outcomes.

Why use a Digital Mailroom?

Promote Digitally Backed Efficiency

Now more than ever, businesses look to digital tools and automation to cut costs and creatively increase efficiency. Yet, due to their lack of profit production, back office operations are sometimes overlooked for digital optimisation.

Optimise All Roles

Embracing process optimisation in back offices is vital to sustainable business growth. Virtual mailrooms follow this philosophy by streamlining mail processing - delivering information, not paper.

Future Proof

A digital mailroom recognises a cultural shift in business, that automation is the future of improving outcomes and being flexible when faced with black swan events of economic downturn.

Empower Remote Workers

Digital mailroom services were a tool for easing lockdown pressures by enabling contactless mail redistribution; the free flow of information across all sites.

Now that ability to work at least partially from home is a factor in talent acquisition, digital mailrooms are here to stay.

Learn more by downloading our guide on the ways that document management best practices enable efficient remote working

Automate Workflows

Digitised information is the engine of automation. By transforming mail, you directly import data into workflows.

Mail instantly triggers company-wide workflow tasks, such as invoicing, HR tasks, and record-keeping.

Productivity Gains

Digital solutions allow time reallocation into tasks that achieve company goals.

When information flows freely, it can be used reactively, aiding collaboration and nurturing customer relations with responsive engagement.

Scale

The cost of scaling is fixed by centralising and outsourcing your mailroom. Externalising the mail room allows growth to be managed independently, where monthly, weekly, even daily fluctuations in volume can be handled without expending resources or devoting excess time.

Go Green

Lowering your carbon footprint by reducing the distance physical mail needs to travel. In addition to this the need to duplicate documents is removed.

Reduce Costs

Outsourcing mailroom activities to a specialist lowers the cost of processing.

An automated process is an accurate one. Digital mailrooms lower the likelihood of extra expenditure on, fines for non-compliance, duplication, reproduction, and error correction. While completely removing the cost of redistribution.

Increase Security, Ensure Compliance

Mail is protected against loss and theft. Audit trails offer control and visibility, tracking mail from the letter box to inbox.

Physical mail is shredded or returned. When mail requires archival, its digital image can be stored securely and compliantly with GDPR legislation. An automatic retention schedule is applied so that it is erased when past the statutory requirement.

Instant Access, Anywhere

Redirection across sites, instantly. This makes digital mailrooms ideal for hybrid work environments and organisations with multiple locations.

Digital mailrooms give you the confidence that everyone is operating on the most current information, no matter where they are.

How to Implement a Digital Mailroom

Ideate

An appointed postmaster works with the mailroom service provider, defining rules for redirection, duplication, restriction, and return.

They can then provide CRM information that allows OCR to automatically index mail. Finally, the postmaster designs workflows with the service provider.

Improve

The reporting functions of virtual mailrooms, allow workflows to be evaluated, maintained, and elevated. Delivery can become more direct and workflows can become more complex once critical paths are identified and users are comfortable with the system.

Integrate

Using a virtual mailroom as part of a digital transformation strategy, you can expand process automation and further the collaborative potential across departments. Other digital enablements include i nvoice processing, eforms and electronic document management.

Digital Transformation

VMS + AIP

Automated invoice processing (AIP) naturally integrates with virtual mailrooms. By using a virtual mailroom to facilitate the digitisation of paper invoices, they can then be fed directly in to the AIP system.

VMS + EDMS

Electronic document management systems (EDMS) form the core of digital strategies. They are designed to maximise automation capabilities, secure your records, and provide remote access all within GDPR guidelines. This function enables inbound and outbound mail automation, meaning that all mail information can be actionable by anyone within your organisation.