Digital Mailroom Benefits: 14 Ways a Digital Mailroom Can Help Your Business

There are numerous advantages to using a digital mailroom; some are obvious and easily quantifiable, while others are less obvious and more difficult to quantify but may be equally beneficial. Digital mailroom management solution projects typically yield these results:

1. Reduce manual handling of physical documents. Mailroom equipment that automates mail opening and scanning can greatly reduce mailroom staff time spent handling paper documents.
2. Capture physical documents at source. This will reduce the risk of sensitive information being lost or given to the wrong person or department. 
3. Provide the organization with a reliable method of document receipt. Once a document is scanned and turned into an electronic file, the file is stamped with the date and can be tracked. This makes it easier to understand and measure processing timeframes and service level agreements. 
4. Extract key content for routing. Key words, phrases, and references can help determine who a document should be sent to. A case reference number may indicate which case handler needs to see a document, or a word like "complain" may require a complaints team. 
5. Automate internal processes. Digital images and automated data extraction speed up document and data delivery to the right people in the organization, wherever they are. No more manual document routing decisions and faster action. 
6. Identify areas for process efficiency. By digitizing documents, automating data extraction, and using an intelligent process automation platform to control the process, organizations can gain real-time insight into processes and identify opportunities for improvement as well as potential issues and bottlenecks through interactive dashboards. 
7. Accelerate decision-making and processes. Users can act faster with digital information. It also makes process organization visible, allowing real-time decisions. 
8. Control access to documents. Digitizing documents immediately eliminates the risks of paper distribution. A process automation platform can restrict document and data access to specific users. Document management in an intelligent process automation platform provides a complete audit trail. User interaction and process steps can help discover what went wrong and demonstrate compliance. 
9. Achieve compliance. Using a process automation platform to route documents and data around the organization ensures not only an audit trail but also that defined process steps are always followed, or alerts are generated if something falls out of the defined process. It helps an organization comply with internal and external requirements. 
10. Save space. Digitizing paper at receipt and using an electronic image from then on should eliminate the need to keep the physical document, reducing storage space. As it passes through different people and departments, a paper-based process creates multiple copies of the same document, while an electronic document can be accessed by multiple people at once. 
11. Achieve digital transformation goals. Many organizations aim to transform their operations, communications, and transactions through digital transformation. A digital mailroom can encourage digital work and transformation. 
12. Reduce risks. Manual or paper-based processes are more error-prone. This could include document loss or incorrect decisions due to inconsistencies in interpretation. Digital documents and centrally managed processes can reduce risk for an organization. 
13. Improve customer relations. Digitizing a mailroom can help companies respond to customers faster with the right information, which can help retain customers. Digitizing and automating processes will also reduce process overheads and operational costs to boost competitiveness. 
14. Support a mobile workforce. A digital mailroom can ensure that paper-based mail is routed correctly to the recipient as more organizations transition to a hybrid work or fully remote setup. Your employees no longer need to work from the office, giving them the freedom to work from anywhere while remaining confident that they will never miss an important mail.

MSI can assist you in converting your mailroom to a digital one. Our 35 years of experience has allowed us to assist many organizations from various industries in converting paper-based processes into efficient, secure, and effective ones. You can rely on us to open, sort, and manage your mail before electronically routing it to the intended recipient for review, approval, and processing.

Learn more about our digital mailroom services here.

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