Property managers, by industry standards, deal with hundreds or even thousands of incoming documents in their inboxes every day, in the form of different document types and through many different channels, possibly through an online portal. In addition to a majority of invoices that need to be classified and assigned to properties, owners and tenants, there are also a large number of other types of documents that are received, including contracts, minutes, complaints, inquiries, information, permits and other correspondence. Most likely, many of these documents will need to be viewed and processed by multiple employees in different areas of responsibility and departments. In terms of the annual processing of incoming mail, this can easily add up to hundreds of thousands or, depending on the size of the property management firm, even millions of documents to be processed. The process of processing incoming mail can hardly be described as efficient and literally screams for optimization.
In property management, the processing of incoming mail is considered the basis for a large part of all subsequent processes. It is also possible that the beginning is already the end. Namely, when this basis consists purely of a classification of documents and thus inefficient subsequent processes. As soon as employees have to deal with individual documents or even enter individual data, it becomes not only tedious for the employees, but also costly and hinders the entire workflow. Incoming mail processing beyond the state of the art and the actual possibilities with digital technology is the logical consequence. The good news is that it can also be more advanced and efficient. The focus should not only be on the classification of incoming documents, but also directly on extracting the relevant data from these documents and structuring them at the same time. Because purely with the classification whether the document type is for example an invoice or a complaint, you limit process possibilities. It is therefore worthwhile to ask yourself: What specific data do I actually need from this document X so that I can automate the process, so that an automated routing to the responsible specialist can take place for the further processing?
Automated routing as the key
It is therefore crucial to pay more attention not only to the classification of the documents, but also to the structuring, i.e. which relevant data is required from the documents in order to be able to carry out automated routing based on this data. Especially with the knowledge that the processing of a single document is in many cases dependent on the interaction of several employees, this automation is all the more urgent. Modern incoming mail processing via AI-based OCR (Optical Character Recognition) not only classifies document types, but also reads them reliably at the same time. All relevant data in the individual document is extracted, which is the basis for automated routing and the correct process to the responsible specialist. Without additional administrative effort. This is precisely where the added value comes from, when the employee with his or her expertise can take decisive action and assess whether or not document X is justified and what the next step, based on the automatically extracted relevant data, must be.
The advantages for a property management company that can be achieved by automated modern incoming mail processing using an OCR solution are immense. In the same time, a significantly higher productivity is achieved with less manual work. As a result, costs can be reduced and the specialist staff previously deployed in the other places can now be used for more valuable work. The automated routing of all relevant and structured data directly to the property manager, who is often on the road, is worth its weight in gold.
Thanks to the classified and structured automation, specialists in their field can concentrate on their actual work, where they can use their specific know-how to add value to their property management, such as the personal and effective management of rental properties and condominiums. The real-time processing of incoming mail creates an excellent basis for further optimization and at the same time an important momentum that can be invested in improved customer loyalty, which is still considered a key factor in real estate management.
