Creating at least satisfying interactions between a company and its customers and suppliers is essential for a constructive long-term business relationship. Digitalization has brought opportunities to take these interactions to a new level. However, if different departments, even at multiple locations depending on the size of the company, still have to struggle with capturing and distributing documents in mails or – even worse – with physical mail, then the opportunities that digital transformation actually offers are still poorly exploited. Dissatisfaction among stakeholders due to slow response times and processing, but of course also internally among employees as a result of tedious and unnecessary work quickly becomes a fact. Not infrequently, companies are simply overwhelmed when it comes to defining the right processes for automation, despite or precisely because of the countless options offered by digital transformation. A good first step for all further business processes is to capture all relevant data from documents directly where they are received. Mailroom automation is a great way to do this.
Some may remember the traditional internal mailrooms in a company (or at least from movies…), where one employee was responsible for distributing the incoming letters, sometimes even several times a day. When an employee was absent, a wide variety of documents would pile up on his desk and remain unprocessed until he returned from the Bahamas. This inevitably leads to disruptions in the entire workflow and is simply annoying for customers and employees alike. In addition to all the physical mail, electronic mail has of course been added to the mix, and with it a wide range of different document types. The volume of documents in the mailroom continues to grow, making their capture, filing and processing, if done manually, a mission impossible. Certainly from an economic perspective. Process optimization in this area is essential for any company, no matter what the industry and how many branches at how many locations, and a boon to any workflow. Thanks to mailroom automation, the previously manual capture and processing of documents and thus the not only time-consuming but often error-prone work can finally be left behind. Let’s take a closer look at the immense advantages that mailroom automation creates for efficient information flows, using a law firm as an example.
Varying the document types and quantity is irrelevant
The types of documents that enter a law firm’s mailroom vary enormously. From internal pleadings to client matters such as expert opinions, evidence, depositions, files and court proceedings, to judgments and other forms, it’s all there. At the same time, in addition to the industry-specific documents, the usual suspects such as invoices, contracts, complaints and so on and so forth naturally also arrive. With mailroom automation, a digital platform is created where all documents, whether paper-based or electronic, whether by mail, post or other channels, whether structured or unstructured, are automatically identified, classified and extracted as needed. This is done with intelligent, AI-based OCR (Optical Character Recognition), which categorizes documents by type and automatically extracts all relevant data from them. Through this automation, the relevant data can be forwarded directly to the correct downstream business process, for example, to the processing lawyer or else to the accounting department, which makes an efficient flow of information possible. If the software system used notices inaccurate or incorrect data after extraction, a message is automatically sent to the responsible employee to verify these documents, proactively ensuring quality.
The benefits of mailroom automation, which will be the hub of all data in documents for businesses in the future, are numerous. Thanks to the automation provided by intelligent, AI-based OCR, the workload for employees and thus operating costs can be reduced, while at the same time speeding up the processing process. With mailroom automation, all relevant data from all documents is always available and retrievable in real-time, which facilitates customer interactions, promotes service, and leads to higher satisfaction. In the same breath, mailroom automation creates increased security through transparency and error minimization.
If you have a concrete project or would like to discuss possible ways in which your company can take the next step, without obligation, we would be delighted to hear from you. We look forward to getting to know you!
