Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) boasts a vibrant campus community enriched by its large and diverse student population. Within the bustling corridors of the university’s mail department, Lori Sultzer, the dedicated Manager of Post Office & Passport Services, grappled with a common challenge: students neglecting to retrieve their mail from campus mailboxes. Recognizing the need for a modern solution to streamline mail management, Lori turned to Received Digital to revolutionize the university’s mail handling processes.
Challenge
Before embracing Received Digital, MTSU faced a couple significant hurdles in managing student mail efficiently. The inaction of students collecting their mail resulted in a buildup of undelivered items, particularly noticeable at the beginning of each Fall semester when mailboxes are cleared. This high volume of unclaimed mail posed a considerable burden on the mailroom staff, requiring manual sorting and processing of trays of mail belonging to students who were no longer on campus.
Lori identified this challenge as an opportunity for improvement, seeking a solution to enhance mail retrieval rates and alleviate the workload on her team.
Solution
The integration of Received Digital heralded a transformative shift in MTSU’s mail management practices. With its user-friendly interface and intuitive workflow, Received Digital empowers Lori and her team to quickly and effortlessly image inbound mail and deliver it to students digitally. Lori explains,
This process is so easy to do, my clerk who is not a fan of technology has had a very easy time imaging the mail, and quite enjoys it.
The system’s automated, image-based notifications to recipients ensure timely communication with students, prompting them to collect their mail as soon as it arrives. Rather than simply notifying students that they’ve received something without any other information, the envelope images show them exactly what they can expect to find in their mailbox, motivating them to go pick it up.
Moreover, Received Digital’s automated recipient name recognition eliminated the need for manual name checks, providing Lori’s team with a more efficient and accurate method of processing incoming mail.
Benefits
The adoption of Received Digital yielded tangible benefits for MTSU’s mail department. Students exhibited improved mail retrieval rates, resulting in a reduction of buildups in the campus mailboxes. Lori says,
Students are now picking up their mail, so we do not have as much ‘stored’ in the mailbox.
She expects the overall amount of “leftover” mail at the start of the Fall semester to drop significantly.
This decrease in unclaimed items translates into a lighter workload for Lori and her team, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing the need for manual intervention. Additionally, the ease of use and reliability of Received Digital garnered praise from Lori’s colleagues, including her clerk, who found the imaging process enjoyable and straightforward.
Overall, the seamless integration of Received Digital into MTSU’s mail management process exemplifies the university’s commitment to embracing innovative solutions to enhance campus operations.
Conclusion
Middle Tennessee State University’s adoption of Received Digital marks a significant milestone in the evolution of its mail management practices. By leveraging the platform’s advanced features and intuitive interface, Lori and her team have successfully addressed the challenge of unclaimed student mail, improving operational efficiency and enhancing the overall experience for students. As MTSU continues to prioritize innovation and efficiency, Received Digital remains a vital tool in optimizing campus mail operations and fostering a seamless experience for all stakeholders. Finally, Lori says,
. . . I have to say we have not had any issues. Working with your team has been great.
About Received Digital
Received Digital has reimagined the inbound mail and package receiving process, bringing a new and modern application to mailrooms big and small. The core of Received Digital is the virtual mailbox for recipients, which creates an interactive platform between the mail center and its recipients. With image-based notifications and a proprietary machine learning algorithm to automatically assign items to recipients, the entire inbound mail and parcel management process is modernized for greater efficiency.
In an industry where innovation is not expected, Received Digital stands alone, innovating with a customer-first approach. Learn more about how it works here, or request a demo from one of our experts to see it in action!
