Businesses have realized the important role the mailroom plays in meeting larger organizational goals. It’s not just a mailroom, it’s a channel for critical inbound and outbound communications. Whether we’re talking about communication from an important customer, an invoice from a supplier, or a package for an employee, the mailroom is tasked with receiving and distributing it all.
Why mailroom management software?
In 2022, this is no easy task.
More employees are working remotely which makes it more difficult to get physical items to them, and labor shortages are putting pressure on managers to create a healthy workplace where employees are engaged. This means supporting flexible work options, eliminating manual, redundant tasks for operators, and enabling employees to focus on the work they love is top of mind.
For this reason, many organizations have turned to software and web-based applications to help manage and automate mailroom activities. Mailroom automation software, when it’s deployed correctly and designed for people, has the ability to transform outdated process bottlenecks into efficient activities. The result? A true competitive advantage for the organization.
So, automating the mailroom is clearly a no-brainer. But where do you start with so many options?
In this article, we’ll break down the marketplace for mailroom management software that helps you receive, track, and distribute inbound mail. We’ll show you all your options and evaluate the pros and cons of each to help you make the best decision according to your organization’s needs.
What are your options?
There are three main categories of mailroom software for managing inbound mail: virtual mailbox services, document management software, and package tracking software. Let’s explore each in depth and then look at a few others that don’t quite fit into these categories.
Virtual mailbox services
Virtual mailbox services, also referred to as digital mailbox services, are the simplest of the bunch because they are outsourced solutions.
Here’s how they work: You are given a separate physical address where all mail is delivered and then scanned by the service provider. Scans of envelopes or package labels are then delivered to recipients digitally via a virtual mailbox. From there, recipients are able to request for their mail to be opened and scanned, recycled, or forwarded to an address. Many of these services also do check deposits for your business as an added service.
While these services focus primarily on mail, most do receive packages for you as well. However, as you can imagine, this can get expensive due to extra holding and shipping costs.
Since these services require outsourcing all mailroom operations, they simply are not a great solution for those that need to maintain control of the mailroom for any reason. So, unsurprisingly, many of these services target individuals, home businesses, and small startups as opposed to medium sized businesses or enterprises.
Offerings
Here are some of the most popular offerings for virtual mailbox services:
- Anytime Mailbox
- Traveling Mailbox
- PostScan Mail
- Earth Class Mail
- iPostal1
- US Global Mail
- PO BOX Zone
- VirtualPostMail (VPM)
- Sasquatch Mail
Pros
- Implementing a virtual mailbox service is very straightforward. You can sign up right on their site and get going pretty quickly. However, keep in mind you’ll have to update your address everywhere.
- Since most of these services provide you with a virtual mailbox that’s structured exactly like an email inbox, they’re really easy to use.
- Most of these services offer unlimited cloud storage for your documents. This means you’ll always have access to a complete history of your mail, and searching through it is way easier than digging through a stack of papers in a filing cabinet.
Cons
- Outsourcing mailroom operations with a virtual mailbox service results in less flexibility and very little service level control. For companies that have policies regarding how quickly mail pieces are delivered to recipients, this is unacceptable.
- At first glance, the prices for these services seem reasonable. However, be sure to read all the fine print. Most charge extra if you accidentally go over your monthly limit for items received, and they generally give you 30 days of free storage for mail before charging you a daily fee.
- When you need access to the physical item, whether it’s a mail piece or a package, the service provider will gladly ship it to you. But this is an expensive and time-consuming process.
- Since these services receive all of your mail and packages for you, everything needs to be sent to a new address. Making this change and updating your address everywhere can be a real pain.
Document management software
Next up is document management software. Unlike virtual mailbox services, this kind of software focuses on enabling the mailroom to better distribute mail to recipients with some basic scanning capabilities and custom workflow automation.
Much of the focus with this kind of software is put on scanning the documents within a mail piece, using technology to extract data from those documents, and give recipients access to it online.
This kind of software does very well at creating structured data from scanned documents and integrating into downstream applications. However, as you would expect, it’s much more expensive. While this kind of software is usually packed with tons of features for customization, implementation becomes complex. Many of these vendors will encourage your organization to open and scan all mail, and they put a lot of focus on “transactional” mail, as this is the only way to justify the high implementation and support costs.
Offerings
Here are a handful of companies that offer document management software:
- Lithe
- Papyrus Software
- Mavro Imaging
- BerkOne
- PSIGEN
- Kofax
- Adlib
- Spigraph
- Intalio
- DocSolid
Pros
- Document management software is specifically built to scan documents and use those scans to create structured data.
- This software is very customizable, and it’s for a good reason. Every business’s needs and workflows are a little different.
- Since it’s so customizable, this kind of software integrates well with downstream applications for other business processes.
Cons
- With a high level of customizability comes high implementation costs. Not to mention, ongoing support can also get expensive with these options.
- Complex solutions with tons of features are usually not very user-friendly, which makes user adoption difficult.
- These solutions require external hardware in the form of a document scanner. Not only is this cumbersome for employees to work with, the quality of the scans is completely dependent on your hardware.
Package tracking software
Like the name suggests, package tracking software is designed to help mailrooms track and manage incoming packages. Unlike the previous two categories, there is no recipient mailbox side to these solutions. Instead, recipients are simply notified that they have received a package via email or text. These solutions are built for environments where pickup or in-office delivery happen.
Almost all of these solutions focus solely on packages, and those that do support envelopes, Notifii and Q-Trak, require a separate workflow for those items. Envelopes are definitely more of an afterthought for these solutions.
As for the technology they use, some leverage OCR (optical character recognition) for reading labels while others turn your mobile device into a barcode scanner. Others require an actual handheld barcode scanner for capture.
Offerings
Here are some of the most popular offerings for package tracking software:
- Notifii Track
- Envoy Deliveries
- QTrak
- SqBx
- Pitney Bowes – SendSuite
Pros
- While these solutions don’t offer any kind of virtual mailbox for recipients, they offer multiple notification options with pretty advanced customization. In fact, some will even integrate into other applications, like Slack, for even more notification options.
- Proof of pickup is crucial for tracking packages internally, and these solutions got you covered there. Some offer multiple methods for proof of pickup including a signature, picture, or ID card.
Cons
- While packages seem to get most of the attention these days, it’s important to remember accountability for incoming mail is just as critical. This is where package tracking software lacks in capability. After all, it’s designed primarily to manage packages, not envelopes.
- These solutions work well when pickup or in-office delivery are possible, but things become more difficult when employees are working remotely or can’t make it into the office.
Others
There are a few honorable mentions that don’t quite fit into any of the previous categories.
First, there’s PackageX. They have a solution called PackageX Receive that functions similar to package tracking software. However, when paired with their app Receive Connect, it also gives recipients a virtual mailbox. This means recipients can ask the mailroom to scan, send, forward, or destroy items. Still, managing envelopes seems to be more of an afterthought while they promote package tracking first and foremost.
One final note is that Anytime Mailbox and PostScan Mail, virtual mailbox services, both offer a second solution that’s different from a traditional virtual mailbox. These solutions allow mailbox providers to give their customers the virtual mailbox experience. Instead of the service provider receiving and scanning all the mail, the mailbox provider does the receiving and scanning. These white-label solutions work especially well for managers of residential complexes and assisted living facilities.
Received Digital: reimagining mailroom software
If none of these options look to be sufficient or you’re wondering if there’s a better way to manage your organization’s incoming mail and packages altogether, don’t worry! We’ve been thinking the same thing.
That’s why we’ve introduced Received Digital, mailroom management software built for the modern day. We’ve rethought what mailroom software can be because we believe equipping the mailroom with better technology enables it to better contribute to customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and company growth.
Learn more about how Received Digital works here or request a demo from one of our experts!
