Efficient Use of Automation and People When Optimising a Digital Mailroom

Digitisation and automation often follow the Pareto principle: focus on the 20% of effort that yields 80% of results. For tasks like document separation, it’s sometimes more effective to have mailroom staff handle initial sorting.

For example, a loan application might include several supporting documents that an automated system could mistakenly separate. Simple actions like adding separator sheets or barcodes can make processes smoother and more accurate.

Optimising a Digital Mailroom Workflow

The digital mailroom’s efficiency depends on organised processes and data tracking. The mailroom team should be divided across preparation, capture, classification, validation, and quality assurance. By analysing document volumes and types, managers can allocate staff based on daily or seasonal fluctuations, ensuring SLAs are met.

Early detection of document surges enables proactive adjustments, reducing downstream issues. Empowering the mailroom team to suggest improvements also helps enhance system accuracy over time.

Gaining Departmental Buy-In

For a smooth Digital Mailroom project, engage departments early and communicate benefits- it’s the only way to have real success across the board!

Involve stakeholders to drive buy-in. Additionally, regular updates can prevent surprises and provide a platform to resolve potential issues.

Step 9 – Integration

Integration with existing lines of business systems is critical for the success of a digital mailroom. Integration reduces the amount of manual processing, keying and transferral of information into essential business systems.

There is a wide range of integration methods and tools; further information can be found here.

Step 10 – Equipment (Hardware) required for a Digital Mailroom

In a digital mailroom handling high volumes of physical mail, document scanners are essential for digitising paper.

Scanners come in various sizes to handle specific volumes, with some requiring more manual preparation than others to ensure smooth feeding.

Common scanning hardware mistakes include:

• Too few devices: Relying on one large scanner can require costly service contracts and offers little backup if it breaks down.
• Too many devices: Adding multiple smaller scanners for each new department can be inefficient and increase operator time and costs.
• Overrating devices: Manufacturer throughput ratings are maximums; real-world factors like jams and non-ideal documents reduce efficiency.

Additional equipment like envelope joggers and automatic letter openers can further streamline mail preparation for scanning.

Step 11 – What Software is required for a Digital Mailroom

The primary software technologies associated with a digital mailroom are as follows:

Image Optimisation

When scanning documents, it is imperative that the image produced is of the highest quality possible. Not only does a good quality image mean there is an accurate version of the document for subsequent retrieval, but it will also assist in optimising the level of automation achieved as a result of improved text legibility. Image optimisation will not just improve the appearance of text, but can also assist with correct orientation, blank page removal, automatic colour detection, reduction in image skew and a smaller file size for storage purposes.

Cognitive Capture

A software application that uses modern technology, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, to automate document classification and extracting pertinent data. Typically, the technology will be on a continual learning curve that increases its capability over time and ensures that new types of information can be automated when they start being received.

Process Automation / Workflow

Once a scanned document, email or other communication has been processed by Cognitive Capture technology, the information can then be used to feed downstream processes. By designing a process as a digital one it will allow organisations to define appropriate steps that should be taken depending on the document, providing opportunities to automate some manual tasks and provide insight as to where items are in a process.

Digital Pigeonholes

Often seen as an easy step into a digital mailroom, this typically involves replicating what happens in a physical mailroom or managing shared email mailboxes. Commonly, this step may involve a reasonably high amount of manual sorting and routing of items, emphasising that this is conducted on a single platform that can control and manage all content coming into the organisation and distribute it effectively. In many cases, this will resolve problems associated with an organisation relying on email to share and distribute documents. Effectively, this replaces email sending and forwarding with a digital platform that can send notifications to teams and individuals alerting them to the presence of a digital document to action. This approach helps to get an organisation used to working in a digital manner, reduces the security implications of using email and ensures that all business-critical information is stored in a central and accessible location.

Document Management Repository / EDRMS (Electronic Document Record Management System)

The role of a Document Management system in a digital mailroom may be twofold. It may be the end repository for documents and data. Ideally, it will be linked to other line of business systems – so that users can access document records directly in the application that they use day to day, e.g. an accounts payable clerk will want to access an invoice image from within the ERP or finance system, not have to open a separate system to search for a record. The other primary role of a Document Management System may be to fulfil the ‘Digital Pigeonholes’ method described above, which can be the primary method for users to receive notifications of new information and enable access.

Process Intelligence / Analytics

As with any process, having insight into what is happening is extremely important to help with future decision-making. A digital process can be monitored to a highly granular level, and it’s the role of Process Intelligence and Analytics platforms to ensure this is provided in a way that provides natural business intelligence in meaningful dashboards and reports. Using these platforms should help organisations move away from retrospective reporting being conducted at the end of each week or month, which is often user-produced in Microsoft Excel, and towards real-time reports that are system generated.

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