Although the promise of a paperless office can present a happy picture, most enterprise organizations are still swamped by a deluge of paper. In order to provide an answer to the rising tide, as well as help companies ensure compliance and bolster customer service, a new breed of products have emerged that may be the key to relieving the paper burden once and for all.

The notion of the digital mailroom is one that automatically captures and classifies all information entering an organization, then routes it to the appropriate department or person while providing auditing and tracking of that correspondence.

Proponents of the digital mailroom point to benefits such as reduced operational costs via the elimination of paper, and faster, more accurate routing of documents that accelerate customer satisfaction. Improved mail security, and the capture of business-critical information also beckon, as companies must strive to protect and maximize intellectual capital, now more than ever.

Realizing the vision of a completely digital mailroom is, unfortunately, not as simple as installing a single, off-the-shelf solution. Successful organizations utilize a variety of hardware, software, and other advanced features to automate both digital and paper documents. Reaping the benefits of a digital mailroom will require careful evaluation of the many technological tools available and an operation’s current workflow.

The Evolving Digital Mailroom
While the technologies to enable a solution have existed for some time, the notion of a digital mailroom is relatively new. "Digital mailroom technology has come a long way since the idea of digitizing all organizational content was originally conceived," says Jim Vickers, chief marketing officer for EMC Captiva. "To deliver the promise, the software must automatically learn document types and identify them in real time. This is more than just a document imaging solution."

Recent advancements in optical character recognition (OCR), intelligent document recognition (IDR), and forms processing have greatly improved the document capture software that can enable a fully digital mailroom. "There have been many technology advancements in recent years," says Robert Hahn, VP of product and market strategy, Pitney Bowes Management Services. "Better and faster scanning, capture, recognition and routing technology...these technologies directly impact the digital mailroom market."

Experts warn that, despite the advancements, implementing a digital mailroom is not for everyone. "The system requires not only digital mailroom software, but also high-speed production scanners at the front end and a content management system at the back end," says Vickers. Because of this investment requirement, enterprise customers with large volumes of paperwork will benefit most from adopting digital mailroom technology. "Government, insurance, and financial services are some of the industries where digital mailroom technology is growing in demand," says Vickers. "Companies that have already made an investment in scanning and ECM technologies are more likely to experience success adopting digital mailroom technology because they can leverage their existing infrastructure and knowledge."

Cause for Demand
Demand for a digital mailroom situation is coming from a number of industries—the bulk of which are looking to streamline their operations and conform to regulations.

"The demand for the digital mailroom is coming from individuals and organizations who want to leverage the value of their data across the mailing operation," notes Roger Spitzig, VP and GM, Software Business Solutions, Böwe Bell + Howell. "They don’t see independent processes that just insert, print, or finish a job. They see a series of interdependent processes from which they can derive and reuse information to optimize every aspect of their operation."

Spitzig continues, "We have seen interest in managing and automating the handling of incoming mail. However the interest has been greatly overshadowed by the more strategic need for increasing productivity and quality of outgoing mail, with better management of costs."

"Today’s business climate demands information at an ever-increasing speed. This is especially evident in today’s corporate mail centers," states Mike Keenan, product director, Mailing Systems for Hasler, Inc. "The market demands advanced options that can provide data collection and reporting, Internet tracking, and other technology-based capabilities."

Keenan also notes that, "Organizations looking to increase efficiency in their mailing and shipping operations are continually seeking newer and faster technologies to meet escalating demands for cost reductions and labor savings."

Phil Sylvester, marketing manager, OPEX, sees demand for the digital mailroom in, "nearly every industry—midsized and large organizations [with a] particularly high level of interest in banking, utilities, insurance, and government."

Adoption in the Real World
Post-9/11 security concerns have prompted government agencies, especially, to become early adopters of digital mailroom technology.

"As a result of the Anthrax mail attacks, most areas of the government have taken the necessary steps to digitize a portion of their mail flow," notes Hahn.

The commercial market, however, has seen a far slower adoption of digitized mail. Vendors anticipate this will change in the aftermath of catastrophes like Katrina. "The digital mailroom is an essential tool in disaster recovery and business continuity," says Hahn. "Imagine the ability to reroute mail from one region or city to be processed or delivered at another."

For most organizations the real test of digital mailroom technology is the promise of added efficiency and reduced costs. According to Ted Seward, VP of marketing for BCC Software, the pieces of the puzzle may be coming together. "Since the ROI is fairly fast, the move to a digital mailroom will be quick once the industry and customers get their arms around the technology," says Seward.

While many industry leaders are expectant, others anticipate a longer wait before the digital mailroom becomes the norm. "The technology is probably ahead of the market. I predict that vibrant demand for a digital mailroom is still a few years away," says Vickers of EMC Captiva. "In the meantime, expect adoption by increments. We recommend that any organization approach the digital mailroom one document at a time. Each document will have business rules that govern what happens to that document, so going slow—department by department, document by document—makes a lot of sense."

Tools for the Digital Mailroom
BCC Software Inc.
In addition to reducing the paper burden and trimming operating costs, a digital mailroom should also bring more value to an organization’s existing investment in document processing technology. One product, called NEWLEAF, is aimed at providing that value by building personalized one-to-one documents that rise above the din of competitive messages. "In the past few years desktop computer technology advanced to the point at which designing and producing one-to-one documents no longer requires an enterprise-sized solution," says Seward. "The key is having the ability to make diverse tools work together. A good solution must bridge the gap between different components of the process."

For many organizations, NEWLEAF will provide that bridge to personalization. The product offers large-scale customization functionality via a convenient interface with a look and feel familiar to any user already comfortable with Windows-based office software. "This desktop application gives document designers advanced personalization capabilities not found in desktop business applications like Microsoft Word or standard graphic design packages like QuarkXPress," says Seward. "The result is the ability to create a highly customized document without the handicaps of lengthy development cycles, extensive database integration, or specialized print programming."

NEWLEAF supports all the standard graphic formats, and outputs to a host of common print protocols and languages, but the tool is also a conduit to a digital mailflow as well. "It comes ready to perform fax and email, as well as printing," says Seward. "Since we are mainly a software company we feel as thought we have always been in a digital age. The time is right. Market conditions and computer power has made it more affordable to scale solutions down to the desktop."

Böwe Bell + Howell
Late in 2005, Böwe Bell + Howell introduced its scalable BÖWE One solution. "The BÖWE One solution integrates all of the technologies and capabilities traditionally found in separate data, item, or production management solutions, as well as those available to customer service representatives," states Spitzig. "BÖWE One enables mailers to start with one or more of the available services, and as their needs change or expand, they can leverage the investments they’ve made by enabling additional services managed within the same infrastructure and user interface."

"Enterprise organizations have always tried to optimize their investments in applications, equipment and people, and find ways to do more with less. Our BÖWE One solution clearly addresses that need, and allows an organization to manage their entire production facility—regardless of which equipment vendors they have partnered with over the years—with a single solution suite. Users in operations, marketing, customer service, administration, and financial roles all can leverage the rich data and analysis capabilities of BÖWE One."

Captiva
Captiva introduced its mailroom technology in 2003 as a single point of entry and centralized processing for all corporate information—paper mail, faxes, email, or online communications. "Dispatcher, along with Captiva’s document capture software Input-Accel, enables a digital mailroom by capturing information from paper as well as from many different electronic sources such as email," says Vickers.

Dispatcher classifies information according to format, content, and business rules, and then delivers that information to a database, email server, workflow, or back-end system. "It is this automated recognition and routing that helps maximize the value of enterprise content management, enterprise resource planning, or customer relationship management systems," says Vickers. "The Dispatcher technology can automatically recognize and route piles of documents, including handwritten notes or complicated graphs, at high speed and with almost no human intervention."

Dispatcher also utilizes a fingerprint methodology to identify documents and extract business critical data. According to Vickers, however, Dispatcher’s digital fingerprint combines text analysis and dynamic field positioning information. "This provides the best way to analyze both the content and structure of each document," says Vickers. "The digital fingerprint then enables Dispatcher to identify the document type, search for areas containing data to be extracted, and determine what type of data to extract."

Datacap
Another product to consider is Taskmaster from Datacap. Now in version 6.2, the features in Taskmaster enable companies to capture of variety of incoming documents. Taskmaster does this with a feature called fingerprinting which assigns each document a unique ID.

According to Datacap, Taskmaster creates fingerprints by applying connected component analysis to each document. "The software identifies the silhouette of each document—a Dell invoice has a unique silhouette, for example, matched only by other Dell invoices," says Scott Blau, CEO, Datacap. Once a new fingerprint is created, Taskmaster stores it in a database. "From there, we apply a set of processing rules that are appropriate to that document type, and we are well on our way to a digital mailroom."

In addition to invoices, a mainstay for any capture system, Taskmaster can fingerprint any document. "If the fingerprint identifies a medical claim, the system triggers a claims processing process, with a HIPAA-compliant output," says Blau. "If the fingerprint ID’s an insurance policy, the system initiates a policy capture and indexing process. If the fingerprint tells us we have an invoice, the system runs a full accounts payable data capture process, with an output to SAP or Oracle. The possibilities are limited only by which type of document an organization elects to scan and capture."

Esker Software
Companies that want to avoid a substantial investment in the hardware and software, may want to investigate a new Web-based service, Esker on Demand. Esker offers this digital mailing service with no per-piece minimum charge. The idea is to eliminate the need for clients to invest in and maintain expensive mailing equipment or advanced software systems.

"Without the ability or desire to invest in the infrastructure, many of our customers had simply stopped doing direct-mail," says Paige Krause, marketing manager, Esker on Demand. "Their mailings were too small for a mail house and were a drain on internal resources. With our service, customers can get the benefits of direct-mail without the hassle and expense."

Customers of Esker on Demand are billed only for what they use, and there are no contracts based on peak volumes or minimum piece requirements. Clients access the system via their computer’s print process. "Once they have prepared their documents, whether it’s a letter, or invoice, or report, they click a button to send it to us, rather than sending it to the office printer," says Krause.

According to Krause, Esker on Demand can also accelerate the accounts receivable process. "Our clients can send their invoices as soon as one is ready. There is no need to wait to mail them out in a group. The sooner invoices are sent out, the sooner they are paid. Some of our customers used to spend hours at the printer manually sorting their statements, and we can easily process a large print stream with various document lengths. We’ve automated the process, making it faster and less prone to human error."

Hasler
"Hasler’s digital mailing systems allow an organization to not only save money, but also expand what a company can accomplish in the mailroom," notes Keenan. "The ability to create customized advertising and text messages provides a simple avenue to reinforce a company’s message. The Hasler digital mailing systems also allow for carrier rate comparisons and delivery tracking. These are key features a company may require in any new technologies they look to purchase for their mailing and shipping requirements."

"Over the past 18 months, Hasler has seen its line of mailing and shipping solutions expand to meet the marketplace’s desire for digital technology," Keenan adds. "Our complete line of advanced WJ digital mailing systems, powerful M series of folder/inserters, and powerful software solutions meet the needs of the modern mail center. Hasler has also strengthened our document handling product line with the introduction of our- HJ series high-speed address printers and our HT series of document tabbers."

OPEX
Recently, OPEX Incoming and Scanning released the AS3690i Digital Mailroom Solution. Sylvester explains, "In a single pass, the AS3690i operator can open, extract, identify, capture, orient, sort, and output mail contents. Eliminating prep, paper handling, and other costly tasks not only improves efficiency, but also results in superior transaction integrity."

He says that the OPEX product lineup addresses three primary areas of the digital mailroom. The first, to, "Eliminate prep and extra steps. The AS3690i eliminates the need to transport, batch, prep, sort, or add separator sheets between extraction and scanning."

Second, to, "Maintain data and transaction integrity and security. As documents are removed from envelopes on the AS3690i, operators have an opportunity to ensure every item is properly captured and identified."

Finally, to, "Handle unstructured, mixed-size, and damaged media. The AS3690i can handle a variety of mail including checks, forms, claims, accountable mail, correspondence and most other documents. Unlike most high speed scanners, the AS3690i is able to scan a wide range of irregular, folded, and damaged media—without the need for careful stacking or jogging."

Pitney Bowes
While one aim of a digital mailroom is to reduce paper, the reality is that the mounds of paper mail will remain with us for some time. It’s clear that software alone will not provide a complete solution. Pitney Bowes, a stalwart leader in paper mailroom operations, offers dMail, a digital mailroom solution that encompasses hardware, software, and associated service components. dMail is a complement to Pitney Bowes Management Services’ expertise in managing mail processes, and has potential to be a high-value solution for many organizations.

"Organizations can gain efficiencies in both distribution and document management on the end-user side," says Hahn. "Distribution efficiencies are to be gained especially in corporations where mail is received in one facility, and physically moved to remote locations. End-user efficiencies are derived from managing electronic documents versus paper; not only in reduction of physical file cabinets, but in better managing the overall document lifecycle."

The dMail suite works to provide benefit not only for a mail recipient, but everyone who may need to act based on the information inside the mail. "Unlike imaging solutions, Pitney has designed dMail for all mail types, including semi-structured documents, correspondences, legal notices, resumes, and proposals," says Hahn. "In addition to document capture, the system offers document tracking and control through an easy to use interface with a rich set of features. A primary value is the ability to gain access to scanned and indexed documents from any location, including remote connections, from virtually anywhere in the world."

The Future of the Digital Mailroom
As for the future of the digital mailroom, Sylvester, of OPEX, notes that, "Customers are seeking more robust functionality in automatic document type classification; The ability to handle a wide variety (sizes, types, etc.) of documents is still very important; and scalable solutions are preferable in some instances—perhaps to implement one site or department at a time."

"Hasler sees a growing emphasis on leveraging the speed and resources offered online to help bring accurate, real time information to carriers and their clients, all at a reduced cost," notes Keenan. "From a mailing systems standpoint, we are looking to develop more efficient ways for customers to manage their postage funds, either through unique payment methods or streamlined postage processing. A consolidated method for document processing and handling is also something Hasler is developing."

Böwe Bell + Howell’s Spitzig tells us that, "In the coming year our customers will receive solutions that are tightly integrated, and better at managing a mail production operation—regardless of the size. Not only are solutions going to be easier to use and implement, but they will dramatically increase the quality of output while reducing costs."

Summary
There is clearly a heightened demand for more accuracy, less waste, cheaper labor, and better efficiency in all aspects of the corporate enterprise. As more vendors present easy-to-implement solutions to the digital mailroom, many more operations will reap the rewards of streamlining with this technology.