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magazine
Mailing
iPostalMail is hoping that greater
focus on mailing costs will encourage
businesses to look at affordable,
secure alternatives to traditional
post and email like its iSecureLetters
service. Costing from 5p per item,
compared to 60p for a first class
stamp, this cloud-based system
allows you to upload and send letters
securely online, via the iSecurePost
server, with no paper, printing or
postage.
On receipt of an email notification,
the recipient is able to download their
letter from the secure server using a
post code, password or SMS code sent to
their mobile phone. In return, the sender
receives a confirmation of receipt.
Allan Chester, founder and MD of
iPostalMail, said: “The latest price increase
is too much for businesses and reinforces
the need for a paperless system that
does not rely on Royal Mail or have the
fallibility of email.With iSecurePost, you
can send and receive letters securely
entirely online, cutting down on postage
costs and environmental impact, without
compromising on security or peace of
mind.”
Hybrid mail
In spite the electronic alternatives
available, many businesses still prefer to
send physical letters. According to Voice
Connect MD Stefan Olsberg, they too can
make savings by outsourcing mail to a
hybrid mail provider.
“There are many ways that companies
can get in touch with people, but
sometimes a letter is the most effective
form of communication,” he said. “The
steep price rises imposed by the Royal
Mail will have a significant impact on an
organisation’s ability to send out letters
to large numbers of people. VC SmartMail
can help companies to keep their postage
costs under control.”
Voice Connect claims that uploading
letters electronically to a production
facility where they are printed, inserted,
franked and despatched can reduce mail
costs by 42%.
Its VC SmartMail service, currently
used by hundreds of GP surgeries but
open to businesses from any industry,
charges 46p to send out a standard
second class letter (38.4p plus VAT). This
figure – already lower than the price
of a second class stamp (50p) – also
includes printing, stationery and postage
costs, which Voice Connect claims would
normally add an additional 29p to the
cost of each letter sent (including the
value of time spent processing the mail),
raising the true cost of a letter sent by
Royal Mail to 79p.
Simon Royal, practice manager at
BurnleyWood Medical Centre in East
Lancashire, has found VC SmartMail to
be a cost-effective way to contact large
numbers of patients. “Communication
with patients is very important, but
sending out lots of letters can be
expensive and takes up a lot of time,”
he said. “Not only is VC Smart Mail
easy to use once set up, it also saves us
time and money. It reduces costs in two
different ways: firstly in terms of staff
time and secondly, the cost of sending
the letters out is cheaper than we could
do ourselves.”
www.voiceconnect.co.uk
www.isecurepost.com
As our cover story on pages 12 and 13 makes plain, recent Royal
Mail price changes have made franking an appealing option for
businesses of all sizes. However, franking machine suppliers are
not the only ones to have seized on the 39% increase in the
price of a second class stamp to promote their services.
Stamp rise boost for
electronic systems
Stefan Olsberg, Managing Director,
Voice Connect
Case for post still strong
According to a recent Pitney Bowes
survey into people’s preferences when
communicating with the government and
local authorities, more than four out of five
UK residents (84%) believe that important
government issues are best communicated
by post: three quarters (74%) fear that
important email messages could be filed as
junk or fail to be noticed.
The survey of 1,000 people by Mind Metre
Research found that half of respondents (50%)
prefer to reply to communications by post, with
one third (33%) opting for email. In third place
came web-based responses (8%), followed by
phone (7%) and text (1%).
More than three quarters (78%) felt that
online communications could put the most
vulnerable citizens, such as those living in less
wealthy households that do not have regular
access to the web, at a disadvantage.
Almost all (95%) said that it was important
for the government and local authorities to offer
a choice of channels .
www.pbsmartconnections.co.uk
imail passes fitness test
Hybrid mailing specialist imail has achieved a
rating of 100% for its service after completing
Connecting for Health’s (CFH) Information
Governance Toolkit assessment. Proof of its
ability to maintain the security of NHS mail
processed within its system means that imail
can officially handle sensitive mail for NHS
Trusts. The company recently won a two-year
contract with the Hampshire & Isle of Wight
PPSA, which provides support services to four
Primary Care Trusts who work with more
than 500 local NHS partners in the region.
The contract is for approximately 500,000
mailpieces a year and will see imail produce,
print, proof and post letters and insert
screening leaflets and communications from
Hampshire & Isle of Wight PPSA.
Cheques and balances
Bacs Payment Systems, the not-for-profit
company behind Direct Debit and Bacs
Direct Credit, has seized on the Royal
Mail price rise to urge businesses to stop
sending cheques through the post and
use automated payments instead. It says
that if the 493 million cheques issued
by businesses in 2010 were sent with
a second class stamp, the postal bill at
today’s prices would be £246.5 million.
www.bacs.co.uk