Digitize your mailroom with powerful scanning tools, AI-powered automation software, and a smart document management system

Processing mail has historically been a bottleneck in the professional world. Digitizing and automating your mailroom can cut out a lot of the busywork, saving your company time and money. Before you can enjoy the benefits of digital mailroom automation, you need the right tools for the job.

Automating a mailroom requires hardware and software. Document scanners can capture your data in perfect detail. Scanning software can recognize and digitize text. A document management system can route and save files to desired destinations. If you’re ready to create an automated digital mailroom for your business, look for products with the following features.

How document scanning and OCR make mail searchable

Digitizing a mailroom starts with a high-quality document scanner. Look for a model that can scan at least 40 pages per minute. If your scanner has an automatic document feeder (ADF) with a capacity of 50 pages or more, that can speed up the process. Advanced paper handling is also vital, as you’ll need to scan both envelopes and full-size documents.

With the right scanner at their disposal, a mailroom clerk could:

• Receive the mail delivery each day
• Scan all the envelopes
• Open those envelopes
• Scan all the documents within
• Discard junk mail
• Either store or shred the correspondence

Even if your office receives hundreds of letters each day, most steps in this process would take only a few minutes to complete. In fact, the longest part of the entire job might be opening the mail. (There’s no way to digitize that, although you can buy letter-opening machines.) The scanning software can handle the next few steps with minimal oversight.

Understanding optical character recognition (OCR)

Optical character recognition (OCR) is one of the most important features in scanning software. This technology recognizes and digitizes text in scanned paperwork. When you first scan a document, you get an image file, such as a .TIFF. OCR identifies the parts of the image that are text and converts them to an editable format. You can copy, paste, and modify this text, just as you would in any other digital file.

Converting printed text into editable digital formats

Once you scan a document with OCR software and have an editable digital text file, you have lots of options. You could simply keep the documents in digital storage, copying and pasting information as needed. Powerful scanning software can do more with that information, though. A good program can extract useful data and automatically add it to a database. You could also index the text. That way, your staff members could find relevant documents by searching for keywords.

Did You Know?:Ricoh’s fi Series scanners can capture dozens of documents per minute. These devices offer high-resolution scans and advanced image correction features for simple and accurate digitization.

The role of AI in automating mail processing

Sorting documents and processing data used to require human workers. Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), that’s no longer the case. AI can now automate many of the simple, rote tasks that drive digital mailroom automation. As a result, staff members can focus on more demanding, specialized work. That’s a better use of their time and your budget.

AI-driven mail classification and sorting

One benefit of OCR is that it gives your scanning software a lot of useful data to work with. Programs with document automation features can recognize names, dates, addresses, transactions, and similar fields. With that information, the software can tell a vendor invoice from an employment contract, or a customer record from a lease agreement. The program can also tag each file with relevant metadata and route it to a specified folder.

Automating workflow routing with machine learning

Machine learning (ML) is a way for AI algorithms to improve over time. As you scan and sort more documents, your software can eventually “learn” to recognize certain words, patterns, or visual formats. In an automated digital mailroom, this process can make both file routing and data extraction more accurate. Both intelligent document processing (IDP) and intelligent process automation (IPA) rely on ML technology.

Did You Know?:The RICOH PaperStream Capture Pro software features advanced OCR and data extraction features. The program can also recognize different types of documents, tag metadata, and route files to specified folders. Click here to learn more.

Integration with document management systems

A document management system (DMS) can connect every part of the digital mailroom automation process. After you scan documents and your software sorts them, a DMS organizes them into a cohesive ecosystem. This helps your employees access the files they need, even when they work remotely. A DMS also improves cybersecurity by restricting access to approved users only, and protecting sensitive folders with passwords and encryption.

How digital mail connects with cloud storage

If you digitize your mailroom, your employees can access their physical mail and their email in the same place. A DMS can route scanned correspondence to a cloud storage folder and notify the recipient.

Setting up cloud storage for an automated digital mailroom is usually a simple process. Your scanning software tags each document with descriptive metadata. From there, it can route scanned files to a designated folder. Just choose a cloud storage folder instead of a local drive. This way, employees will be able to access their correspondence from any device, anywhere with an internet connection.

Ensuring seamless access across departments

One major advantage of digitizing your mailroom is better file access. Only one person can read a physical letter at a time. The recipient may discard that letter once they’re done with it, even if it contains important data. Saved correspondence might get stashed in a disorganized desk drawer — assuming it doesn’t get lost or damaged instead.

With a digital mailroom, you can route personal correspondence to a private cloud folder for each employee. This ensures If the message has useful information for other departments, a worker could move it to a shared folder. That way, multiple staff members could collaborate on the same file, mining its data for valuable insights.

Digitize your mailroom with Ricoh software

If your business is ready to make digital mailroom automation a reality, Ricoh can provide the right tools for the job. Our fi Series and ScanSnap scanners can digitize thousands of documents per day, complete with high-resolution scans and intuitive interfaces.

As you scan documents, PaperStream Capture Pro software streamlines your workflows. This powerful program leverages accurate OCR to identify and convert text. From there, the software can tag files with relevant metadata, route them to specific folders, and extract useful data from them.

Book an appointment with us to learn more about how Ricoh scanners and software can help digitize and automate your mailroom.

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