How Technology is Reshaping Transactional Print and Mail Services

Businesses face mounting pressure to deliver exceptional customer experiences while optimizing operational costs, and tech-forward transactional print and mail services hit the mark on all counts. Even as customer communications programs have grown more sophisticated, complex and CX-focused, leading transactional print and mail providers have kept pace by investing in the latest technologies at every step, from document creation through production and delivery.

These technology advances let corporate clients unlock new levels of efficiency, accuracy and customer engagement for this critical communication channel, which many consumers depend on and prefer to digital alternatives. The key is partnering with the right transactional print and mail services provider to help achieve these and other strategic customer communications goals.

By outsourcing transactional print and mail services, companies with high-volume, time-sensitive communications can access the latest print and mail innovations without the capital investment needed to maintain them in-house. The leading providers also bring other key communications and payments technology to complete the cycle from billing to payments. Here’s how the benefits stack up:

A transactional print and mail services provider with proprietary omnichannel CCM technology is a gamechanger for business users. The seamless integration and data flow between client systems, CCM platform and production and mailing systems streamlines developing, managing, distributing, tracking, reporting on and archiving print communications.

Even better, an omnichannel CCM system lets companies consolidate print and digital customer communications on a single system. ACI Pulse found that 25% of consumers want both paper and digital billing statements and using one platform greatly simplifies coordinating each consumer’s choices for paper, email and text communications. Choice in communications delivery channels enhances consumer satisfaction, provides greater access to important information and increases on-time payments.

With an omnichannel CCM system combined with print and digital production and delivery, business users can:

State-of-the-art high-speed, roll-fed inkjet printers boast significantly increased production efficiency compared to traditional printers. The equipment can print 1,200 pages or more per minute and efficiently handles large volumes, significantly reducing turnaround times while delivering high-resolution printing in color with crisp text and sharp images.  

In choosing a transactional print and mail services provider, companies should also require advanced printing technology for high-volume check printing. Precision printing technology ensures checks are printed accurately and securely, with special precautions taken during production for security purposes.  

Similarly, finishing equipment plays a central role in preparing mail pieces for organized and accurate delivery. High-speed printers should be paired with equally high-speed inserting systems that accurately place the main communication piece and any enclosures inside envelopes for letters and flats without slowing processing, ensuring the quality and integrity of every mail piece.

Printing technology has kept up with consumers’ desire for personalization. Today’s high-speed printers execute as much customization per communication piece as a company wants. With dynamic variable data printing, companies can create highly personalized layouts, messaging, images, color, offers and more. Hyper-personalization delivers a more relevant and engaging customer experience, and digital inkjet printing produces one customized piece after another at top speed without stopping or slowing down the printing process. 

Some print and mail providers have technology to incorporate QR codes in mailings, another personalization option that offers customers a more holistic and convenient way to connect with a company. It also adds digital interactivity to printed pieces. By scanning a QR code with a smartphone or other smart device, consumers can link to a secure payment portal, view their billing statements and complete a payment in seconds. This one-click solution can lead to faster payments due to the ease and speed of the process compared to traditional payment methods.

QR codes typically print in black but could be any color as long as it contrasts with the paper choice. Companies can also incorporate additional colors, text, a logo or other branding into printed QR codes.

Production management software provides an end-to-end, contactless workflow for leading transactional print and mail service companies. As part of the process, every mail piece is printed with a variable barcode, which is validated by a barcode camera in the insertion process to ensure the right communications is going into the right recipient. The barcodes can be assigned for electronic communications too.  

With this level of end-to-end tracking, companies can easily receive near-real-time progress updates on their print jobs. They also can research and generate a piece-level audit trail, verifying that every piece was produced accurately. At the same time, automated document tracking, job scheduling and management accelerate provider production while a no-touch workflow improves safety and reduces human error.

Given the service delays due to the USPS 10-year turnaround project, companies need clear insight into their communications, especially compliance documents, as they progress through the mail stream. At the same time, it’s crucial to find ways to control costs as twice-yearly first-class postage increases become the norm.

For tracking mailings, companies can take advantage of the print and mail provider’s capability to leverage the USPS’ Intelligent Mail Barcodes (IMb) and Informed Visibility® Mail Tracking and Reporting (IV®-MTR) system, which provide near-real-time status updates of domestic mailings, with valuable information on delivery times, location, and potential issues.

To reduce return mail and increase deliverability, some providers offer the USPS Address Change Service (ACS™), which updates undeliverable addresses for pieces already in the mail stream if possible and otherwise produces reason codes for undeliverable mail and securely destroys those pieces to reduce physical return mail processing.

To locate customers with undeliverable addresses, some transactional print and mail service companies offer skip tracing. This process involves searching extensive consumer databases for new addresses.

Protecting sensitive customer data during the entire print and mail process is vital. Advanced encryption technologies ensure data security at every stage. Data transport using secure file transport protocols (SFTP) is an industry standard.

For highly regulated industries such as healthcare and financial services, providers must demonstrate ongoing compliance with changing federal rules and guidelines for print and mail, such as Regulation F and HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 2 certification.

Technology is driving significant advancements in the efficiency and effectiveness of transactional print and mail services, with positive impacts on the client and consumer experience. To benefit from current and future advances, companies should partner with providers that stay current with the latest industry trends, best practices and emerging technologies. That means aligning with a print and mail company that prioritizes technology and application development investments and can flex and scale with its customers’ needs. 

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