Online franking is a pretty straightforward concept. If your letters are in PDF format, you can drop those files straight into your browser and they’ll be printed, folded, enveloped and posted (that day typically) by a dedicated online franking company. They post in bulk, so you reap the savings rewards.
Cost wise, you’re looking at around £20 per month to have that all done for you versus the £100 plus per quarter you pay for a franking machine and you have to do it all yourself.
So let’s take a look at the things online franking can do, that you can’t.
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It can send post faster than you
Perhaps the most important (and most impressive thing) is that online franking can process your post in the blink of a proverbial eye. You’re delightful responsibility in getting the post out the door becomes ‘drag-and-drop’ instead of:
‘print, go-to-the-printer, realise-the-last-person-to-use-it-didn’t-fill-the-paper-draw, fold-every-piece-of-paper, put-all-the-folded-paper-into-the-envelopes, seal-all-the-envelopes, stand-at-the-franking-machine-and hope-it-doesn’t-break and then gather everything together and put-all-the-letters-into-a-bag’
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It can see everything, no matter where it is
Online franking can give you full visibility about your letters and where they are. For example, suddenly realise (or get told) that the letter to Sue Royal shouldn’t go out anymore? If you’ve used online franking you can log in online, type in Sue’s name and delete the letter. No rifling through stacks of paper or mail bags and the like. Just a blissful click of the mouse whilst you’re sipping a cup of tea.
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It gives you digital proof of postage immediately
As with all things ‘online’, using online franking provides a digital date and time stamp of when you ‘posted’ the letter. So if you’ve ever got a dispute, that right there is your saving grace.
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It can report on your returned post without ever looking in an envelope
Who enjoys that sinking feeling when you see that stack of returned envelopes at reception when all you did was mail out to your customers? If you used online franking, that piece of post would be returned to us. We’d scan the undeliverable reason, give you a clean and tidy report and securely destroy your letter (without ever opening it).
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It can send post wherever, whenever
COVID has changed a lot of things in the workplace, including how and where we work. When office staff found themselves suddenly at home, without access to the office printer, they struggled to get post out.
And now things are returning to normal, hybrid working has become a very prominent aspect of many employees’ work lives.
Since online franking is all done from your PC, you can send post at work, at home or even at your Spanish villa (if you’re one of the lucky ones!). There’s no need to trapse to the office, or email a coworker asking for them to print and stuff your letters.
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It’s always going to be cheaper than you
Forgive the brag, but online franking is cheap. Cost up the amount that you’ve spent on getting your letter printed and franked in house and you’re looking at nearly 70p for a 2nd Class letter. Use online franking and that becomes more like 55p.
There’s a reason why our world is moving towards digital and automated processes. They’re quicker, cheaper and less likely to make an error than its human equivalent.
Go on, give it a free try today and let us know how you choose to spend the time you get back!
