Why online postage facilities are essential post-Covid-19

This guest article was originally written in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the rapid move towards remote working and online services.

When offices closed and travel was restricted, everyday business processes suddenly became much harder.

Teams could work from home, speak to customers online and share documents digitally. But sending physical post still relied on somebody being near the office printer, envelopes and franking machine.

That gap pushed more businesses towards online postage facilities. Instead of preparing letters in the office, teams could upload documents online and leave the printing, enclosing and postage to a specialist provider.

During the pandemic, businesses had to find new ways to sell, communicate and support customers without relying on physical locations.

Online shops, virtual appointments, e-signatures and workplace communication tools quickly became part of normal business life.

A McKinsey survey found that the pandemic accelerated the digitisation of customer interactions and the development of digital products and services by several years.

Many of those changes had been possible before the pandemic. They simply had not been treated as a priority.

Once customers became used to managing more of their lives online, expectations changed. Businesses were expected to provide services that were accessible without a visit to an office, shop or branch.

Traditional business post often depends on physical equipment and several manual steps.

Somebody creates the letter, prints it, collects it from the printer, folds it, fills the envelope, applies the postage and prepares everything for collection or drop-off.

That process becomes awkward when employees work from different locations or only visit the office occasionally.

Online postage removes much of the physical handling from the sender’s side. A digital document can be uploaded from a browser, while the provider handles the production and passes the finished item into the postal network.

The recipient still receives a printed letter. The business sending it does not need to run the full mailroom process itself.

The restrictions may have changed, but the operational problem has not disappeared.

Hybrid teams still need to send customer letters, invoices, statements, reminders and other important documents without making a special journey to the office.

An online print and post service can help businesses:

• Send physical letters from different working locations
• Reduce reliance on office printers and franking machines
• Remove manual folding, enclosing and postage preparation
• Give authorised users one place to manage outbound post
• Scale mailing activity without building a larger internal mailroom

Online postage is not about replacing every communication with paper. It gives businesses a practical way to handle the letters that still need to be sent.

Postworks helps businesses manage outbound post online through Postworks Send.

Your team uploads the documents, and Postworks handles the printing, folding, enclosing and postage.

Postworks Receive™ can also help organisations manage incoming office post by opening, scanning and making letters available digitally to authorised users.

Together, these services give businesses a way to manage more of the mailroom without depending on one office, one printer or one person who knows where the envelopes are kept.

This guest post was written by David Tattersall, Head of Client Relations at Handpicked Accountants.