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CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT SUPPORTS LEEDS CITY COUNCIL WITH HYBRID MAIL
We started working with Leeds City Council back in 2015. As an early adopter of the hybrid mail system, the Local Authority wanted to access the savings that could be made from moving the post and mail to an outsourced service.
Putting an initial trial of the Hi-mail system in place, FDM centralized all data to mail contracts, daily and annual billings. In addition to removing the internal resource that was required to facilitate this process, FDM could also provide access to minimum postal charges for smaller runs.
Continuation of service
Implementing the hybrid mail solution from FDM, Leeds City Council was equipped to manage postal requirements remotely. This meant that when employees were required to work from home, the systems and processes were already in place to allow for the continuation of all critical communications.
Making the most of the benefits
When the Council first started working with the Hi-mail system, the volumes were relatively low, with hundreds of mailings sent out each year. Thanks to the flexibility and ease of use of the hybrid mail solution, the Local Authority now sends approximately 75-80k letters.
In addition, many of the processes that can be automated through the system, such as P45s, are now managed in this way. All that the Council has to do is to update a standard form and the system will pick out the key pieces of information that need to be included before generating a letter.
Thanks to the functionality of the system, the Council has removed more of the manual processing that was becoming a daily chore for internal candidates that have other priorities they now have the time to focus on.
Ensuring compliance
A further benefit to having the hybrid mail system in place is compliance. With the need to meet with legislation and regulation, the Hi-mail system can be relied upon to take these pressures away from the Council.
Instead, the Hi-mail system is set up to fulfil all necessary requirements including the latest updates when legislation changes.
In addition, as working from home becomes more common practice, using Hi-mail removes the challenges that come with secure data and controlling information outside of the organisation. With Hi-mail, everything is processed in a central place, off site and can be managed in a secure environment.
Updating the system
While the original Hi-mail system was delivering benefits for Leeds City Council, FDM was working on a model of continuous improvement, looking for additional uses for the system that takes the burden of post and mail processes away from clients.
As a result, Hi-mail 2.0 has been launched and the Local Authority has migrated to this system, allowing them to automate even more of the processes that would otherwise have been manual.
Compliance and Business Support for Leeds City Council, Mark Heap, comments: “We have a great relationship with the team at FDM. The average response time for support is about 12 minutes and whether that’s a technical question or an enquiry, we can rely on someone to be on the end of the phone or email when we need them.
“The Hi-mail system has taken away much of the administrative burden that comes with post and mail. What’s more, the updates to the Hi-mail 2.0 system have allowed us to customize more of our documents.
“With onsite training, we can make sure our workflow and processes are supporting the wider objectives of the Council, which include reducing costs and redirecting resources where it is needed most.
“Since moving to the Hi-mail system we haven’t looked back. It has changed the way that we process our critical communications for the better.”
