MailRoom ToolKit

A No-Sweat Custom Solution for a Complex Mailing Process

Integrated address management saves The Shamrock Companies three weeks a year

The Shamrock Companies is a marketing communications and project management company, headquartered outside of Cleveland, Ohio. As a full service marketing and communications project management resource, it provides services from creative design and print, to IT and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services such as billing and invoicing.

The Mailing Solution That Didn’t Solve the Problem

The Shamrock Companies formed their Data Services group to provide efficient and effective back office services to their clients, primarily health care providers. They print and mail bills, statements, tax forms and other time sensitive documents for their clients whenever needed. To provide their clients with the best possible service, they added address quality and postal sorting to their mailing process. But their mailing software wasn’t providing the value the clients needed; mailings still resulted in returned and delayed mail.

Why was undeliverable mail still a problem? Working with the software they had chosen was difficult and inefficient. Each mailing required multiple steps: data had to be exported from The Shamrock Companies custom application, imported into the mailing software, presorted, exported out and, finally, imported back into their records. Even figuring out the software’s pricing structure was a chore.

At the same time, client volume was ramping up. Along with others, a hospital system of nine recently merged institutions hired Shamrock to handle their back office operations. These were high-pressure, high-touch clients. Mike Ruffing, Director of Data Services states, “Failure was not an option.” The mailing process strained under this new volume. Their options: hire a new full-time employee to handle mailing operations, or improve their operation and shave some steps from their process. They decided to invest in a better process.

An Easily Implemented Custom Mailing Solution

Shamrock surveyed their options and chose MailRoom ToolKit Architect to handle address quality and postal presorting. It is easy to use, has a straightforward price structure and, most importantly, integrates directly into Shamrock’s custom SQL application. A solution that doesn’t require additional importing and exporting makes their mailing process much more efficient.

This custom application is the core of their operations. It stores each client’s customer data and customized business logic. When Shamrock prints a mailing, the program determines the type of mailing — account statement, bill, statement of benefits, etc. — and applies the business logic and formatting requested by each client. Requirements vary between clients — even between jobs for the same client — down to specific details, such as whether the date is printed 01/01/08 or 1-1-2008.

Integrating MailRoom ToolKit Architect was a breeze according to Senior Programmer Lewis Meriam, who oversaw the integration process. “It’s easy, it’s straightforward and Support is knowledgeable,” he says. Meriam had trouble setting up some of the data files during installation. He called Technical Support and received sample code that addressed the problem. Support even threw in a workaround for a bug in Shamrock’s database application. Meriam considers Satori Technical Support to be one of the best, “I’ve been in IT for many years and rank Satori Support near the top.”

MailRoom ToolKit Architect Saves Time and Effort

Today, Shamrock mails 1.6 to 3 million mail pieces per month using MailRoom ToolKit Architect. A variable data printing operation as complex and specialized as theirs requires an easy-to-use mailing solution to make the volume manageable. Shamrock employees use MailRoom ToolKit to correct and verify addresses with a USPS-defined CASS™ process, presort mail to qualify for discounted postage rates and use the NCOA^Link® service to update address changes all within a familiar application — virtually at the push of a button. “Anything MailRoom ToolKit Architect has to do with is much easier, from reporting to printing,” says Ruffing.

In fact, it’s so easy that the address quality and presorting portion of their process has gone from five steps to just one step. Ruffing estimates that MailRoom ToolKit Architect has shaved two minutes off each mailing job. It may not sound like much, but the Data Services division processes 16-21 runs every day. The time saved adds up to over three weeks every year thanks to MailRoom ToolKit. Plus, fewer manual steps mean fewer opportunities for errors, especially when those steps are tedious import and export actions. With four steps eliminated from their mailing process, Ruffing’s team gets mailings out with less grunt work. Now there’s a morale booster.

Satori Software and MailRoom ToolKit are registered trademarks of Satori Software, Inc. Satori Software is a nonexclusive NCOA^Link Full Service Provider Licensee of USPS. The following trademarks are owned by USPS: CASS, NCOA^Link and USPS. AD#12.07