Customer communications deliver critical information every month. From statements to letters to notices, these documents have specific requirements when sending. This specialized area of document printing services must have security, compliance, accuracy, and quality in mind.
If you’re evaluating options for outsourcing the production of these materials, making the right choice is imperative. In this guide, you’ll receive tips on how to do it.
What Are Document Printing Services for Transactional Mail?
Transactional document printing services describe a model where companies outsource these initiatives to experts. Printing and mailing occur based on the rules and requirements of the business.
It allows organizations to reduce costs associated with these communications, leaving them in the capable hands of professionals. However, not all providers are the same, so a careful analysis should happen before choosing a vendor.
How to Select the Best Document Printing Services
Use this as your guide when reviewing options to ensure you make the best decision.
Scrutinize Their Compliance and Security Practices to Identify Gaps
Compliance in transactional communications is nonnegotiable. You must adhere to laws that govern the protection of PII (personally identifiable information) and PHI (protected health information).
Safeguarding this data is the foundation for remaining in compliance. Other components of complying may include timeframes to meet or other specifics about packaging.
How do you effectively assess this? Start with these areas:
- Be sure they hold compliance certifications.
- Evaluate how they receive and transmit data, and if they are using encryption throughout.
- Ask about proactive cybersecurity measures they may take, like vulnerability scanning and penetration tests.
- Gather information on their infrastructure, including firewalls, Intrusion Protection System (IPS), network segmentation, and redundancy.
- Find out if they have dedicated cybersecurity professionals, such as a Compliance Officer.
- Inquire about how they destroy any documents not mailed that contain PHI and PII.
- Get details on other measures like multi-factor authentication and user-level security.
Assess Accuracy Guardrails
One way to find yourself in noncompliance is inconsistency in accuracy. Every envelope mailed must only contain information for the addressee, but mistakes happen.
Your best buffer against this is working with providers who are nearly flawless in their execution of accuracy.
What does optimal accuracy look like? Those who do it best may apply the White Paper Factory™ method. This framework feeds reams of white paper into inkjet printers to create fully variable documents. It’s the merging of composed files with in-line production, and each document can have dynamic content relevant to that customer.
Technology and equipment also stabilize accuracy. Intelligent insertion delivers this by scanning 2D barcodes on each document with a camera. The scan tells the system which pages go into each envelope. Another camera verifies the insertion by taking an image of it.
High-speed cameras also track documents through the entire lifecycle of document printing services.
Review What the Ideal Quality Stance Should Be
Quality has more than one meaning in transactional communications. Both are important, but most vendors have challenges meeting them.
The first area of quality encompasses the product and how it looks. Is the printing consistent, and does it meet your brand guidelines? Most professional print companies can achieve this without issue.
The second area of quality isn’t so standard. It’s about how quality strengthens accuracy. This approach is one of quality assurance (QA) versus quality control (QC). QA audits the process in line with Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. It seeks to find any inconsistencies so the workflow gets updated. QC is an after-the-fact approach that doesn’t identify root causes.
Choose a provider that prioritizes QA over QC, and you can have confidence that the process is constantly improving, leading to fewer errors.
Document Printing Services from PCI Group
We’re a leader in transactional communications as a service. Our decades of experience, use of innovative technology, and a commitment to continuous improvement make us the outsourcing partner of choice, delivering billions of letters every year.
