Business communications are a key part of delivering critical information to customers. There are many categories of these. Some are purely marketing. Others include crucial notifications, and many are transactional. The last type has special considerations, and mail printing services can streamline these while ensuring accuracy, security, and compliance.
If your organization is evaluating providers in the space for communications with a regulatory component, you’ll find that a partner can be key to ensuring they are effective.
Mail Printing Services: The Transactional Difference
Transactional printing and mailing encompass all communications that involve regulatory compliance. Specifically, these documents must protect consumer information that’s confidential, including PII (personally identifiable information) and PHI (protected health information).
Due to the content of the letters, organizations must have controls in place to ensure compliance and to reasonably assure that data will be secure and safe. It can be a very complex framework for any business to uphold.
As a result, many seek to partner with providers who focus solely on this. By doing so, they shift operations to a print and mail company with all the protocols in place to deliver compliant mail printing services. So, what does that look like?
Key Components of Transactional Mail Printing Services
What should you look for in mail printing services?
Variable data-generated document capabilities
These printers have the ability to combine digitally composed files with in-line production. Each set of pages prints only what applies to that addressee.
Intelligent insertion technology
So, how do you ensure accuracy in that each envelope only contains the communications for that customer? The best approach is intelligent insertion, which prints 2D barcodes on each piece of paper. A camera scans this and tells the inserter which pages to fold into each envelope. A second camera records this.
Continuous auditing
Professional transactional operations often adhere to a quality assurance (QA) approach using Lean Manufacturing and standard works. Processes go through constant auditing to identify any issues with the workflow and remediate, as necessary.
Compliance protocols
Compliance in regulated print and mail exceeds the minimum of having a few controls and security measures in place. There must be a culture of compliance built on best practices within regulations like HIPAA and PCI-DSS. That’s the first layer.
Using intelligent insertion, auditing, and monitoring of regulatory changes is also necessary. You can be most confident in your partner’s ability to do this when they have dedicated compliance staff.
Data security
What does it mean to demonstrate the strictest security practices? It should combine many different offensive and defensive measures, including:
- Secure data transmission via SFTP (Secure File Transmission Protocol)
- Encryption of all data while at rest and in transit
- Advanced firewalls and IPS (Intrusion Prevention Systems)
- Vulnerability assessments and penetration testing
- User-level security
- Network segmentation
- True redundancy and backups
Data security is an ongoing practice. Data like PII and PHI are highly attractive to cyber criminals, and their techniques are sophisticated. Working with a company that uses the most robust controls and is always evolving is your best assurance of preventing a breach.
More to Know About Mail Printing Services and Effectiveness
As noted, printers in this category have the ability to print any information on each customer’s mailing. This can include standard information about their account as well as images, graphs, or charts to illustrate it.
There are also other ways to personalize these communications that improve effectiveness, including:
- Highlighting programs that would benefit the customer: Examples include utilities sending energy-efficient information or financial institutions offering support.
- Cross-selling or upselling: If you have many services or products, you can promote those to customers who aren’t currently enrolled.
- Advisories: You may need to make customers aware of downtime to a service or a major change in a product. Putting this on the statement ensures they look at it versus printing it on an insert.
- Incentives for referrals: Present these offers to current customers and reward them for referring a friend.
Through variable data printing, you accomplish all the goals of customer communications. It’s a compliant way to deliver transactional communications, as well as enabling customization.
PCI Group Mail Printing Services: An Industry Leader
As a company solely focused on transactional print and mail, we’ve perfected mail printing services. Our decades of experience, proprietary technology, and dedication to compliance, accuracy, and security make us a trusted partner to many.
Our unique approach of variable data printing via the White Paper Factory allows us to deliver compliant communications with personalization.
Learn how we’ve revolutionized the industry by connecting with our team.
