Businesses of all types must produce and deliver mission critical communications to customers. These documents and letters come with special requirements to protect the data of the recipients. Many organizations have begun to outsource this function to save money and reduce strains on their operations.
For those going this route, evaluating the vendors available should include significant due diligence. There are many questions to ask and capabilities to assess. So, how can you do this effectively? These tips can help.
What Is a Mission Critical Communications Partner?
First, it’s essential to define who these potential partners are. In this context, these companies are providers of transactional print and mail. This is a unique category of communications because they contain PII (personally identifiable information), PHI (protected health information), or both.
Thus, these partners must uphold compliance requirements, security best practices, accuracy, and quality. Not every print and mail company has these abilities. Ideally, you want to work with a company that only produces transactional communications.
Ways to Evaluate Mission Critical Communications
These tips and strategies can be a guide to your assessment of possible partners.
Examine Compliance Practices
Depending on your industry or the content of the communications you send, you may be held to comply with multiple regulations. Most vendors you assess will have the basics, such as compliance with HIPAA, FISMA, or PCI DSS.
That’s a start, but you should further scrutinize the mechanics of their compliance. Seek information about their processes and how they follow compliance requirements. What types of checks and balances do they have in place? Are they able to embed new workflows should compliance rules change?
Another question to ask is who is responsible for compliance. Do they have a Compliance Officer and team? You’ll feel more confident in an organization’s ability to strengthen compliance when experts are leading the way.
Review Security Protocols
Security and compliance intertwine in the world of transactional communications. Each must be a pillar. Evaluating security practices can be wide-ranging, covering both digital and physical elements.
Here are some pointers to assess the security of vendors:
- Do they use encryption for data at rest and in transit?
- What mechanism do they use to receive data?
- Do they perform proactive cybersecurity tasks like penetration testing and vulnerability scanning?
- Do the practice network segmentation?
- What does their security infrastructure look like in terms of using firewalls and an IPS (intrusion protection system)?
- Do they have other controls in place, like MFA (multi-factor authentication) and user-level security?
- If they store data in a cloud, what security protections does it have?
- What are their physical security protocols in terms of access to secure areas and destruction of documents containing PII or PHI?
Determine Their Accuracy Aptitude
Accuracy is critical in transactional print and mail. It supports compliance measures to ensure only the intended recipient receives the documents. Failures here will reverberate to compliance.
How do mission critical communications partners ensure accuracy? Typically, it’s a mix of technology and frameworks.
First, using a method like the White Paper Factory™ enables the merging of composed files with in-line production. Every document prints dynamically. This is the first part of accurate production.
The second part encompasses the insertion of the proper documents into the correct envelope. Equipment does this at scale with a low rate of error. It’s called intelligent insertion, which scans 2D barcodes at the footer of every page. This scanned information tells the inserter which sheets go into the envelope. Another camera then records this for validation.
Investigate Their Quality Principles
In any type of print job, quality refers to the end product. Is the print consistent, high-quality, and in line with branding? That part is easy.
The other angle of quality is its role in accuracy. Most printers practice QC (quality control), which identifies defects or issues after the fact. It’s not a great measure of accuracy.
The more advantageous approach is QA (quality assurance), which has roots in Lean Manufacturing. QA monitors the process for inconsistencies or errors. When found, the workflow gets a retool, addressing the root cause.
A partner that emphasizes QA over QC will be a better option.
PCI Is the Leader in Mission Critical Communications
Mission-critical print and mail is all that we do. Our priorities are compliance, security, accuracy, and quality. With decades of experience as a partner for this service, we continue to improve and enhance production methods and innovate.
Learn more about how we can be your partner!
