Web Based Internal Mail Tracking System

If your organisation handles important mail, documents or parcels or provides a mail handling service you will appreciate the need for a quality tracking / proof of delivery service. In August 2007 we are due to release a new version of DeliveryPoD aimed at the Internal Mail Tracking / Document Tracking markets. The product will suit both organisations that handle mail for other companies as well as those that handle their own mail.

The system uses mobile computers (PDA's) with barcode readers to track mail throughout a building or an entire enterprise (all sites world wide). Tracking and Proof of Delivery information is available to staff 24/7 on the web site on your intranet. The mobile computers can be used in batch mode (data is sent when docked in a cradle) or in WiFi mode (data is sent over your Wireless LAN) or even GPRS / 3G.

DeliveryPoD Internal Mail

The DeliveryPoD internal mail system is made up of three main parts:

  • Web Site - Once a package is booked onto a site, staff can go to the web site to see where the package is or obtain a full Delivery Report (including signature).

    The web site is normally hosted on your companies Intranet, so it is only accessible by people on your own internal network. You can configure the system so that only users with User Names and Passwords can access the site (if you wish). Alternatively you can put the website onto the world wide web and allow full access - it can be configured in many ways.
     
  • Label Software - This PC based software allows you to enter and maintain a list of Contacts and Addresses (Internal Staff and External). The software is used to produce tracking / address labels in the following scenarios:

    i) Booking In External Mail - Here you select the person who the item is going to and print a tracking label. The data is sent to the website so that person can see that  an item has been booked in. If the item had an external couriers tracking barcode, this can also be scanned in - so that staff can use either Tracking Number to find their tracking data / reports.

    ii) Sending Mail - People sending mail, select the contact (or enter the details) and then print a label. This is purely optional - but it does mean that you can track mail going from peoples desks (both internal and external) if you want to. You can create as many "Delivery Stages" as you want when you set up DeliveryPoD so you can separate out Incoming and Outgoing mail delivery. For example you might create these stages: "Book in external mail", "Collect outgoing mail from desks", "Delivery Mail to Person", "Delivery outgoing mail to Post Room" - it is really up to you. All the stages are separated on the PoD / Tracking reports, so they will always make sense.

    The label software can be deployed as Single User (contact list is private to that user), Multi User (people share the contact list) or a combination of both (e.g. mailroom staff share a database of everyone on site, other staff have private contact lists).
     
  • Mobile Computer - Mobile Computers are used to track items from start to finish by scanning an packages barcode. You can also use inbuilt cameras and imagers to take pictures of damaged items or someone's desktop to prove delivery was attempted. These images are posted to the web site and appear on the PoD / Tracking reports.

 

  
A PoD report on the website. Note the picture of an empty desk to prove delivery was attempted and the signature.


PDA's allow receivers to sign on screen. You can also take a photograph of a damaged item or someone's desk. Items are tracked by scanning their barcode.

Other Features

There will be a whole host of features for DeliveryPoD internal mail. Here are just a few:

Email Tracking / Notifications
People sending items, receiving items and staff can setup Email requests. They enter the Title of the Email, list who should receive it and then set what should happen to trigger the Email to be sent. Typical events might be "Delivered", "Could not Deliver", "Collected from Desk" or "Damage Reported".

You can make the Email request specific to an individual mail item or generic (in which case it applies to all mail items). A good example might be the mailroom manager asking for an Email to be sent to him / her whenever a package is reported as being damaged.

Service Level Reporting
The chances are you are contracted to deliver mail within a certain period of time of it arriving. The service level module allows you to set up single or multiple "Delivery Services". You can then set up the allowed time to delivery for each service and a set of time zones (e.g on-time, 1-10 mins late, 10-30 mins late, 30+ minutes late) which will be used in the Service Level Report. The report allows you to set the start and finish dates for the packages, then it will produce a quality report showing the following:

  • Percentage & Quantity of items delivered on time
  • Percentage & Quantity delivered late within each time zone
  • A graph of the above
  • Report on items that could not be delivered due to nobody being at their desk to take delivery

The report can also be broken down into individual companies, so that catered offices can be handled.

Service Level Expiration Warnings
Provided you have some form of loading a trolley process, the mobile computer accompanying the trolley can download a list of the trolley's mail items and when each items service level time will expire. The mobile computer will now provide an advance warning, to alert the mail person that they should give priority to a particular item.

Messaging
It can be hard work keeping in touch with everyone delivering mail. Thats why we have included a simple text messaging system into the package - so staff can send and receive messages.

If you are interested in DeliveryPoD Internal Mail, please contact us to discuss your requirements or to arrange a pre-release demonstration.