Business Info - issue 137

01732 759725 magazine 19 such as Propman, Qube or Yardi, select the relevant template, look for the right information, and send a query to another system to fill in that information to create a tenancy renewal that is then sent out via the appropriate, preferred medium. Automating manual tasks and being able to integrate other applications and data sources ultimately improves efficiency, and in this case, could result in faster responses from tenants, improving customer satisfaction.With their time freed up, staff can become more productive in their core roles, which has cost and productivity benefits for the business. Take to the cloud With a traditional on-premise deployment, a company would need to deploy hardware infrastructure to run the application, and train staff to maintain it. Unlike larger enterprises, many SMEs lack the dedicated IT staff needed to set up an on-premise solution. And other staff do not have the time to become experts on different IT solutions alongside their core roles. Even those SMEs that do have a small IT team may struggle, as limited budgets mean IT departments are increasingly being asked to do more with less. SMEs could opt to outsource the set up to an IT service provider, but this requires a large upfront investment to create a server, get it racked and connected to the network. This is where the Cloud can help. Neopost's OMS-500 software is available in a Software-as-a-Service version, allowing businesses to centralise communications through a hosted service, eliminating the need for costly infrastructure. With OMS-500 Cloud, Neopost provides the computing power and runs the application for you. You don't need to buy the software upfront, businesses instead pay an annual subscription. This enables a company to get up and running with the application with much less hassle. Since you're spending less time on technical issues, you can spend more time running your business. Guaranteed service availability In the SaaS delivery model, the vendor manages the solution, and so is responsible for upgrades and support. You'll always be on the latest version of the software, with updates occurring overnight or at weekends to ensure little to no downtime. Users can rest assured that they will have access to the latest features without having to deal with time-consuming software upgrades. Geo-redundancy is another benefit of hosting software in the Cloud, and is something that small businesses are likely to struggle to afford on-premise. Geo-redundancy entails replicating data and storing it in a separate geographical location, minimising downtime in case one site fails for some reason, such as flooding, fire or external damage to power supply. SaaS can prevent disruption, ensuring a business remains productive when disaster strikes. Guaranteed service availability from Neopost should give you the confidence that your communications will reach the intended recipients when you need them to. Neopost monitors the performance of the application in the Cloud and can intervene when it sees something going wrong, potentially preventing an issue before the customer is even aware of it. Secure delivery A folder inserter provides huge productivity benefits, handling a lot of the manual work involved in sending mail. But not every business decides to have a folder inserter; they may not have the space, particularly in London where office space is expensive, or they may feel they send too few letters to warrant one. Neotouch, another Cloud solution from Neopost, takes this automation outside the office, effectively outsourcing the printing and mailing of paper documents. Your files are turned into a letter and routed to a Neopost fulfilment centre for printing, folding, inserting and then given to the post office for delivery. Neotouch can be used in combination with OMS to help businesses send communications through the channels their customers prefer. Once OMS has collated the necessary information, businesses can send it via traditional postal mail, email, SMS or, for more sensitive documents, via a secure document delivery portal. The portal can be branded with the company's logo and colour scheme and an email lets the customer know they have a new document to view in the portal. Automating highly manual processes in this way can also reduce or eliminate errors. Take, for example, a clinic within a hospital. Some patients might like to receive test results or appointment reminders through text or email, others may prefer a letter. A staff member working in a rush could quite easily stuff the wrong medical results into the wrong envelope, resulting in a data breach. Think of the potential embarrassment this could cause the patient and the reputational damage it would cause the clinic, not to mention the ramifications in terms of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Ultimately, SaaS takes some of the pressure off organisations seeking to digitise manual processes. In avoiding the technological strain of set-up, security and maintenance, businesses are better able to focus on their core business, boosting productivity and the bottom line. If they haven't already done so, SMEs would be wise to consider the SaaS model so they can start reaping the benefits of output management software faster and cheaper upfront. www.neopost.co.uk COVER STORY For more information on Neotouch: www.neopost.co.uk/ software/neotouch For more information on OMS-500 Cloud: www.neopost.co.uk/ software/output- management/oms- 500