Milestone Infrastructure are part of M Group Services, who are responsible for maintaining roads, lighting assets and footways across the UK. Milestone alone are responsible for the maintenance of 12,000 km of road in Devon.
Given the nature of their work, sharing information with the local community is essential, and includes keeping residents up-to-date and informed about work being undertaken by letter.
Initially, the communication process involved downloading addresses from a third-party mapping tool, writing, printing, and sending letters to local residents through in-house resources. However, as Milestone grew, this process became inefficient.
So, to improve efficiency and help drive business goals, Milestone needed an alternative method to manage and streamline their communications.
Communications are now handled by Docmail, a product of CFH. Docmail hybrid mail is a secure, online mailing solution that enables account holders to send create, manage and send postal communications straight from their PCs. It offers software integration, time savings and the ability to send letters cheaper than the price of a second-class stamp.
The solution meets their requirements and after an onboarding call with a Docmail expert, the solution was set up instantly within the business.
An in-house mapping tool was developed to work specifically with Docmail, which enables Milestone to select a specific radius on a map, generating a list of addresses affected by a particular project using the Royal Mail address database. This data is then exported to be used in mailings.
Milestone can simply upload a letter, or choose a template from the library, and submit this and the list of addresses to Docmail. The software manages the rest, printing high quality output and dispatching letters to its delivery partner, Royal Mail. The system offers a range of delivery options and allows Milestone to report on mailings created and submitted within the software.
It also enables Milestone to send bespoke mailings, including maps and QR codes.
Milestone has five Docmail users that can manage and send important communications at any one time. This avoids time delays and allows the business to track spend across different departments and regions. While the system can be utilised as pay-as-you-go to meet Milestone’s requirements, the account is invoiced monthly with a 30-day payment term.
Docmail has enabled Milestone to transform its print communication process, providing a solution that is efficient and easy to manage, generating valuable time savings.
Since June 2022, Milestone have sent over 10,000 letters through Docmail, helping keep residents informed and engaged as it continues to provide vital maintenance in Devon.
It has also been beneficial financially. With the increasing cost of postage, working with a supplier that can undertake the whole process for less than the price of a stamp has generated significant cost savings for Milestone.
As a part of their relationship, CFH have become an approved supplier on the M Group Services platform for other Divisions to access and utilise the service. CFH have also supported large print requirements for construction sites including A1 site maps and office visuals. This process is managed through CFH’s lithographic print capabilities, CFH Print.
‘By utilising Docmail hybrid mail, we have noticed a significant improvement to our communication process. The solution is flexible, agile and meets our requirements.
There is no downside to the solution, it works perfectly with our internal systems, it saves us valuable resource and it is easy to use. We would recommend the solution to other businesses, who are looking to transform the way they manage and send print and post communications.’
Michaela Purvis-Pfister, Operational Delivery Coordinator,
Milestone
