SWINDON Borough Council partnered with managed workplace services provider Apogee Corporation to introduce a hybrid mail system which aims to save time and money.

The team effort has enabled the council to save the equivalent of four months of staff time during the last 14 months.

As the council sends out 250,000 letters a year to people around the town, a company-wide solution was needed to ensure taxpayer money was spent on protecting frontline services rather than on unnecessary mail processing costs.

Apogee says it has provided the local authority’s employees with a smarter, more streamlined way of communicating which cuts the costs associated with preparing and printing council documents and letters.

The expense required to order and deliver consumables, refill machines and maintain printing equipment was another key factor in the decision to move towards a digital mailroom.

Apogee CEO Aurelio Maruggi said: “We are delighted to have helped Swindon Borough Council implement a company-wide hybrid mail solution, ensuring it could focus more time and money on front line services for residents.

“At Apogee, we take pride in tailoring the services we deliver to ensure all our customers’ communication processes are smart, efficient, and cost-effective.”

Collaborating with this company allowed the council to keep its physical lines of communications flowing and automate key business processes.

In the last 14 months, council employees have put more than 155,000 letters through the system.

It lets users print and post letters at the touch of a button, which helped departments increase efficiency and flexibility for staff to handle and receive documents wherever they are, as well as reduce costs .

These considerable cost and time savings have helped the council to meet crucial communication targets and goals.

SBC’s chief digital officer Philip Murkin added: “Our end-of-year mailer project previously took a week to finish, but by using the hybrid mailing system, the whole process was completed in a few hours.”