The local authorities almost all admit it: the number of “paper” letters continues to decrease. Citizens now prefer online forms, requests by e-mail, questioning on social networks, or text messages sent to elected officials.
The communities acknowledge that they still receive these handwritten letters every week requesting the elected official for an appointment or a problem in the public space.
As administered, is it better now to avoid writing a letter and send it by post? We don’t think so, but we are convinced that local authorities must equip themselves to meet these important demands better!
We give here some advice to optimize the processing of “paper” requests:
Tips for Optimizing the Processing Of Paper Applications
The General Manager Must Pilot Digitization of Mail.
Mastering the mail is more strategic than you might think. Not surprisingly, the newly recruited CEOs are tackling this project as a priority. “It’s important to know what goes in and what goes out of the community.” Questioning an existing mail process makes it possible to understand the functioning of the community, its uses, its rules, and sometimes its inconsistencies.
5-10 Min to Scan?
The digitization task is essential but is of little interest to the employee. It is, therefore, important to find a solution that will optimize the minutes devoted to this daily activity.
Qualification Work
Once digitized, the mail will leave for processing in the services. It is, therefore, incumbent on us to qualify or break it down as precisely as possible in order to avoid misunderstandings or wasting time.
Be Sure That:
- The contact of the applicant is well indicated: telephone number, e-mail ideally, and address for a future response by paper.
- The DGS instruction is clear.
- All services are in copy. Better too much than not enough!
- All attachments are present.
This information will allow the services to respond directly to the applicant. Save time for everyone!
The Paper Should No Longer Circulate After Scanning.
As a precaution, some communities keep a paper flow parallel to the digital flow. This double treatment risks creating confusion within the teams. Does receiving a copy of the mail mean that it has to be processed? Has it been forgotten in my digital signature book? We advise storing the paper at the head office following its digitization. Some local authorities allow the original mail to be stored within the service responsible for the response. We do not recommend it; as much to cut off any movement of paper.
However, when setting up your CRM/GED, a double flow can be kept for a few weeks so that the agents get used to the new organization. The agents are thus reassured.
Should Paper Mail Be Answered With A Paper Reply?
Very many directors demand that the parallelism of forms be respected. This practice seems essential to us because the citizen, who has taken the time to write and pay a stamp, is entitled to receive a response from the Mayor or elected official at home.
How many times have community agents heard this phrase, “I’m still waiting for my answer!” ?
The problem may already have been solved (problem of trees, roads, etc.); however, the citizen is awaiting proof that his problem has been considered.
It may seem paradoxical, but digitization does not yet prevent the printing of the answer.
Who Prints and Sends?
Is it up to the department in charge of processing or to the general manager to print and send the reply letter?
While validating the response, the general manager will give its opinion. It has no interest in managing the end of the process as long as the formatting is standardized and uniform (is it today with you?), and it can find all the responses sent thanks to its tool.
The issuing department will therefore have to scan the paper response and integrate it into its tool.
Contact the Turn-Key Solutions (TKS) team for the best Document Management System. We are an IT Solutions Provider company that helps you establish a Paperless Office.