With the digitization of Certified Mail, the legal and recovery processes can be expedited because you have easy access to information.
Author: Dylan Purse, VP Product Management | GrayHair Software
Certified Mail® is a Postal Service™ ancillary service that gives mailers an official receipt that provides proof that the item was mailed. Most mailers see green when they think about Certified Mail. I don’t mean green with envy; I’m talking about the green in the receipts: PS Form 3800 (Certified Mail Receipt) and PS Form 3811 (Domestic Return Receipt).
One problem with Certified Mail is that it’s cumbersome. There are many manual steps and executing them at any scale is challenging. You have to fill out each form, properly place the barcoded sticker on the envelope in a specific way, and then collect and store the forms when they come back. You have to manage and store all those documents for each piece of Certified Mail because you’ll need the ability to access and retrieve those documents when needed, sometimes years later in the process.
Managing this process for a single envelope can be challenging and managing it at any type of scale, especially at an enterprise level involves multiple batches of these documents at all different stages of the process at any given time.
In addition, this traditional process has risks. A big risk is lost pieces or lost green cards. Another is with the storage and access on the back end: there can be lost or destroyed pieces at the back end.
There is a better approach to managing this.
While mailers are waiting for the Postal Service to modernize Certified Mail, third parties, such as SimpleCertifiedMail.com (who GrayHair recently partnered with), have helped to bring Certified Mail into the modern digital era.
For example, with these new solutions, Proof of Acceptance (Electronic) is now available to mailers in a way that has been held by the IRS and state and federal courts as being prima facia evidence that the Postal Service physically took possession at a specific time and date. This digital Proof of Acceptance eliminates the need for scan forms, manifest, or firm books.
Return Receipt (Electronic) data is also now available. It provides city, state, time, date, and signature and posts within 24 hours of delivery. These have the same legal status as the physical forms.
This modernization of Certified Mail means you can eliminate days from the Certified Mail process. With the manual process, from the time you put the piece in the mail to the time you receive proof that the piece was received could take up to 30 days. With the digitization of Certified Mail, the legal and recovery processes can be expedited because you have easy access to information.
Modernization also means that Certified Mail data can be retrieved quickly and easily. Reports are updated every six hours. Proof of Acceptance of a piece can be downloaded as needed. You can even see the Return Receipt, which can be downloaded, and view signatures and know who the recipient was.
While you’re waiting for the Postal Service to fully modernize Certified Mail, there is no need to be in the dark when it comes to your delivery information. With solutions by companies like our partner, SimpleCertifiedMail.com, you can to see Certified Mail delivery information within hours and move forward with your critical processes.
For more information on our Intelligent Enterprise Certified Mail, go here.
Dylan Purse is GrayHair’s VP of Product Management, responsible for the company’s technology roadmap, product development, go-to-market strategies, and partner relationship initiatives.