Contingency Planning for Business Mail
Protecting your business during change
Managing physical mail during business change
Physical mail is an essential form of communication for many businesses, but it’s often overlooked when it comes to contingency planning and preparing for change outside of the companies’ control. Unlike other forms of communication such as email, phone and instant messaging, mail requires a physical presence to receive and distribute items within your business, unless a digital solution is featured within your mail communication strategy.
What are the risks of losing access to mail?
Without a contingency plan for mail, businesses may experience some of the following issues as a result of a disastrous event, or an event outside of their control:
- If your business can no longer access the office, there is no one to receive and handle the businesses inbound mail items. If mail goes missing or doesn’t arrive to the right person, important documents and letters may never be seen or actioned.
- Mail containing sensitive customer, client or employee information may not be securely received and handled in the correct way. Other people, such as fraudsters, may gain access to mail if there is no physical business presence.
- Customers or clients may wonder why they aren’t getting a response, which could negatively impact the image of the business and revenue generation.
- Without physical mail, some business operations won’t be able to take place. For example, if you’re waiting to receive signed legal documents, they may get delayed or never arrive.
- Mail may be returned to the sender, which can cause confusion for suppliers and customers when trying to make contact with the company. So if mail is returned to the sender, this may harm the legitimacy of the business from a consumer or suppliers perspective.
- Trying to locate mail after an office move without any prior planning can be an impossible task, especially if circumstances mean you are unable to visit the office building.
Partner with UK Postbox
We work with sole traders, SMEs and large corporations all over the world to digitise their mail communications, thus protecting them from change and enabling them to operate fully remotely.
We can help you to implement a sound solution either as part of a contingency plan, or a permanent transition into digital mail communication. Here’s how it works:
Get a virtual address
When you sign up for our business address service, you’ll be provided with a unique variation of one of the locations we operate from, depending on your selection during sign up.
Redirect your business mail
If you no longer need to, or you cannot receive mail to your office building or working space, you can:
- Contact all of your suppliers, customers and related parties and advise them of your new mail receiving address. We can also assist with this process by mailing on your behalf; using our send mail service to update suppliers and customers with your new details.
- Set up a Royal Mail redirection service to have your post automatically diverted to your UK Postbox address.
- Arrange private courier collection from your office location if you operate from a multi occupancy building where Royal Mail redirections cannot be set up.
Get notified when new mail arrives
When mail arrives for you, our team will scan the outside contents of the envelope or parcel, assign a unique barcode to the item, and send a notification to your account.
Manage your business mail online
Using our online platform, the account holder can manage all inbound and outbound business mail using the various platform features such as: requesting that we open and scan the contents of your mail, store the item for later action, forward the mail on to another location, or send a reply on your behalf.
Integrate mail with cloud storage and workflows
You can also integrate our service with your existing cloud storage providers and workflow solutions such as Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive to automatically distribute and assign mail items via the systems you use.
Trusted by tens of thousands worldwide
Our role in your Disaster Recovery Plan
The recent event of COVID-19 has highlighted that unexpected change can happen at any time, and being prepared for this change can help to reduce the impact it may have. A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is a detailed guide of actions that should be taken in the event of an outside force disrupting your business. Your DRP must consider all employees, clients and stakeholders, and provide solutions to the problems ahead. Communications of all kinds are paramount to every business, and physical mail should be featured within every comprehensive disaster recovery plan.
UK Postbox can provide a solution for how physical mail can continue to be communicated amongst your business during a disaster. We will always look for unique ways to use our services to find a solution that works for you, either as part of your DRP, or as a permanent communication strategy feature.
Supercharge your mail with UK Postbox integrations
Connect your UK Postbox account with Google Drive™, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox and Evernote to integrate your physical mail with popular workflows, apps and cloud storage solutions.
Business Street Addresses
Our pricing is made up of two components, an address and a mail plan. Select an address below that best suits you and you'll be redirected to our platform to add a mail plan.
Included in all of our plans
