Case Study – Formax Direct Helps Delta Ambulance with Their Painful Mailing Process
Since 1972, Delta Ambulance is the leading provider of high quality, compassionate emergency services and medical transportation in central Maine, providing services to 17 communities.
We recently met with Jaye LaCroix, Director of Reimbursement, and Tabitha Knowles, AR/Billing Specialist.
When Delta needed help relieving the pain of its mailing process, they recalled the positive experience with their Neopost IN360 postage meter from Formax Direct. The solution was a Neopost DS-64i folder/inserter with OMS-200 Software.
Preparing and Mailing Statements Was a Struggle
Delta mails about 2,700 billing statements each month, with a variable number of pages, many of which require specific cover letters and Business Reply Envelopes (BREs). Tabitha described the time-consuming process:
“We were using a small, tabletop folder that folded only one sheet at a time. It was loud and jammed a lot, forcing us to reprint the jammed statements,” she said. Once the pages were folded, she and a co-worker collated the multi-page statements by hand, checking to be sure they were sent to the correct recipients. “We’d take the 2,700 folded statements, go to the conference room and just stuff and tape envelopes,” she said. “It would take two people two days to complete.”
DS-64i and OMS-200 Bring Needed Relief
After consulting with their Formax Direct Representative, they chose the DS-64i Inserter with 2 sheet feeders and a BRE feeder. They also added OMS-200 software to apply barcodes to their statements for intelligent inserting.
OMS-200 groups the statements based on three criteria: basic statement, statement plus an insurance letter, and statement plus a collections letter, then creates barcodes based on this information.
It further divides these groups into statements that can be processed by the inserter, and others with a higher page count which must be processed by hand.
The DS-64i reads these barcodes and automatically collates the pages for each customer, ensuring the right documents go together. To finish the process, it folds and inserts the pages plus BRE, then seals the envelope.
Another convenient feature of the DS-64i is Cascade Mode, which links feeders with the same document or insert. When one feeder empties, the second starts feeding automatically. Delta makes the most of this capability when sending single-page statements. Tabitha simply fills two feeders with BREs, essentially doubling the feed capacity, so she has to refill less frequently.
Finishing the Job in a Fraction of the Time
Using an assembly-line process, from OMS to printer to inserter to postage meter, preparing statements requires significantly less time. What once took two people two days to complete, now takes a single person only half a day, from start to finish.
Technical Support Team to the Rescue
When they have technical questions, like how to program a job or create templates, the Formax Direct Service Team is ready to help. “They’re fantastic, arriving bright and early in the morning, and they explain how I can fix problems myself the next time,” Tabitha said.
Tabitha and Jaye agree they’d recommend Formax Direct products, as well as the sales team and technical support. Like the communities that depend on Delta Ambulance, Delta Ambulance depends on Formax Direct for their efficient mail processing.
