In their own words

A population of 300,000 across an area of 77 square miles. Historically, printing was consolidated, but mailing was done in each department. With a mix of PPIs and small franking machines, Print Services manager John Price spotted an opportunity.

“We consolidated our processes in one location and made considerable savings. We’ve always been happy with Pitney Bowes so we asked them to quote against a number of other potential suppliers. They were the best value for money.”

They initially installed a Connect+3000 followed by a second machine, a Connect+2000. The 3000 is the first franking machine on the market to offer colour printing across the length of the envelope, turning ordinary communications into marketing opportunities. It’s a very clever piece of kit, but it was the accounting software that really impressed John. He can now accurately charge different departments for postage at the touch of a button.

The council mails around 100,000 items every month. The two machines cope admirably, even with busy days when they send out 10,000 items. And they’re reliable.

“We haven’t needed an engineer once. Even when we had a small issue with the software, Pitney Bowes were on the case within 10 minutes.”

The savings keep coming. By accurately preparing their volume mail, they are able to access Business Mail Advanced. This could save a further £25,000 each year.

“It’s a winning combination of great equipment, excellent service and value for money.”

The challenge to potential suppliers was clear - productivity, personalisation and connectivity. Specialising in IT for property management, La Gestion Integrale employs 43 staff and delivers services to 300 customers. With a production capacity of 500,000 pages per day, 100,000 mail pieces per month and 60,000 franked items, the challenge was as tough as it was clear.

The results speak for themselves. As one of the first customers to start using the Connect + in 2012, they had a machine on beta test for three months - winning over the whole business in the process.

“Connect + brought real value to our services by including expense management solutions, integrated with the hardware and available on the internet portal ‘Inview’. It’s also very easy to use and guarantees us maximum reliability. We especially enjoyed the support and monitoring of their sales teams.”

Jean-Michel Camizon, president of LGI.

Because they deal with patient data and crucial information about appointments and treatments, NHS Scotland needed a partner that they and their patients could trust. In 2011 NHS National Services came together from several small offices into one central office in Glasgow.

The merger brought with it a new mailroom, sending out around 1000 items via TNT every day as well as several thousand by Royal Mail. Medical records, vaccination records, travel health applications, letters to patients and GPs - security and reliability were non-negotiable.

Pitney Bowes went through a stringent public services tender process and emerged as the best-value partner, installing a Connect+2000. An important piece of NHS equipment providing what they themselves describe as “the reliability that we were originally looking for, but it’s also exceeded those original expectations by offering us extra functionality like the account reports and the graphics. The Connect+ is key to a smooth-running mail operation.”

A leading consultant to the property and construction industry, Watts Group PLC has a wide-reaching clientele to contact - some 1,000 letters each month. After experiencing poor customer service with another provider, Alex Shepherd, Facilities Assistant, got a great deal from Pitney Bowes.

“We love the speed of the machine and the fact that we can print our company logo on the envelope in colour. We also use it to encourage clients to follow us on Twitter or wish them season’s greetings at Christmas.”

The Connect+1000 automatically applies the correct postage and can print full-colour messages - quickly and efficiently. The new technology halves the time it takes them to send out correspondence.

“It’s an added bonus, given the customer service and the machine’s ability, but we also save around £1200 a year”

A respected business that has been going since 1945, started by the current owner’s grandfather. They originally had a franking machine and to quote Joey Dominick, Office Manager at Dominick Fuel ‘it was fine’.

"Our representative, Chris, came to see us and showed is the Connect+1000. It lets us incorporate marketing messages and print on the envelope. We were sold. We put messages on the back, change it seasonally to remind customers - we even advertise our Facebook page. We print QR codes to send customers to specific pages on our website. Pitney Bowes has helped us with our graphics, we call them whenever we need them and they’re always glad to help. But my favourite thing about the machine is how easy it is to use."

"It’s simple, it’s fast and anyone in the office can use it. The touchscreen means anyone can handle anything."

“Mail is very important to us. It’s a way of getting bills to our customers which brings money in, but it’s also an important way of communicating”

The number of privately sent letters may be in decline, but they are still an important communication tool. It’s more important than ever to make each envelope count, so Sparkasse Essen opted for a machine that adds colourful artwork.

70 million bank statements, 5 million pages of colour printing and 8 million pages of black and white print. The total postage cost for the year was more than 6 million euros. By upgrading their machines to Connect+ they were able to bring much-needed colour to their envelopes and improve their response rates.

The Connect+ 3000 is the fastest machine and is now preparing mail for delivery right across Germany and beyond - reacting to planned communications, ondemand campaigns and quick-reaction mail-outs.

They have started with one machine, tested, learned, analysed performance and will be upgrading their other machines in due course. All their customers can now look forward to accurate, eye-catching mail.

“Our Connect+2000 system is just great. You don’t have to figure anything out. It weights it, measures it and puts the right amount of postage on it.“ says Carol Manning, Secretary to the Principal, E.O. Smith High School.

"It’s a computer first and then it’s a mail machine."

"We can customise return addresses for each department with colours and graphics. It has saved us a a lot of money. If I ever have any questions about graphics, the MyGraphics team are always happy to help, they’ll let me up load the information and send me back a graphic or explain how to do it myself. I’m looking forward to learning more from them."

“I’ve worked in other schools and I know theres’s a lot out there that could really benefit from technology like this.”

Trinity College is home to over 1000 students, multiple departments, rental properties, alumni relations, the bursary department and the tutorial office. When their franking machine was due for renewal, it happened to coincide with a move to an even smaller space and no let up in mail volumes.

“We didn’t even look at the competitors” explains Peter Windmill, Head Porter. “The service is very good and, over the years, I have got to know the engineers by name. Now we print full-colour marketing messages across the full width of the envelope. The alumni organisation is already keen to use this to promote its activities.”

High volumes, multiple logos, varying sized mail from prospectuses to rent invoices - and each department and office has its own account, so charging back is a walk in the ‘courts’.

“For us, Connect+ offers the full package. Accurate, efficient, appropriate and adding real value.”