Challenge

For many years, Texas A&M AgriLife relied on postage meters to send thousands of mail pieces per month. In their experience, postage meters lacked the reporting tools district managers need to determine postage spend and accurately budget for ongoing mailing needs.

Solution

In 2008, Auxiliary Operations Officer Ralph Piper and the management team at Texas A&M AgriLife began to look for a more effective postage solution that would better suit the organization’s needs.

Key search criteria included:

• Ability to pull timely and accurate reports for all 12 district offices and 254 county offices
• Support for all mail classes
• Ease of use
• Seamless rollout that would not disrupt operations

After a thorough evaluation, Texas A&M AgriLife chose Stamps.com Enterprise as its new postage solution. By using Stamps.com’s signature White Glove Roll-Out Program, every location enjoyed a seamless transition from postage meters.

Today, a group of dedicated Stamps.com account representatives are permanently assigned to the account to provide each location with relationship management, technical support and any other needs that arise.

We noticed over time that using postage meters was inefficient because our managers were unable to properly determine their districts’ postage spend, which led to the inability to accurately budget for their ongoing mailing needs.

Ralph Piper | Auxiliary Operations Officer

Results

Reporting

Unlike a postage meter, Stamps.com Enterprise allows Texas A&M AgriLife management to instantly pull a variety of reports, providing a complete view of the organization’s postage activity. The comprehensive reporting features included in Stamps.com Enterprise have resulted in significant time savings and enabled management much tighter control over billing and budgets.

Control and Visibility

Because of their large number of meters, it was nearly impossible for Texas A&M AgriLife to assess postage meter usage and postage spend across all offices. Stamps.com Enterprise’s centralized reporting dashboard allows management to view individual user activity, assess postage spend and forecast postage needs giving greater visibility into each county office’s activity. This gives them more control over local spending and ensures accountability at the employee level.

Efficiency

Texas A&M AgriLife required an easy to implement and user-friendly postage system that would not disrupt day-to-day operations. To meet this important condition, Stamps.com Enterprise’s team of Implementation Specialists was quickly assigned to the roll out the software application, first at selected locations and then to the rest of the organization’s network

This ensured a seamless transition from postage meters to online postage for every Texas A&M AgriLife location. While the majority of the mail that is sent by Texas A&M AgriLife consists of standard envelopes, postcards, newsletters and some flats, management appreciates the other powerful features of Stamps.com Enterprise including certified mail, package insurance and discounts on Priority and Priority Mail Express.