Like many industries, email is the primary method of communication for town planners. And with over 333.2 billion emails being sent and received in 2022, it's hardly surprising that disputes are rising, with many firms unable to keep up with the influx of email.
When we speak to our town planning customers, five things always come up when they explain why they chose to implement Mail Manager to take control of their email management. Here are five reasons why town planners love Mail Manager:
1. They don't need a full Document Management System to manage document control
Document and information management has always benefited town planners, especially in today's working world where people operate in hybrid working environments. Town planners are no stranger to understanding that document management can completely transform their organisation's productivity.
But often, organisations don't need the full functionality (or price point) that comes with full Document Management Systems (DMS). While they allow for document control, DMSs often contain several unused features and miss an important feature. They often don't capture email correspondence, and so lose the important context surrounding why changes have been made.
With Mail Manager, all sent and received emails, and their attachments are captured and filed to wherever the business project folders are. All sides of the conversation can be easily searched, and important changes are all noted instantaneously.
2. Supports teams to work remotely
Our recent research report, 2022 State of AEC Project Management, uncovered that a hybrid workplace is a new norm for organisations despite the remote working hype we saw in 2021. In 2021, 71% of respondents indicated that they were working remotely full-time, whereas that number dropped to 11% in 2022. 51% of respondents are now operating in a hybrid work environment.
And Mail Manager supports this! Using machine learning and AI, the Mail Manager software allows users to file emails to a shared central location, making town planners' lives easier when searching for project information like correspondence, contracts, approvals, etc.
This leads to improved productivity as users can retrieve any email that has been filed using our powerful search tool within half a second; when staff are on-site, they can still search through emails, businesses can operate with guaranteed continuity, and business leaders have complete visibility over the status of a project.
3. Fits in with existing privacy controls, so surveyors never lose their black book
Surveyors often rely on their little black book, but can you imagine what would happen if that went missing? Businesses would be up in arms. With Mail Manager, you can guarantee that all information is captured and maintained.
Plus, our privacy controls mean you can regain control of your inbox on a wider scale. Mail Manager files into where you, as a company, dictate. With Mail Manager, your emails will follow the same privacy and security procedures as the project documentation you are saving within your IT infrastructure. We are the bridge between an Outlook inbox and your company infrastructure and have no access to this information. The data belongs to you, and you choose where to file it.
4. Mail Manager drives profitability
Email is a proven workplace stressor and productivity drain. Too often, fee earners are wasting valuable time on clunky email archiving processes or searching for email information and teams working reproductively as they don't have access to the right information.
Mail Manager reduces the time required for time-intensive manual filing and makes any email searchable within three clicks. The software improves team transparency and information visibility across the board. Plus, our industry-leading search tool also allows you to find any email within three clicks, reducing the need for staff to spend hours manually trawling through folders and inboxes.
5. Peace of mind with reduced risks
Outlook is the biggest communication tool and the letter of today, but everyone manages their email differently, creating risk in years to come. Losing or not having access to critical information residing in email presents a risk to the business in years to come. You never know when you will need to find an email to support you in a dispute or a claim.
Mail Manager is what our clients call their 'insurance policy'. You can be sure you'll always be able to rely on an email in court, prove what's happened or who said what, find historical emails from years ago and control who can access important correspondence.
Is it time for you to implement an email management solution?
Arup initially developed Mail Manager to allow the global engineering firm to manage its project correspondence. After all, email represented their biggest communication tool on projects, but it exposed the business to an unnecessary level of risk whilst also draining the productivity of project teams.
Much like Arup did, town planners enjoy using Mail Manager to address their email headache overnight, as they get much better access and visibility to project information, regardless of whether staff are in the office or working remotely.
See how you can take back control of your inbox with Mail Manager’s free trial!
