DIGITAL MAILROOM APPLICATION

A digital mailroom application is used by a mail clerk to process incoming physical mail. The digital mailroom application receives a list of mail recipients and mail delivery settings, then processes the incoming physical mail using the list of mail recipients and mail delivery settings. A piece of incoming physical mail can be processed by determining one of the mail recipients as the recipient for the piece of physical mail. The piece of physical mail is then scanned to generate a corresponding digital mail piece, which is routed electronically based on the defined mail delivery settings.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure generally relates to processing of documents, and more specifically relates to processing incoming physical mail using a digital mailroom application.

2. Background Art

It has long been the goal of many people in the information processing field to realize a “paperless office”, which means an office where physical paper documents are completely replaced with electronic documents. However, the dream of achieving a paperless office has not been achieved in most business contexts. One major challenge in achieving a paperless office is the incoming physical mail. Because incoming physical mail is in hard copy form, processes must be put in place to scan and store digital versions of the physical mail. Current methods for processing incoming physical mail are not efficient and do not specifically address the issues of those working remotely.

The problems with current methods for processing incoming physical mail became even more evident during the recent global pandemic. Many people were immediately forced to work from home. Companies were forced to adopt quickly cobbled-together systems and procedures for distributing incoming physical mail to the intended recipients when many were not physically at the office for extended periods of time. Without a way to easily process and distribute incoming physical mail, the inefficiencies with current systems will continue to hamper a company's efforts to distribute incoming physical mail when many people are working remotely.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A digital mailroom application is used by a mail clerk to process incoming physical mail. The digital mailroom application receives a list of mail recipients and mail delivery settings, then processes the incoming physical mail using the list of mail recipients and mail delivery settings. A piece of incoming physical mail can be processed by determining one of the mail recipients as the recipient for the piece of physical mail. The piece of physical mail is then scanned to generate a corresponding digital mail piece, which is routed electronically based on the defined mail delivery settings. The mail delivery settings can specify to send a digital mail piece to one or more entities based on the recipient, sender or mail type, to send one or more notifications to one or more entities based on the recipient, sender or mail type, to perform one or more additional functions, and the format for the digital mail piece and for notification(s) for the digital mail piece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A digital mailroom application is used by a mail clerk to process incoming physical mail. The digital mailroom application receives a list of mail recipients and mail delivery settings, then processes the incoming physical mail using the list of mail recipients and mail delivery settings. A piece of incoming physical mail can be processed by determining one of the mail recipients as the recipient for the piece of physical mail. The piece of physical mail is then scanned to generate a corresponding digital mail piece, which is routed electronically based on the defined mail delivery settings for the mail recipient. The mail delivery settings can specify to send a digital mail piece to one or more entities based on the recipient, sender or mail type, to send one or more notifications to one or more entities based on the recipient, sender or mail type, to perform one or more additional functions, and the format for the digital mail piece and for notification(s) for the digital mail piece.

Referring toFIG. 1, computer system100is one suitable implementation of a computer system that includes the digital mailroom application disclosed and claimed herein. Computer system100could be any suitable computer system, such as an IBM POWER computer system. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosure herein applies equally to any computer system, regardless of whether the computer system is a complicated multi-user computing apparatus, a single user workstation, an embedded control system, or a mobile device such as a smart phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, etc. As shown inFIG. 1, computer system100comprises one or more processors110, a main memory120, a mass storage interface130, a display interface140, and a network interface150. These system components are interconnected through the use of a system bus160. Mass storage interface130is used to connect mass storage devices, such as a disk drive155, to computer system100. One specific type of disk drive155is a readable and writable CD-RW drive, which may store data to and read data from a CD-RW195. CD-RW195is one suitable example of non-transitory computer readable media.

Main memory120preferably contains data121, an operating system122, and a digital mailroom application124. The digital mailroom application124allows a mail clerk to process incoming physical mail according to a defined list of mail recipients and defined mail delivery settings. Details regarding possible functions of the digital mailroom application124are given below.

Computer system100can utilize well known virtual addressing mechanisms that allow the programs of computer system100to behave as if they only have access to a large, single storage entity instead of access to multiple, smaller storage entities such as main memory120and disk drive155. Therefore, while data121, operating system122, and digital mailroom application124are shown to reside in main memory120, those skilled in the art will recognize that these items are not necessarily all completely contained in main memory120at the same time. It should also be noted that the term “memory” is used herein generically to refer to the entire virtual memory of computer system100, and may include the virtual memory of other computer systems coupled to computer system100. In addition, computer system100could include one or more virtual machines, with the digital mailroom application124running on one of the virtual machines.

Processor110may be constructed from one or more microprocessors and/or integrated circuits. Processor110executes program instructions stored in main memory120. Main memory120stores programs and data that processor110may access. When computer system100starts up, processor110initially executes the program instructions that make up operating system122. The digital mailroom application124may then be run under control of the operating system122. In an alternative, the digital mailroom application124could include boot code that allows it to boot the computer system and run without the need for a separate operating system122.

Although computer system100is shown to contain only a single processor and a single system bus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a digital mailroom application as disclosed and claimed herein may be practiced using a computer system that has multiple processors and/or multiple buses. In addition, the interfaces that are used preferably each include separate, fully programmed microprocessors that are used to off-load compute-intensive processing from processor110. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that these functions may be performed using I/O adapters as well.

Display interface140is used to directly connect one or more displays165to computer system100. These displays165, which may be non-intelligent (i.e., dumb) terminals or fully programmable workstations, are used to provide system administrators and users the ability to communicate with computer system100. Note, however, that while display interface140is provided to support communication with one or more displays165, computer system100does not necessarily require a display165, because all needed interaction with users and other processes may occur via network interface150.

Network interface150is used to connect computer system100to other computer systems175via network170. Network interface150broadly represents any suitable way to interconnect electronic devices, regardless of whether the network170comprises present-day analog and/or digital techniques or via some networking mechanism of the future. Network interface150preferably includes a combination of hardware and software that allow communicating on the network170. Software in the network interface150preferably includes a communication manager that manages communication with other computer systems175(shown inFIG. 1as CS1, . . . , CSN) via network170using a suitable network protocol. Many different network protocols can be used to implement a network. These protocols are specialized computer programs that allow computers to communicate across a network. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is an example of a suitable network protocol that may be used by a communication manager within network interface150.

In the prior art, processing and routing incoming physical mail to recipients and generating appropriate notifications is a highly manual process that is subject to many sources of human error. The digital mailroom application disclosed and claimed herein removes many sources of human error and automates much of the routing and notifications associated with processing incoming physical mail.

The disclosure and claims herein relate to the processing of incoming physical mail. This mail can be physical mail from any suitable carrier, including governmental postal agencies such as the United States Postal Service, and private couriers including FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc. For the sake of convenience and ease of reading and comprehension, sometimes the term “incoming physical mail” is shortened to “mail” or “piece of mail.” It is understood that the digital mailroom application and associated methods disclosed and claimed herein relate to the processing of incoming physical mail, and do not relate to processing electronic messages such as emails, text messages, etc.

Referring toFIG. 2, a system200includes a company computer system210and a digital mailroom220. The company computer system210includes a list of mail recipients212, one or more mail delivery settings214, a user interface216, and a document repository218. The mail recipients212includes a list of all recipients in the company that might receive incoming physical mail. Mail recipients212may include people as well as organizations, departments, groups, etc. Thus, a piece of mail that is an invoice may be addressed to “Accounts Payable”, which could be one of the defined mail recipients212. The mail delivery settings214represent settings that govern how incoming physical mail is processed, delivered, and how notifications are made. Details of the mail delivery settings214are discussed in detail below. The user interface216allows authorized users to access the company computer system210to update the mail recipients212and the mail delivery settings214. The user interface216can include, for example, an interface for individual users who are on the list of mail recipients212to update their own mail delivery settings214. The document repository218could be any suitable repository, such as a repository in a document management system, a folder, a directory, a database, etc.

The digital mailroom220includes a digital mailroom application230that includes a user interface232, a list of mail recipients234, a list of mail delivery settings236, a recipient interface238, a document repository240, records241, a scan checker242, a digital mail piece correlator244, a digital mail analyzer246, and a digital mail router248. The digital mailroom application230is one specific example of the digital mailroom application124shown inFIG. 1. The user interface232is preferably a graphical user interface. In a preferred implementation, the user interface232comprises a browser interface233that allows a mail clerk to access the digital mailroom application230on any suitable device that includes a web browser. The mail recipients234represent a copy of the mail recipients212received from the company computer system210. Likewise, the mail delivery settings236represent a copy of the mail delivery settings214received from the company computer system210. The mail recipients234and mail delivery settings236can be kept up to date using any suitable method. For example, the company computer system210could send the mail recipients212and mail delivery settings214to the digital mailroom application once each day. In the alternative, the mail recipients234could be a mirrored or shared list that is updated automatically in near real-time when the mail recipients212in the company computer system210change. Similarly, the mail delivery settings236could be a mirrored or shared list that is updated automatically in near real-time when the mail delivery settings214in the company computer system210change. The disclosure and claims herein expressly extend to any suitable method for the digital mailroom application230to receive and update the mail recipients234and the mail delivery settings236from the company computer system210.

The recipient interface238in the digital mailroom application230allows a mail recipient to change the recipient's mail delivery settings, which are part of the mail delivery settings236. Note the recipient interface238could be accessed by a recipient directly, such as via a web browser, or could be accessed via the user interface216in the company computer system210, as represented by the dotted line between the user interface216and the recipient interface238inFIG. 2. Of course, the recipient interface238could also be integrated into the user interface232to allow both mail clerks and recipients to access the digital mailroom application using the same interface.

The digital mailroom application230can include its own document repository240for storing digital mail pieces processed by the digital mailroom application230. In one specific implementation, the document repository240is separate and distinct from the document repository218in the company computer system210. In another specific implementation, the document repository240is a mirrored or shared repository with the document repository218, as indicated by the dashed line inFIG. 2that connects the document repository218and the document repository240.

The digital mailroom application includes records241. Each record in the digital mailroom application corresponds to a received physical piece of mail. A mail clerk can open a new record for a selected piece of mail, and when the digital mail piece is returned to the digital mail application230, the digital mail piece correlator244correlates the digital mail piece to the corresponding record in the digital mailroom application. In a preferred embodiment the digital mail piece correlator244correlates the digital mail piece to the corresponding record in the digital mailroom application using a globally unique identifier.

The scan checker242performs quality assurance operations on a scanned piece of mail, which is referred to herein as a digital mail piece. For example, the scan checker can perform operations such as those discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,406,356, including verifying a page count of the digital mail piece corresponds to a page count of the physical piece of mail, verifying each page of the digital mail piece is in a correct orientation, and verifying each page of the digital mail piece is complete. Of course, other quality assurance operations could also be performed by the scan checker242. Scan checker242preferably interacts with a person, who visually inspects the scanned images of a document. Scan checker242functions according to checker settings243. Checker settings243could specify each type of quality assurance operation that needs to be performed, and how frequently these operations need to be performed. For example, the checker settings243could specify that only every tenth document needs to be checked, that large thumbnails are displayed, and the specified checks could include verifying a page count of the digital mail piece corresponds to a page count of the physical piece of mail, verifying each page of the digital mail piece is in a correct orientation, and verifying each page of the digital mail piece is complete. The checker settings243may be set by a system administrator, but the checker settings243could also be specified in the mail delivery settings236.

The digital mail piece correlator244correlates a scanned image that is a digital mail piece to a record that is one of the records241in the digital mailroom application. One specific way for the digital mail piece correlator to correlate a digital mail piece to the record in the digital mailroom application uses sequentially numbered stamps placed on the physical mail piece being scanned, as described in more detail below with reference toFIG. 18. The digital mail piece correlator244may also be configured to create a record if one does not exist. The digital mail piece correlator244can optionally check to make sure a piece of mail is scanned within a set period of time. For example, if a mail clerk created a record for a piece of mail but forgot to scan the piece of mail, the digital mail piece correlator244could notify the mail clerk after 24 hours that a digital mail piece has not yet been correlated to the record.

The digital mail analyzer246preferably performs optical character recognition on a digital mail piece to generate corresponding text, and then performs analysis of the text to identify specific attributes of the digital mail piece. The digital mail analyzer246can auto-fill one or more fields in an input screen for a record in the user interface232in the digital mailroom application230based on the analysis of the digital mail piece. The digital mail analyzer246can also determine from the analyzed text corresponding index information for the digital mail piece that can be used to store the digital mail piece in a document management system. The digital mail router248routes a digital mail piece to one or more entities and provides one or more notifications of the digital mail piece according to the mail delivery settings236.

Referring toFIG. 3, a method300is preferably performed by the digital mailroom application. A list of mail recipients is received (step310). Mail delivery settings are also received (step320). Method300is then done. Once the digital mailroom application has the list of mail recipients and the list of mail delivery settings, the digital mailroom application is ready to process incoming physical mail.

FIG. 4shows a method400for a mail clerk to process incoming physical mail. The mail clerk authenticates to the digital mailroom application (step410) using any suitable authentication mechanism, whether currently known or developed in the future. Known methods for authenticating to a software application include a username and password, biometric such as a fingerprint scan, facial scan, voice recognition, or other authentication means. Once the mail clerk authenticates to the digital mailroom application in step410, the mail clerk can process incoming physical mail without accessing the company computer system (step420). By providing a digital mailroom application that is not part of the company computer system, the processing of incoming physical mail can be done by a mail clerk that does not need to have any experience or training with any of the software or systems in the company computer system. In addition, mail processing can be performed using method400inFIG. 4by a third party that is not part of the company and that is remote from the company computer system.

Once the mail recipients and mail delivery settings have been received as shown inFIG. 3, and the mail clerk has authenticated to the digital mailroom application in step410, the mail clerk may now process incoming physical mail using the digital mailroom application. One suitable method500for processing mail using the digital mailroom application is shown inFIG. 5. The mail clerk opens a new record in the digital mailroom application for a physical piece of mail and selects the recipient for the physical piece of mail (step510). The mail clerk initiates a scan process for the piece of mail to generate a digital mail piece (step520). The digital mail piece is correlated to the corresponding record in the digital mailroom application (step530). The digital mail piece is then routed according to the mail delivery settings (step540). The routing can include, for example, sending the digital mail piece to any suitable entity, which may include, without limitation, one or more people, organizations, workgroups, departments, groups, functions, processes, workflows, transactions, etc. Other processing specified in the mail delivery settings can also be performed, as required (step550). Examples of other processing that could be performed in step550include, without limitation, providing notifications, storing the digital mail piece in a repository, enforcing an ethical wall or legal hold, enforcing regulatory compliance, etc.

The term “mail delivery settings” broadly encompasses any information that can be used to determine how a digital mail piece is processed and functions that can be performed as a result of processing a digital mail piece. Examples of categories of mail delivery settings are shown in table600inFIG. 6, and include: send digital mail piece to one or more entities based on the recipient, sender or mail type610; send one or more notifications to one or more entities based on the recipient, sender or mail type620; one or more additional functions630; and a digital mail piece/notification format640. According to settings610, the digital mail piece can be sent to one or more entities in610. Entities can include people, organizations, workgroups, departments, groups, functions, processes, workflows, transactions, etc. Entities can broadly include any type of entity to which a digital mail piece could be sent. According to settings620, notifications can be sent to one or more entities. Notifications can be any suitable notification, most preferably being electronic notifications such as a text message or email. However, notifications can also be physical notifications such as a blinking light or audible sound that notifies a person. In a very simple example, an executive at a company might specify for her mail to get routed to both her and her executive assistant, while notification of the mail goes only to the executive assistant, who is responsible for notifying the executive when the mail requires her personal review, as opposed to routine mail that the executive assistant can handle without the executive's input.

The additional function(s)630can include any suitable functions that need to be performed. For example, additional function(s)630can specify to store the digital mail piece in a repository of a document management system. Additional function(s)630can specify to send the digital mail piece to a particular workflow. This would allow, for example, an invoice to be routed to an accounts payable workflow. Of course, additional function(s)630can broadly encompass any suitable function that may be performed by the digital mailroom application when processing mail. Additional function(s)630could be performed, for example, during step550inFIG. 5.

The settings in the digital mail piece/notification format640allow a recipient or administrator to specify what is included in a digital mail piece or a notification of a digital mail piece. For example, the digital mail piece itself could be sent with a thumbnail of the first page of the digital mail piece, or with thumbnails of all pages of the digital mail piece. Text in the message that includes the digital mail piece could be specified, along with text in the notification(s). The font type and size could also be specified. A link to the digital mail piece in a document repository can be provided with a notification. A text version of the digital mail piece could also be sent. The settings640for digital mail piece/notification format expressly extend to any suitable way for specifying the formatting and what is included in a message that includes the digital mail piece or the formatting and what is included in a notification of the digital mail piece.

Mail delivery settings can be separated into different categories, as shown inFIG. 6. An example of another way to categorize mail delivery settings is shown in table700inFIG. 7. Four mail delivery setting types are defined, namely: system delivery settings710; recipient delivery settings720; sender delivery settings730; and mail type delivery settings740. System delivery settings710can include any suitable setting that may not be specifically related to a specific recipient, sender or mail type. Examples of suitable system delivery settings710inFIG. 7are shown in table800inFIG. 8to include: whether or not to send the digital mail piece to a document repository810; specifying to send one or more notifications to one or more entities820; specifying to send one or more notifications to one or more entities when a delivered digital mail piece is not opened for a specified period of time830; ethical wall settings840; legal hold settings850; and regulatory compliance settings860. Ethical wall settings840are especially useful for a law firm that has certain attorneys who cannot work on some matters due to the need for a separation between attorneys known as an “ethical wall.” Ethical wall settings840can thus specify law firm matters or clients, and can then specify entities to which mail can be sent for a specific matter or sender and can further specify entities to which mail cannot be sent for the matter or sender. Legal hold settings850can specify senders, client or matters for which there is a legal hold due to impending or pending litigation. Legal hold settings850can specify that the digital mail piece, and optionally the corresponding physical piece of mail, be retained for a specified period of time, which can be finite or can be indefinite. The legal hold settings850can override other settings and system settings to assure a digital mail piece and possibly the corresponding physical piece of mail is retained instead of applying normal disposition practices. Many companies have specific regulations they must comply with. Regulatory compliance settings860can be applied to assure the regulations are complied with relating to the receipt and disposition of physical mail by defining processing corresponding to the digital mail piece to assure regulatory compliance. While not shown inFIG. 8, system delivery settings800could also define the settings that are available in the recipient delivery settings720, sender delivery settings730and mail type delivery settings740inFIG. 7.

Recipient delivery settings720can include any suitable setting that relates to a mail recipient. Examples of suitable recipient delivery settings720inFIG. 7are shown in table900inFIG. 9to include: specifying to send the digital mail piece to one or more entities based on the mail recipient910; specifying to send one or more notifications to one or more entities based on the mail recipient920; and specifying digital mail piece/notification format based on the mail recipient930. Note that mail recipients may be people or may be groups or organizations. In the most preferred implementation, a person who is a mail recipient has access to the digital mailroom application via the recipient interface238shown inFIG. 2to define his or her recipient delivery settings according to the mail recipient's personal preferences.

Sender delivery settings730can include any suitable setting that relates to a sender of physical mail. Examples of suitable sender delivery settings730inFIG. 7are shown in table1000inFIG. 10to include: specifying to send the digital mail piece to one or more entities based on the sender1010; specifying to send one or more notifications to one or more entities based on the sender1020; and specifying digital mail piece/notification format based on the sender1030. The reason for sender delivery settings is to accommodate different needs for mail processing according to the sender. For example, a physical piece of mail from the United States District Court for the Central District of California may need to have different processing (including different or additional recipients and notifications) than a physical piece of mail from a Superior Court in Stanislaus County, Calif. The sender delivery settings1000allow defining any suitable setting for processing incoming physical mail according to the sender.

Mail type delivery settings740can include any suitable setting that relates to a type of physical mail. Examples of suitable mail type delivery settings740inFIG. 7are shown in table1100inFIG. 11to include: specifying to send the digital mail piece to one or more entities based on the mail type1110; specifying to send one or more notifications to one or more entities based on the mail type1120; and specifying digital mail piece/notification format based on the mail type1130. The reason for mail type delivery settings is to accommodate different needs for mail processing according to the type of mail received. For example, a civil court order from the United States District Court for the Central District of California may need to have different processing (including different or additional recipients and notifications) than a bankruptcy court order from the same court. A document from a courier such as Fed Ex or UPS may need different processing than a document received in the mail. The mail type delivery settings1100allow defining any suitable setting for processing incoming physical mail according to the mail type of the incoming physical piece of mail. Mail type delivery settings1100can also define a priority where some types of mail are treated as high priority while others are normal or low priority.

Note the mail delivery settings inFIG. 7can be specified in a hierarchy so potential conflicts can be resolved. For example, the system delivery settings710could be set by a system administrator, and could always be enforced. The sender delivery settings730could be next lower in priority, followed by the mail type delivery settings740, with the recipient delivery settings720being the lowest in the priority hierarchy. This means if a recipient delivery setting conflicts with a sender delivery setting, the sender delivery setting could have the higher priority and override the recipient delivery setting. However, the mail delivery settings could be additive as well instead of in a defined priority. Thus, if a sender delivery setting specifies to send a digital mail piece corresponding to incoming physical piece of mail to Barbara, and a recipient delivery setting specifies to send the digital mail piece to Jim, the digital mail piece can be sent to both. If a mail type delivery setting specifies to include thumbnails of all pages and a recipient delivery setting specifies to include a thumbnail of the first page, all thumbnails could be included, which satisfies both. In essence, the mail delivery settings can be additive, or a superset, in most cases. But in cases where there is a conflict, a hierarchy of priority of the settings can resolve the conflict. Note that such a hierarchy is optional, and need not necessarily be defined.

Some specific examples are now provided to illustrate the use of mail delivery settings. Referring toFIG. 12, we assume a company we call Company X has system delivery settings1200defined that include specifying to send all digital mail pieces to a document repository1210and to notify a mail recipient's organization when a digital mail piece is received1220. Storing all digital mail pieces in a document repository allows the digital mail pieces to be managed by the company's document management system. Notifying a recipient's organization can be useful, for example, so an administrative assistant can track all incoming mail to all recipients in an organization or department, such as the Sales Department.

FIG. 13shows sample recipient delivery settings1300for a specified mail recipient named Jane Smith. We assume for this example that Jane Smith is a manager for Company X, and that Jane Smith herself specified the delivery settings1300inFIG. 13via the recipient interface238shown inFIG. 2. Setting1310specifies to send a digital mail piece addressed to Jane Smith to Manager Jane Smith via text message and to her administrative assistant (admin) Bob Jones via email. Note that the piece of mail was addressed to Jane Smith. Jane Smith is thus the addressee of the piece of mail, but Bob Jones is not the addressee. Setting1320specifies to notify admin Bob Jones via email and text message of the receipt of the digital mail piece. This example assumes that Jane prefers for Bob to handle the processing of mail pieces, trusting Bob to handle all mail he can handle while passing on the important mail pieces to Jane later on for the things that require Jane's attention. Setting1330specifies that when admin Bob Jones is out of the office, to notify admin Sue Johnson via email and text message. We assume Sue Johnson handles Bob's workload when Bob is not in the office. Setting1340specifies when the digital mail piece is a court document, to notify the docketing clerk. This notification could include sending the digital mail piece to the docketing clerk so the docketing clerk can docket any dates or deadlines triggered by the court document. Setting1350specifies to include a thumbnail of the first page in the message that includes the digital mail piece and any notifications, and to include a link to the digital mail piece in the document repository in the message or notifications.

FIG. 14shows sender delivery settings1400that are defined for Company X. Setting1410specifies when the sender of an incoming physical piece of mail is Company N, to send the digital mail piece to manager Jane Smith and to the Marketing organization via email. Setting1420specifies when the sender is Government Agency M, send the digital mail piece to manager Bill Webster via email.

FIG. 15shows mail type delivery settings1500that are defined for Company X. Setting1510specifies that when the digital mail piece is a court document, send the digital mail piece to the docketing clerk. Setting1520specifies when the digital mail piece is an invoice, send the digital mail piece to the Accounting department.

A mail recipient can have multiple different sets of mail settings that can be selected and applied as needed by the recipient or may be applied automatically by the digital mailroom application.FIG. 16shows a table1600with sets of mail delivery settings for the manager Jane Smith. Defined mail delivery settings for Jane Smith include: in-office delivery settings1610; after-hours/weekend delivery settings1620; on vacation delivery settings1640; working in London office delivery settings1640; working in Tokyo office delivery settings1650; and ethical wall delivery settings1660. The in-office delivery settings and after-hours/weekend delivery settings can be defined in any suitable way. For example, if Jane normally works from 9 AM to 5 PM on Monday through Friday, the digital mailroom application can automatically apply the in-office delivery settings1610from 9 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday, and can automatically apply the after-hours/weekend delivery settings1620at all other times. Jane can select vacation delivery settings1630when Jane is on vacation, or can select the working in London office delivery settings1640when she's working in the London office or working in Tokyo office delivery settings1650when she's working in the Tokyo office. In the law firm context, the ethical wall delivery settings1660can define matters Jane is working on that cannot be shared with one or more attorneys in the firm, and can further define matters other attorneys in the firm are working on that cannot be shared with Jane. While the specific example shown inFIG. 16shows sets of mail delivery settings for a person, similar sets of mail delivery settings could be defined for any defined recipient, such as a group or organization.

The simple examples inFIGS. 12-16are for the purpose of illustration, and are not limiting. The number and types of mail delivery settings can be quite large. Other types of mail delivery settings could be defined. For example, while some settings specify an entity, such as a person or an organization, to which a digital mail piece should be delivered, a different setting could specify an entity to which a digital mail piece must not be delivered. This is a feature that is very useful for large law firms that sometimes have potential or actual conflicts arise with one of the attorneys and must build an “ethical wall” so the conflicted attorney does not see any of the information relating to the matter for which the attorney is blocked by the ethical wall.

FIG. 17shows a prior art system1700used to process physical mail. A company computer system1710includes multiple workstations1720, shown as1720A, . . . ,1720N inFIG. 17, and multiple servers1725, shown as server1725A, . . .1725N, connected to a network1730. The company computer system1710further includes a document management system1740that stores and manages documents in a document repository1745. A document scanning and input system1750receives scanned images of documents from a document input process1755.

A physical mailroom1760receives incoming physical mail1765from any and all suitable sources of physical mail. In the physical mailroom1760, a mail clerk engages in a manual process to sort the mail and determine the mail type and recipient1770for each physical piece of mail. The mail clerk then makes a manual decision at1772to scan/copy/route the physical piece of mail. When the decision at1772is to route the physical piece of mail to a particular person or organization, the physical piece of mail is sent to the in-office hard copy mail system1776with the name of the person or organization, which results in the physical piece of mail being routed to a designated person or organization. When the decision at1772is to copy the physical piece of mail, the piece of mail is sent to a copier1774, and copies are then returned to the physical mailroom for routing of the copies to the in-office hard copy mail system1776. When the decision at1772is to scan the physical piece of mail, the physical piece of mail is sent to the document input process1755, which is the process for scanning and inputting the piece of mail into the document scanning and input system1750.

The manual processes at1770and1772are subject to human error. What is needed is a more reliable way to process incoming physical mail in a way that is flexible and reliable without being as subject to human error, and in a way that better services employees who work from home. The digital mailroom application disclosed and claimed herein provides a way to process incoming physical mail in a more automated fashion using defined mail delivery settings and allows easy and automatic delivery of digital mail pieces to employees, even those working remotely.

Referring toFIG. 18, a system1800in accordance with a preferred embodiment includes a client computer system1810that includes many features similar to those shown in company computer system1710inFIG. 17, including multiple workstations1820A, . . . ,1820N and multiple servers1825A, . . . ,1825N coupled to a network1830. Company computer system1810also includes a document management system1840that stores and manages documents in a document repository1845. The company computer system1810additionally includes a postmark system1850, which is computer software created and sold by the applicant of this patent application DocSolid LLC. The postmark system1850uses a graphical symbol called a “postmark” to store and manage documents by the document management system1840. Various aspects of the postmark system1850are covered in the patents owned by DocSolid, LLC referenced in the Background of the Invention. For example, the postmark system1850preferably includes quality assurance processing of a scanned image as described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,460,356, including verifying a page count of the scanned document corresponds to a page count of the physical document, verifying each page of the scanned document is in a correct orientation, and verifying each page of the scanned document is complete. When the postmark system1850performs such quality assurance processing, the digital mail piece may be passed from the scan utility1855to the postmark system1850, which then returns the digital mail piece to the automated process at1874, as shown by the dotted line inFIG. 18.

The digital mailroom1860is one suitable implementation for the digital mailroom220inFIG. 2, and includes the digital mailroom application230that may include any or all of the features shown inFIG. 2. The company computer system1810includes a list of mail recipients1852and mail delivery settings1854that are sent to, and received by, the digital mailroom application in the digital mailroom1860, as described inFIG. 3and as shown at1862and1864inFIG. 18. The incoming mail1865is processed by a mail clerk after the mail clerk authenticates to the digital mailroom application, as shown in step410inFIG. 4. A record is opened in the user interface of the digital mailroom application. The recipient of the piece of mail is determined at1870inFIG. 18, and the sender type and mail type may be optionally determined as well. The determination of recipient in step1870may be made by a mail clerk visually identifying a recipient from the piece of mail, and selecting that recipient from a drop-down list of mail recipients in the record in the user interface of the digital mailroom application. This drop-down list includes the ability to type a person's name using known type-ahead technology, thereby allowing the mail clerk to select the recipient more quickly from the drop-down list, especially when the list includes a large number of mail recipients. The mail clerk puts a postmark stamp on the piece of mail at1872. A postmark stamp preferably comes in a roll of stamps about the size of a postage stamp, with each stamp having a globally-unique identifier that includes a number that is one larger than the number on the preceding stamp, thereby providing a globally-unique identifier for each piece of mail. The mail clerk enters the number of the postmark stamp on the piece of mail into the record in the digital mailroom application, thereby correlating the postmark stamp to the record in the digital mailroom. Because the stamps are numbered sequentially, once the mail clerk enters the first number of the postmark stamp in the roll, the digital mailroom application will automatically populate the next stamp number in the record when the next record is created. Once the physical postmark stamp is placed on the first page of the physical piece of mail at1872and the number is entered or automatically populated into the record of the digital mailroom application, the piece of mail is then placed in an inbox for documents to be scanned into the postmark system1850using a scan utility1855. This process for identifying a piece of mail using a postmark stamp, then scanning the piece of mail and correlating the digital mail piece to the record in the digital mailroom application is very similar to the process for entering other documents besides mail into the postmark system1850using a scan utility1855. When the scan utility1855scans the document, it reads the postmark on the stamp on the first page of the piece of mail, then returns the scanned image(s) of the piece of mail correlated with the postmark stamp as a digital mail piece to the digital mailroom application. The digital mailroom application then automatically processes the digital mail piece according to the defined mail delivery settings that apply to the piece of mail, as shown at1874inFIG. 18.

A method1900for processing mail using a digital mailroom application as disclosed and claimed herein for the system1800inFIG. 18is shown inFIG. 19. A recipient for a physical piece of mail is selected in a record of the digital mailroom application (step1910). This selection can be done, for example, by a mail clerk visually identifying the recipient from the physical piece of mail, then selecting the mail recipient in the record in the digital mailroom application. The mail clerk puts a postmark stamp on a piece of mail and enters or verifies the automatically populated stamp number in the digital mailroom application to correlate the postmark stamp number to the piece of mail (step1920). The piece of mail is then scanned to generate a corresponding digital mail piece (step1930). The digital mail piece is sent to the digital mailroom application and correlated to the record in the digital mailroom application using the stamp number (step1940). The postmark stamp at this point has served its purpose of correlating a scanned image of a document to a record in the digital mailroom application, so the postmark stamp may be removed from the scanned image of the digital mail piece (step1950). Note that step1950is optional. The digital mail piece is then routed according to the defined mail delivery settings (step1960). Any other processing specified in the mail delivery settings is performed (step1970). Other processing in step1970may include, without limitation, providing notifications, storing the digital mail piece in a repository, enforcing an ethical wall or legal hold, enforcing regulatory compliance, etc.

In a first suitable embodiment, the only piece of information the digital mailroom application needs to process a piece of mail is the recipient and the postmark stamp number. The sender and mail type can optionally be specified in the digital mailroom application record, but are not required. In this first embodiment, the mail piece is processed according to any defined system delivery settings and the recipient delivery settings. In a second suitable embodiment, the recipient and sender or mail type can be entered into a record in the digital mailroom application, allowing additional processing based on sender mail delivery settings and/or mail type delivery settings, as discussed in more detail above.

In the embodiments discussed above, the determination of recipient at1870inFIG. 18is done by a mail clerk selecting a recipient from the list of mail recipients1862in a record in the digital mailroom application, then putting the postmark stamp on the piece of mail at1872and sending the piece of mail to the scan utility1855, which scans the piece of mail and returns the corresponding digital mail piece correlated to the postmark stamp. In an alternative implementation, the mail clerk need not select a recipient at1870. Instead, the mail clerk puts the envelope as the top page of the piece of mail to be scanned, puts the postmark stamp on the envelope, then sends the piece of mail to the scan utility1855. The scan utility1855scans the envelope and the rest of the piece of mail to generate a digital piece of mail. Because the scan utility1855searches for the postmark stamp, it also returns the number from the postmark stamp to the digital mailroom application. If the digital mailroom application sees no existing record for the returned postmark stamp number, a record corresponding to the returned postmark stamp number is created. The determination of recipient can then be made by the digital mail analyzer246shown inFIG. 2in the digital mailroom application performing an analysis on the text of the envelope to automatically determine which recipient in the list of mail recipients1862is the addressee of the piece of mail. The scanning of the envelope can include image-zone optical character recognition. Thus, for a standard business-sized envelope, the sender is in the upper left corner while the recipient is in the middle of the envelope. For large envelopes, the image zones can be defined differently, as needed. By automatically determining a recipient from the envelope, greater automation is achieved in processing incoming physical mail.

One suitable example of analyzing the digital mail piece to determine information needed in the digital mailroom application is shown as method2000inFIG. 20. The envelope is included in the incoming piece of mail to be scanned (step2010). The envelope in the digital mail piece is analyzed to determine the recipient and/or sender (step2020). The digital mail piece is also analyzed to determine the recipient and/or mail type, if possible (step2030). The recipient and/or sender and/or mail type fields in the record in the user interface of the digital mailroom application can then be auto-populated according to the analysis done in step2020and2030(step2040). Note the mail clerk can override any fields that are auto-populated in step2040, as needed.

An example user interface2100for the digital mailroom application is shown inFIG. 21. User interface2100is one suitable example of the browser interface233in user interface232inFIG. 2. The user interface2100is most preferably used by a mail clerk, and the term “user” discussed with respect toFIG. 21includes a mail clerk. The user interface2100represents the input screen for a record241in the digital mailroom application, as shown inFIG. 2. User interface2100preferably includes a drop-down box2110for the Mail Recipient field2120that allows a user to click on the down arrow, then select a mail recipient. The list of mail recipients displayed to the user is the list of mail recipients received from the company computer system, such as mail recipients234inFIG. 2and mail recipients1862inFIG. 18. Note the list of mail recipients could be constrained to mail recipients in a particular organization or geographical location. In the specific example inFIG. 21, a box2140shows All Offices with a drop-down arrow that allows the user to select All Offices or one of the individual offices listed in the drop-down list, which is not shown inFIG. 21. When a particular office is selected from the drop-down box for box2140, only the mail recipients in that office are displayed in the Mail Recipient drop-down box2110. Note the Mail Recipient field2120includes a text box where the user can start typing a recipient's name, which results in the recipient(s) that match the typed name showing up or being highlighted in the drop-down box. For the example inFIG. 21, the user typed Jane into the text entry box under the mail recipient field2120, which results in Jane Smith being highlighted for selection, as shown by the box around Jane Smite at2130inFIG. 21.

Once a recipient has been selected, the recipient is shown in the box2150that represents a record in the digital mailroom application that corresponds to a physical piece of mail. Thus, box2150shows Deliver To: Jane Smith because Jane Smith is the mail recipient (or addressee) for the physical piece of mail. The user may enter a mail type from the drop-down box in the Description field, and may also enter a sender from the drop-down box in the Sender field. The user may also enter the number of pages in the physical piece of mail. The user must also correlate the record2150in the digital mailroom application to a postmark stamp number, which is preferably a globally unique identifier. For the example inFIG. 21, we assume the postmark stamp number for the stamp the user put on the physical piece of mail has the stamp number ACS456, and this number is auto-populated into the record2150based on the previous stamp number being ACS455. For the specific record2150shown inFIG. 21, we assume the user did not enter a Mail Type in the Description field or a Sender in the Sender field, but did enter that the physical piece of mail has six pages.

Once the recipient and postmark stamp number are entered into the record2150, the postmark stamp is placed on the piece of mail and sent to the scan utility1855. The scan utility1855scans the piece of mail to generate a digital mail piece, and correlates the digital mail piece to the postmark stamp number. When the digital mail piece with its corresponding postmark stamp number is returned to the digital mailroom application, all of the processing for the digital mail piece can be performed automatically without interaction or intervention by the mail clerk, thereby removing many potential sources of human error from the process of processing physical incoming mail.

As discussed above with reference toFIG. 20, in some implementations, the recipient need not be manually entered by the mail clerk as shown inFIG. 21. Instead, a physical piece of mail may be scanned, and the scanned image and the postmark stamp number are then returned to the digital mailroom application. When the digital mail piece correlator244inFIG. 2determines that a record does not exist for the returned postmark stamp number, the digital mail piece correlator244creates a new record automatically. The digital mail analyzer246inFIG. 2can then analyze the envelope to automatically determine the recipient, then auto-populate the recipient field in the record2150.

The digital mailroom application disclosed herein provides a way to process incoming physical mail in a manner that does not require direct access to the company computer system. This means mail can be processed by a mail clerk that does not have access, training or expertise in the various systems on the company computer system. This also means mail for a company can be processed by a different company that provides mail processing services, and this company could provide these mail processing services to many different companies. Thus, a company can change their main mailing and delivery address to an address of a mail processing company that uses the digital mailroom application, and the mail processing company can then process the company's mail according to the mail recipients and the mail delivery settings received from the company, thereby alleviating the burden on the company to have company personnel process incoming mail. In addition, the digital mailroom application could enable a company to centralize multiple mailrooms into one to save money.

The digital mailroom application also provides a solution to significant problems that have arisen during the global pandemic due to employees being forced all of a sudden to work from home. Many companies learned that processing incoming mail and delivering the incoming mail and notifications in digital form is very challenging without the appropriate infrastructure in place. The digital mailroom application disclosed herein provides such an infrastructure that makes processing incoming physical mail very easy, flexible, and powerful.

A digital mailroom application is used by a mail clerk to process incoming physical mail. The digital mailroom application receives a list of mail recipients and mail delivery settings, then processes the incoming physical mail using the list of mail recipients and mail delivery settings. A piece of incoming physical mail can be processed by determining one of the mail recipients as the recipient for the piece of physical mail. The piece of physical mail is then scanned to generate a corresponding digital mail piece, which is routed electronically based on the defined mail delivery settings. The mail delivery settings can specify to send a digital mail piece to one or more entities based on the recipient, sender or mail type, to send one or more notifications to one or more entities based on the recipient, sender or mail type, to perform one or more additional functions, and the format for the digital mail piece and for notification(s) for the digital mail piece.

The figures and specification discussed above support a method for processing incoming physical mail, the method comprising: receiving a list of mail recipients; receiving a list of mail delivery settings; selecting a recipient in the list of mail recipients for a physical piece of mail; receiving a scan of the physical piece of mail that is a digital mail piece corresponding to the physical piece of mail; and routing the digital mail piece according to the plurality of mail delivery settings.

The figures and specification discussed above further support a method for processing incoming physical mail, the method comprising: receiving a list of mail recipients; receiving a list of mail delivery settings, wherein the list of mail delivery settings comprises: at least one system delivery setting that specifies whether to send a digital mail piece to a document repository; a plurality of recipient delivery settings that specifies at least one entity to receive a digital mail piece based on a selected one of the list of mail recipients and that specifies at least one entity to which a notification of the digital mail piece is sent based on a selected one of the list of mail recipients and a format for the notification of the digital mail piece; a plurality of sender delivery settings that specifies at least one entity to receive a digital mail piece based on a sender of the physical piece of mail corresponding to the digital mail piece and that specifies at least one entity to which a notification of the digital mail piece is sent based on a sender of the physical piece of mail corresponding to the digital mail piece and a format for the notification of the digital mail piece; and a plurality of mail type delivery setting that specifies at least one entity to receive a digital mail piece based on a mail type of the physical piece of mail corresponding to the digital mail piece and that specifies at least one entity to which a notification of the digital mail piece is sent based on the mail type of the physical piece of mail corresponding to the digital mail piece and a format for the notification of the digital mail piece; selecting a recipient in the list of mail recipients for a physical piece of mail; receiving a scan of the physical piece of mail that is a digital mail piece corresponding to the physical piece of mail; routing the digital mail piece according to the plurality of mail delivery settings; providing at least one notification of the digital mail piece according to the plurality of delivery mail settings; and performing other processing corresponding to the digital mail piece as specified in the plurality of mail delivery settings.