There is a perception among companies that executing bulk e-mailing in-house is a low-cost, easy option. However, to do this effectively requires serious investment in a dedicated and specialised infrastructure, according to electronic messaging specialist Striata SA.
"Conducting bulk e-mailing from standard e-mail infrastructure and software designed for one-to-one messaging is resource intensive and places the performance of the infrastructure at risk," says Striata managing director Alison Treadaway.
"Such systems are designed and structured for day-to-day communications and struggle to effectively deal with time-critical or production processes. Sending thousands of e-bills through a conventional e-mail environment will place severe strain on the system simply because it is not designed to perform at that level. Bulk e-mailing is a complex and specialised business on its own."
Conventional e-mail software applications are designed to manage thousands of single messages and cannot provide the throughput, reporting, control and intelligent message routing demanded by high volume e-bills or campaign-based e-mailing.
"They simply don't have the ability to send masses of e-mail messages simultaneously, across multiple domains or comply with proven e-mail practices to maximise delivery success," says Treadaway.
The real cost to companies that attempt bulk e-mail delivery from an inadequate platform can be significant. The cost comes from process inefficiencies due to lack of information from the system, non-delivery of messages and staff diverted from their normal tasks.
"The reality is that there are fundamental differences in the experience, skills and technology required to deliver one-on-one versus bulk e-mailing services. Striata's application platform is designed to distribute high volumes of messages in bulk, with the capacity to send and report on over 360 000 messages per hour."
Not only should a bulk e-mail solution be purpose-built, it also needs to be robust, flexible, feature-rich and offer, at the very least, multiple input formats, flexibility, a range of output formats and encryption options, a secure Web interface for administration and provide detailed activity and delivery reporting.
Deliverability and security must be managed, a task that is further complicated by increasing volumes of spam, viruses and malicious e-mails resulting in organisations applying even stricter rules to all inbound mail.
Treadaway says specialist expertise is required to overcome these obstacles. "We have a team of support agents focused on monitoring deliverability. As we send more than 24 million messages a month through our infrastructure, we understand how to get an e-mail delivered."
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Striata is passionate about reducing the challenges and costs associated with traditional communication. We understand the power and efficiency of electronic communication, from marketing and operational messages, to the delivery of confidential documents securely by e-mail. Striata specialises in the secure delivery and payment of bills, statements, payslips, invoices and all other confidential documents, via encrypted e-mail, and in maximising the adoption of electronic solutions.
Striata has been a provider of software and services in the electronic messaging arena since 1999 and has offices in New York, London, Sydney and Johannesburg. Visit www.striata.com for more information.
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