With a focus on multi-channel preference management and distribution, the latest version of Ricoh ProcessDirector, the backbone of its Critical Communications suite, addresses the challenges faced by mailers today as they seek to deliver campaigns with multiple touchpoints. “Print service providers today are facing many challenges as they look to expand their offerings to include secure multi-channel communications capabilities. When it comes to delivering critical communications such as bills, statements, letters, policy documents and so on, using tools to help ensure integrity is crucial, no matter the distribution channel,” said Benoit Chatelard, General Manager, Solutions, Ricoh Europe (pictured previously). “With the Ricoh ProcessDirector enhancements, printers and mailers can rest assured that their clients’ communications will be delivered where and how they desire, with high integrity and security.”
- Unified workflow for management of disparate channels. Printers can implement a unified workflow that helps manage, control and distribute output to multiple channels.
- Ability to define the desired delivery channel. Printers can rely on one centralized workflow that enables multi-channel campaign delivery and management.
- Electronic presentment capability. Ricoh ProcessDirector offers electronic presentment solutions via a web services API that allows users to search Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) and PDF jobs and retrieve documents from within those jobs via the secure archive. These capabilities offer integrated document delivery for both internal (call centre, help desk, etc.) and external (end users) applications from the same centralized and integrated document archive.
- More intuitive, streamlined processing features. Printers can now process preference management and multi-channel distribution without the need to go back to the source application for changes – because all processing can be done within ProcessDirector.
- Document-level composition. Multi-channel distribution and preference management is now possible at the document level, even for fully composed jobs, and is directly accessible via the production workflow. System administrators can easily configure and manage workflows to process individual documents within larger PDF and AFP jobs, then produce and distribute them as desired.
- Advance data capture features. Users can now mine email addresses directly within individual AFP or PDF documents, or even import them from external sources.
These enhancements come on the heels of additions made to the suite in late 2014, including capabilities to archive print jobs directly from within workflows and send production metrics updates to the Avanti Slingshot print MIS solution. With these additions, users can now work more intelligently with more control over, and access to, the information contained in their printing projects.