Last year, Lbox Communications, a UK-based mail distribution service, underwent a rebranding for their innovative Targeted Delivery and Mapping Platform (TDMP), which is now known as tellthem™. The new name better reflects the platform’s purpose, which is to streamline the delivery of essential mail notifications that keep communities well-informed.
tellthem™ has gained popularity among a diverse range of organisations, including Network Rail, GRAHAM Construction, Kanda Consulting, Balfour Beatty and The Royal Borough of Greenwich. By utilising tellthem™, these organisations are saving time and cutting costs. A free demo of the platform is currently available for interested parties to trial.
tellthem™: Making Fast and Accurate Mail Communications Effortless The construction industry in the UK has witnessed a significant increase in building projects. In 2022, the country experienced a 5% rise in construction output, ranging from large-scale civil engineering projects to local road and rail works.
Despite the varying scopes and costs of these projects, one commonality is the disruption they cause within communities, necessitating firms to notify affected residents, businesses, and stakeholders. This practice is typically mandatory and serves the purpose of minimising disturbances, encouraging public feedback, and keeping people informed.
However, sending these crucial mail communications has historically been a time-consuming and laborious process, significantly impacting productivity.
“Reaching the right individuals with essential mail notifications has been a demanding and time-consuming task for a long time,” explains David King, CEO of Lbox Communications and the creator of tellthem™.
“We often heard stories of people spending hours manually drawing maps, counting houses, and compiling address lists by hand,” he adds.
“In addition to that, there were numerous back-and-forth conversations with print and postage providers, painting a picture of the tremendous effort required for just a single batch of communications. When scaled across numerous projects, it became evident that organisations faced a significant problem.”
To address this outdated way of working, Lbox Communications developed tellthem™, a unique and groundbreaking TDMP designed for industries where essential mail communications play a pivotal role. This includes sectors such as construction, highway works, railworks, property planning, utilities, telecoms, and the public sector.
The goal behind tellthem™ was simple: to transform the hours spent by companies on organising mail campaigns into mere minutes, consolidating all the work into one user-friendly online platform.
“We gained a profound understanding of the challenges faced by our clients, which led to the development of tellthem™,” explains King. “Now, organisations can precisely map their delivery areas and effortlessly arrange printing, fulfillment, and delivery through a single online platform, all without the need for a subscription.”
Efficiency Simplified: How tellthem™ Works According to Lbox, tellthem™ has revolutionised the process of reaching residents, businesses, constituents, and stakeholders with vital mail notifications, making it faster and simpler than ever before.
The platform is designed to deliver crucial notifications to the intended recipients precisely when they are needed. It caters to a wide range of important communications, from construction notices and planning consultations to community newsletters and surveys.
To ensure a straightforward experience, tellthem™ incorporates powerful features such as Google Maps and instant search tools. These functionalities make it quick, easy, and convenient to find the right areas and addresses.
“We have also made it possible for tellthem™ users to search for delivery areas using postcodes, local landmarks, or even what3words codes,” explains King. “This flexibility allows users to identify the precise areas based on the available information.”
Additionally, the platform includes an ELR (Engineer’s Line Reference) search function, developed through Lbox’s long-standing relationship with Network Rail. This feature enables users in the railworks industry to immediately locate specific stretches of rail line that require attention.
Furthermore, Lbox discovered during their initial research that clients heavily relied on paper maps and markers to delineate their delivery zones. To modernise this approach, tellthem™ incorporates three built-in digital mapping tools: Polygon, Radius, and Buffer Line.
“Whether users need to focus on individual roads and postcodes or create multiple maps to cover larger areas, our smart and versatile mapping functions offer freedom and flexibility, allowing anyone to draw the required delivery areas within seconds,” highlights King.
Traditionally, informing communities involved manual counting of addresses, a time-consuming and arduous process that added complexity to cost estimation.
“With tellthem™, as users adjust the size of their target map, delivery method, and mail format, any changes are instantly reflected in the quote. This provides complete transparency regarding the destination of mail notifications and their associated costs,” adds King.
The rapid and powerful planning facilitated by tellthem™ is made possible through Lbox’s experienced team and cutting-edge technology. Users can choose from a wide range of paper stocks, and campaigns are efficiently turned around, often ready for next-day delivery via either Royal Mail or Lbox’s uniformed, GPS-tracked distributors.
With the ability to upload artwork, schedule delivery, and select postage through a single online platform, Lbox firmly believes that tellthem™ has made coordinating outreach efforts easier than ever before.
“Say goodbye to highlighters, discard the maps, and put calls to print and delivery providers on hold. tellthem™ takes care of everything through one fast, simple, and free-to-use platform tailored to your requirements,” concludes King.
