MAIL TRACKING SYSTEM, USING AKWA IBOM STATE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE AS A CASE STUDY
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
According to (Canada Postal Guide, 2016), mail tracking can be defined as the receiving, screening, sorting, opening, routing, controlling, and distributing of incoming mail. It can also be seen as the collecting, sorting, and distributing of paperwork coming from within the building or area serviced by the Mail Room; and the collecting, preparing, sorting, controlling, and dispatching of outgoing mail. The Mail Room must maintain the flow of mail, documents, files, and other paperwork in three channels:
- From outside to offices within the department or agency;
- From office to office within the building or area being serviced; and
- From offices within the department or agency to outside individuals or
Organizations.
The Mail Room must be the first line of defense to apply secure measures to all incoming mail. The activities of organizations and institutions have great importance in the business, social, and economic functions of our society. These activities usually depend on the efficiency and effectiveness of the Mail Room services to achieve the many objectives of government. Each day, a vast amount of mail is sent and received. This mail, in addition to the time and stationery required to compose, type, and sign it, costs money In larger departments, the size of the operation will warrant a mail manager. In smaller organizations, the function may be linked to other responsibilities. The responsibilities of a Mail Room Manager will include all the mail handling operations and the organization and control of the messenger delivery services. To carry out these responsibilities, the individual should have good staff management capabilities and should be brought into departmental development and training programmes. While the individual will be assisted by supervisors in the performance of the actual mailroom operations, such managerial responsibilities as the co-ordination of the various sections, the planning of the workflow, the devising, writing and issuing of instructions and the introduction of procedural methods will rest with the manager. In addition, the ability to establish and conduct training programmes for their staff will determine to a great extent the continuous efficiency of the mail room service. The manager must entertain an overall knowledge of all operations, e.g. the processing priorities for departmental mail and the routing schemes for the various types of mail (Canada Postal Guide, 2016).
Developing a computerized mail management system is aimed at making easy the sorting and retrieval of information of incoming mails. The meta data of every mail received is captured into the system such as the name of the sender, the name of the receiver, the date it was sent, etc. This information is very important for administrative verification of mail received. The system will also aid the user to maintain record of mails that have been dispatched. The manual system of managing this information is time consuming, there is therefore need for an automated system to help the mail manager, clerk or supervisor of the mail room of every organization particularly those that receive mails on a daily basis. The system will also enable the institution to be accountable for mails received.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The following problems necessitated the development of this study:
- Inefficient management of received mails.
- Absence of a software system to capture record of received mails.
- Difficulty in sorting mails based on criteria like the name of the sender, date sent, the department, etc.
- Reports cannot be instantly presented of the mails dispatched and when.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The following are the objectives of the study:
- To develop a mail management system that can be used to capture the meta data of all incoming mails.
- To develop a system that can be used to easily sort the meta data of mails.
- To develop a system that will enable the mail clerk update vital information of mails received and dispatched.
- To develop a system that will aid easy presentation of needed reports of the meta data of mails based on different criteria.
1.4 Scope of the Study
This study covers mail tracking system, using Akwa Ibom state College of arts and science as a case study. It is limited to the management of the meta-data of mails received in the Post Mail Box (PMB).
1.5 Significance of the Study
The study is significant in the following ways:
- It will enable the management of the institution and the mail clerk or supervisor to keep proper record of every mail received.
- It will aid the easy confirmation of mails received and dispatched.
- It will aid in the presentation of instant reports that pertain to mails received.
- The study will also serve as a useful reference material to other researchers seeking related information.
1.6 Organization of Research
This research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.
Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.
Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It presents the research methodology used in the development of the system, it analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.
Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation, the choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.
Chapter five focuses on the summary, constraints of the study, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.
1.7 Definition of Terms
Database – A systematically arranged collection of computer data, structured so that it can be automatically retrieved or manipulated.
Mail – The letters, parcel, etc delivered to a particular address or person.
Management – The judicious use of means to accomplish an end.
System – A combination of related parts working together to achieve a particular goal.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This chapter focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other researchers pertaining the subject of mail management are discussed in this chapter.
2.2 Organizing the Mail Room
The five basic principles of planning, organizing, coordinating, controlling and budgeting apply to the mail room and messenger services as they do to any other areas of management. These principles apply not only in setting up or modifying existing operations but also in the daily routine of a mailroom.
Planning: The mailroom manager must conduct surveys to determine the volume of mail to be processed, where and when the mail must be delivered and collected, and how much time must be allotted for complete pick-up and delivery schedules. He must establish workflow patterns, both within the mailroom and for internal and external delivery, and plan the proper mail processing routines for the efficient
flow of mail through the unit.
Organizing: This responsibility includes the allocation of duties and responsibilities to the staff members and the systematic use of other resources. The manager must determine who is to be assigned to specific jobs, how many of his staff will be required to perform each operation, and when the particular jobs must be performed. In some cases the mailroom services are contracted out using a bidding process. In this case, the contractor must adhere to the department’s outlined service levels and scope of work.
Co-Ordinating – Controlling: For larger departments, these functions may require to be organized at a level more senior than the Mail Room Manager. If this is the case the way in which the department is organized will be unique to the particular department and depend on the function of the mailroom within the overall department. Some mail rooms fall under the direction of Information Management others Records Management. In such cases the Information Manager or Records Manager will be required to coordinate the activities of their department with the mail room services and operations as well as the several large branches of the department.
The department head will be required to ensure that the messenger services do not
overlap and that the mail will not be controlled at more than one point within the
department. This co-ordinating and controlling function must be reviewed
periodically to ensure that the original methods and procedures are still being
carried out or that modifications for improvement are introduced when necessary.
In smaller departments, an experienced Mail Manager should be able to resolve
without difficulty most problems that may arise.
MAIL TRACKING SYSTEM, USING AKWA IBOM STATE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE AS A CASE STUDY
