The handling of the incoming mail in an office needs to be carried out systematically and efficiently in order to have the correspondence quickly available for distribution. The staff responsible for opening the mail will usually arrive at the office earlier than the normal starting time so that the incoming correspondence is sorted and distributed without delay. The steps normally taken organize this work include:
1. Business envelopes are separated from those which are marked “Private” "Confidential" or “Personal”
2. The business envelopes are slit open with a paper knife or letter opening machine.
3. The contents of the envelopes are unfolded and enclosures neatly pinned to the letters which they accompany.
4. Every document received is stamped with a date stamp. Care must be taken not to obliterate important typewritten or printed matter. A rubber stamp or machine indicating the time as well as the date of receipt is very useful.
5. Registered mail must be signed for when the postman calls. Correspondence with remittances, whether registered or not, is generally entered in a remittances book. The remittances are checked with the amount indicated on the letters or accounts which they accompany, and the amount, method of payment and opener's initials are written on the corner of the document. Any discrepancy must be checked once by the clerk in charge of mailing. In some firms the remittances book is taken to the chief cashier, who is required to sign for each item in the book.
6. The correspondence is now ready for sorting into or department or sections. After the piles of correspondence have been checked, they are taken onto the employer’s office, or distributed to the various departments.
7. Private and confidential letters which must not be opened are delivered to the persons concerned.
8. All envelopes are checked to make sure that nothing has been left in them, and it may be considered advisable for them to be kept for a few days, occasionally, the postmark or address on the envelope may be used to answer a query in the letter.
9. Occasionally an inwards correspondence book is used and brief details of all correspondence received are entered in it This procedure, however, is not widely used today
If an incoming letter contains a number of points which require the attention of several departments, a special arrangement must be made so than each department concerned deals promptly with its particular matter. There are several ways in which this can be done. Three are given here:
1. A list of the various departments concerned could be attached to the letter and as it sent round the offices, each departmental head crosses his name off the list after taking the necessary action.
2. The department dealing with the main point of the letter could have the original and be responsible for passing on the minor queries to the other
3. The postal room clerk could have several copies made of the entire letter and send one copy to each of the department concerned.
The third method is in the author's opinion, the most satisfactory. The secretary should note that it is unbusinesslike to incorporate in one letter matters involving several departments.