Étiquette : Maarch Courrier

To modernize the processing of its mail and ensure the sustainability of communications, the City of Châtillon decided, in May 2023, to begin the process of implementing a digitalized mail management solution. To this end, a complete overhaul of the GEC system was initiated. The goal was to move to an automated, secure solution capable of centralizing and managing both paper mail and emails.

A strategic choice for centralized, secure mail management

After extensive benchmarking and analysis of quotes from several providers, the City of Châtillon chose the Maarch Courrier solution in January 2024.

This choice was driven by the quality of the tool — particularly its ergonomics — the project methodology presented, the support offered by Maarch throughout the project’s implementation, a reasonable cost, and positive, successful feedback from other local authorities.

The goal was to centralize the management of mail, whether paper or electronic, by establishing efficient approval workflows while ensuring full traceability and long-term reliability of internal and external communications.

Maarch Courrier was selected for its ability to automate and secure the management of incoming and outgoing mail flows.

Among these key features are Mail Capture, a tool that automatically captures and centralizes emails and scanned paper documents in a single interface, as well as the interoperability of the “I Parapheur” connector from publisher Libriciel SCOP.

A structured implementation

The business process was adjusted to match the specific workflow of the City of Châtillon’s mail department, made up of 3 mail clerks responsible for entering records and scanning incoming mail and emails from the “mairie” mailbox captured via Mail Capture, all overseen by a department head.

These letters and emails are then reviewed at a “mail supervision” level by the general administration and subsequently assigned to the relevant departments after approval from the “N2 supervisor” (the Mayor’s office) and the “N3 supervisor” (DGS).

The solution was also configured to include an internal approval workflow dedicated exclusively to internal memos, before they are distributed to the various municipal departments.

This custom configuration made it possible to automate workflows while complying with the local authority’s own approval procedures.

Hosted in SaaS mode, the solution guarantees both data confidentiality and the scalability needed to meet future requirements.

The project’s implementation followed a structured timeline:

• Design: gathering requirements and developing a prototype specific to the City of Châtillon.
• Configuration: integrating internal approval workflows and various complex processes, tailored to business requirements.
• Testing: a phase of user testing validated after several iterations, accompanied by training sessions.
• Go-live: launching production after adjustments made in response to user feedback.

A smooth transition thanks to targeted training

The transition went smoothly, and every effort was made to secure strong buy-in from users.

Out of 222 users of the solution, 100 were trained — nearly one in two users, which is highly significant and played an important role in staff buy-in for the project.

Training took place over eight days, in person at the local authority’s premises, which allowed for smoother exchanges than videoconferencing and better attention from participants. The high-quality training sessions were tailored to each staff member’s level of use.

As a result, there were 4 types of training:

• “scan operator” training,
• “administrator” training,
• “user” training,
• “manager” training.

Change management support played a decisive role in the project’s success. The solution was adopted by users, helped by its ease of use and the relevance of its features.

Immediate benefits and future prospects

Maarch’s project manager remained consistently available throughout the deployment phase and after go-live to support users as they built up their skills. Their feedback allowed for minor adjustments to be made during the first few weeks of use.

Since going into production on December 16, 2024, more than 4,500 incoming letters have been processed, at an average of 600 letters per month.

The benefits are numerous, such as improved traceability through data centralization — users can track the status of each letter in real time, reducing the risk of lost documents.

In terms of time savings, automated approval has reduced mail processing times, providing a faster response to residents.

As for optimized ergonomics, many users appreciate the clarity of the interface, which allows for faster and more efficient mail management, with feedback highlighting significant time savings.

A scalable solution, the SaaS platform ensures flexibility and security, making it possible to add new features as needed and ensuring continuous adaptation to evolving business needs.

Looking ahead, the City of Châtillon is open to exploring and receiving demonstrations of new features offered by version 24 of Maarch Courrier, particularly the integration of artificial intelligence to suggest pre-drafted responses and further automate certain outgoing response processes.

A successful project with positive feedback

This project illustrates the City of Châtillon’s commitment to modernizing its internal processes in order to offer more responsive service, better traceability, and long-term reliability adapted to its organizational and business specifics. Thanks to the Maarch Courrier solution, the city now has a system that is both well-suited and scalable, meeting the local authority’s expectations.

Key data and indicators:

• Project launch date: January 2024
• Go-live date: December 16, 2024
• Number of users: 222 users
• Mail processed since go-live: More than 4,500 letters (approximately 600 per month)
• Training duration: 8 days (100 users trained)

Conclusion

Implementing a project like this requires a strong commitment and availability from the client, but also from the project manager, who had to listen closely and find quick, tailored solutions for the local authority — which was indeed the case.

It is essential for the local authority to do upfront work, before the project begins, on its processing and approval workflows, and to be clear about the organization it wants to adopt for managing incoming and outgoing mail, so that this information can be passed on to Maarch Courrier.

The testing phase is crucial — it’s very important to run tests to verify that the workflows are correct and that letters flow properly into the right queues… The idea is to fix as much as possible before going into production, so that go-live happens under the best possible conditions and users have as refined a solution as possible.

During this phase, Henri Queneau, the project manager, was present and made himself available to work with the town and make the necessary adjustments. He was highly invested in following the project through.

Maarch support (via the phone line or the Forge platform) is available and quickly resolves common usage issues.

This zero-data-migration mail digitalization project at the City of Châtillon illustrates Maarch’s ability to adapt to a specific business context while delivering a high-performing, scalable solution. Thanks to rigorous management of the transition, the City of Châtillon now has a secure, traceable, and easy-to-use electronic mail management system.

This project stands as a solid reference for mail management in local authorities.

Finally, this is a project that must keep evolving, be monitored over time, and be well managed on a daily basis to ensure its longevity.

Maarch Courrier is now developed through continuous integration to comply with the SaaS mode increasingly adopted by our clients. This means regular functional updates that we don’t always communicate about — except, of course, in the version changelog on our Git.

This article presents a summary of the 350 person-days of improvements from v24.0 up to the latest published version, v24.5.

More control over distribution lists

Users who are absent at the time they are added to distribution and approval workflows are now flagged with a red dot.

It is also possible to add multiple roles in copy within distribution lists, without overwriting existing roles.

Finally, folder result lists are now customizable, providing better visibility of folders based on business needs.

Better integration with the partner ecosystem

Maarch Courrier is a connected product with a broad ecosystem. Maarch maintains connectors to your preferred business applications and tools.

Multi-instance IxBus connector

Maarch Courrier now supports multiple connection instances on the ixBus connector, with the option to choose which instance to use for sending.

Maileva connector: single envelope per recipient

Documents from a piece of mail sent via Maileva are now grouped into a single envelope per recipient. The method for calculating estimated sending costs has been adjusted accordingly.

Maileva connector: double-window envelopes

The Maileva connector has been extended to allow your digitalized mail to be sent in double-window envelopes. This type of envelope is used for banking documents or administrative forms requiring dual identification.

The LAD module (Automatic Document Reading), previously active only for manual mail registration, is now systematically triggered for every submission via the API.

Qualification queues are now more readable.

Upcoming connectors…

Very soon (24.6 – September 2025), you will see the following appear in Maarch Courrier:

• A publisher connector for the GoodFlag electronic signing platform (formerly Lex Persona). This connector will meet our quality and security standards and will be configurable.
• An implementation of Docaposte Maileva/AR24’s Electronic Registered Mail, a practical and affordable solution for registered mail with legal evidentiary value, made simple.  We’ll have the opportunity to communicate more broadly about this with our partner Maileva, as it will represent real added value for users.

Electronic signing platform

Pre-positioning of signatures

It is now possible to pre-position the placement of signatories’ electronic stamps on documents submitted to signing platforms, either on document templates or at the time of sending to the signing platform.

Stamps can be applied in bulk:

Create a new version of an editable document

All members of an approval workflow will be able to modify the original office file of a document submitted for approval or signature, as long as no stamp or certificate has been applied to the document. A new version of the document then replaces the previous one.

The signing platform interface also allows you to view the document’s different versions.

Certified timestamping

The integration of certified timestamping during the generation of the electronic signature certificate makes it possible to apply a certified stamp, compliant with the RFC 3161 standard, to a document. This is done using a timestamping server whose parameters are predefined in the configuration.

Two application modes can be defined from a configuration file:

• Automatic: timestamping is systematically applied during an electronic signature
• Manual : timestamping is applied only on request, at the time of the electronic signature action.

Once applied, the timestamp is embedded in the PDF’s electronic signature (“the signature includes an embedded time stamp”).

The electronic signing platform also allows you to configure a custom watermark for electronic signatures.

In the “Other” section of the parameter administration, an administrator can enable and customize a watermark applied during the electronic signature. They can define its style, color, and position.

This watermark is purely visual: it is not associated with an electronic stamp or an electronic certificate.

It is now possible to automatically merge signature tags on a PDF document with an electronic stamp.

This feature is currently limited to documents with a stamp signature without a certificate (full integration planned for a later version).

Authentication and security

ProConnect login

You can now log in using ProConnect! Somewhat similar to France Connect for individuals, ProConnect is a digital authentication service developed by the Direction Interministérielle du Numérique (DINUM), intended for professionals, whether from the public or private sector.

Once ProConnect login is configured and enabled in Maarch Courrier, a dedicated “Sign in with ProConnect” button appears on the Maarch Courrier login page. This login method coexists with the standard method, which always remains available.

Automatic logout of an SSO session

For instances configured with SSO login, logging out of Maarch Courrier now automatically closes the SSO session if a logout URL for the SSO portal has been defined in the administration settings.

SMTP authentication via Microsoft OAuth

Maarch Courrier now offers a new configuration option for sending emails: OAuth authentication via Microsoft Azure.

Configuration of a mail server relay for the “SMTP client (smtp)” and “PHP function (mail)” configurations

API access token management

Maarch Courrier allows API access through the provision of a token to secure access. This feature is linked to a web service–type user account.

A new technical parameter makes it possible to restrict the modification of user profile information to only those users with the appropriate rights.

When this parameter is set to 0 and the user does not have user administration rights, they can no longer modify their own profile.

Coming soon…

We are currently developing, for the upcoming release (24.6 – September 2025), confidentiality features for contacts’ personal data. This involves defining:

• Who are the sensitive and confidential contacts?
• What confidential information is on these sensitive contact records?
• Who can see them, based on Maarch Courrier’s security scheme?

This management of personal information affects contact searches and displays, liaison records, and mail merge templates.

System

Automatic browser cache clearing during updates

When Maarch Courrier’s version changes, an automatic browser cache cleanup mechanism is now in place, to ensure the application runs properly on workstations.

Automatic Document Reading (LAD)

It is now possible to create simple custom fields via the dedicated administration interface.

The LAD automatically extracts and maps fields according to the rules defined in a configuration file, whether during mail injection via the API or during the manual submission of a document for indexing.

User experience

It is now possible to perform a full-text search directly from the quick search bar.

A new feature makes it possible to resend an already-sent email directly from the user interface.

Improvements designed hand-in-hand with users

More than 350 person-days of development were devoted to these improvements to bring these advances to life.

Thanks to the active support of our public-sector users, particularly the Ministry of the Interior, the CNAM, and the towns of Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône and Les Clayes-sous-Bois, Maarch Courrier benefits from concrete improvements directly aligned with needs expressed on the ground.

In a context where digital sovereignty, innovation, and sustainability are priorities, Maarch Courrier is fully committed to a collaborative approach with its users, aiming to offer a free, secure, interoperable, and sustainable solution.

Learn more about Maarch Courrier

Download from labs.maarch.org ↗

Demo version ↗

Community forum ↗

View Maarch Courrier’s release notes ↗

Access the official documentation ↗

Actions now possible directly from the app

Among the most anticipated new features: the ability to carry out, directly from the app, actions that were previously reserved for the web version. You can now:

• Redirect mail to another user,
• Simply confirm that you’re handling it,
• Close a piece of mail once it has been processed.

These features provide a real boost in responsiveness and improve the smoothness of document management, even while on the move.

Fast search for immediate time savings

Because fast access to information is crucial, Maarch Courrier mobile now includes instant search. In just a few seconds, you can find a piece of mail by filtering by:

• Subject,
• Sender’s name,
• Recipient.

An ideal solution for navigating efficiently through a large volume of correspondence.

An interactive dashboard for a clear overview

See what matters most at a glance with the brand-new dashboard. Made up of dynamic tiles, it lets you easily track the status of your mail: to process, pending, closed, etc…

This module improves visibility into your priorities and helps you better organize your daily tasks.

A redesigned interface for optimal comfort

User experience was at the heart of this new version. Among the improvements made:

• Day/night mode, for reading comfort adapted to any lighting conditions,
• The customized home page, provided by the client, for direct access to essential information.

These improvements make the app more pleasant to use, while adapting to each user’s specific needs.

An increasingly strategic app

With this new version, Maarch Courrier mobile reaffirms its place as an essential tool for the digitalized management of mail. By combining mobility, efficiency, and customization, it supports you in a modern, agile, and connected work environment.