Policy Patrol Case Study
Multnomah Publishers®, Inc
By blocking spam and adding disclaimers Policy Patrol Email not only saves Multnomah $9,125 a year, but also minimizes legal risks, reduces bandwidth and storage usage, protects confidential data and provides for a safe work environment.
Company background
Based in Sisters, Oregon, Multnomah Publishers is a Christian publishing house that produces over 70 new releases a year and carries more than 300 timeless classics. Multnomah presents spiritual themes in diverse formats ranging from current issues and Christian living to adult fiction.
Business challenge
Over the years email had become a critical business tool for Multnomah Publishers, providing the company with an easy and efficient way to communicate with their authors and the public. However the potential risks of using email, including confidentiality risks, employer’s liability, legal requirements and productivity issues were increasingly coming to light.
Confidentiality
The transparent aspect of emails and the importance of the confidential information that Multnomah was sending over the email network, such as manuscripts and contracts, made the company realize that something had to be done to protect the confidentiality of their emails.
Legal requirements
Multnomah’s legal department stressed the legal risks embedded in the nature of email, including employer’s liability, accidental breach of confidentiality, negligent misstatement and non-intentional binding of contracts and urged for disclaimers to be added to all messages sent from their company network.
Junk mail
Multnomah was increasingly suffering from spam and junk email making their email system less effective and more cumbersome to manage while putting a strain on employee productivity. Multnomah also wished to protect their employees from the many inappropriate and in some cases extremely offensive spam mails, in order to maintain the safe and friendly work environment that the company prides itself in.
Solution
In 2001, Jason Sele, IT Director of Multnomah Publishers, was given the task to find the right solution that would protect the company from the identified risks. Jason Sele started the selection process for a comprehensive email-filtering program that would add company wide disclaimers and block any unwanted messages. ‘We had researched many different solutions when we came across Policy Patrol. I saw that it provided unmatched integration with Exchange Server and offered unique features not available in other products. Moreover, pricing for the product was reasonable, which allowed us to earn an instant return on investment.’ After evaluating Policy Patrol and several other products, Jason Sele recommended Policy Patrol as the solution to Multnomah’s problems.
Today, Multnomah is still using Policy Patrol with the greatest satisfaction. Multnomah uses Policy Patrol in the following ways:
Disclaimers
Multnomah adds company wide disclaimers to all outgoing emails, warning against unauthorized copying and binding agreements. To add to the strength of the disclaimer, it also includes the name of the recipient for whom the message is intended. Furthermore, the disclaimer is formatted in order to distinguish it from the rest of the email message and convey a professional image.
Anti-spam
Multnomah makes use of Policy Patrol’s extensive anti spam features including Bayesian filtering, real-time black lists, header and keyword filtering, remote image blocking and recipient verification. Jason adds that ‘Policy Patrol blocks 97% of all incoming spam mail, stopping 1500 junk mails each day. Thanks to Policy Patrol’s automatic white listing feature and customizable white lists, Policy Patrol produces only a negligible amount of false positives’.
Benefits
Having used Policy Patrol for nearly three years, Jason Sele has identified the following business benefits for Multnomah:
Increased employee productivity
Blocking spam messages has given Multnomah an instant and tangible return on investment. Jason Sele: ‘On average each spam mail costs our employees 3 seconds to identify the nature of the email and discard it. By blocking 1500 spam mails a day, Policy Patrol provides us with daily savings of $25, which works out at $9,125 a year.’
Protection of confidential information
By adding a company wide disclaimer that warns non-intended recipients not to disclose the contents of the email, Multnomah is enforcing their confidentiality policy and contributing to the prevention of confidential data leaks.
Legal risks minimized
Policy Patrol’s disclaimers protect Multnomah from legal risks including employer’s liability, accidental breach of confidentiality, negligent misstatement and non-intentional binding of contracts.
Reduction in bandwidth and storage usage
Since Policy Patrol can reject spam (through recipient verification and real-time black lists) in addition to actually downloading and quarantining spam, it offers the opportunity to save valuable bandwidth. Moreover, by reducing the amount of emails received on the system, important storage savings are made and the time to restore messages after a mail server failure is shortened.
Safe working environment
By blocking unwanted emails, Policy Patrol protects Multnomah’s workers from offensive emails and therefore helps the company provide a safe and friendly working environment.
