Baylor University: A Success Story
About Baylor University
Baylor University is a nationally ranked private Christian university and leading research institution. Located in Waco, Texas, Baylor offers a vibrant campus community to more than 20,800 Undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries around the world.
When the System Holds You Back
The Baylor Mail Center provides an array of services for students, faculty, and auxiliary services serving the Baylor University community, resulting in over 122,000+ packages received and delivered throughout the year. The Mail Services Manager, Jessie Souza, was able to explain what sort of issues they were facing on a day to day basis.
One of the main issues was their old legacy system which was not working for them. Due to their larger student population, they found themselves tracking and logging more packages than their system could handle. “The amount of information that that program needed for each package was really excessive. So we would have to hand type all that stuff in and it would take a really long time.” In fact, the package volume was so massive and demanding, that they faced challenges with the system itself, which was unable to meet the demands of their package management.
| “The [previous] software would go down multiple times a day. And I don’t just mean like once or twice… I mean like 30 times a day! Everyone has to stop and just watch the screen while it’s spinning and we’re waiting for it to catch up.”
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |
It was clear that a new system needed to take its place in order to get this mailroom on track again.
From Frustration to Flow
QTrak App: Smarter, More Simplified Tracking
When seeking a new tracking software solution, Jesse Souza discovered that QTrak perfectly met her requirements. Its robust, customizable features and intuitive design stood out among other options, offering the comprehensive functionality that she needed to streamline their operations.
| “[QTrak] was package software only. I didn’t want to keep track of all the other machines on campus, janitorial carts, or any of that extra stuff. I just want to deal with mail and packages. And QTrak was simple enough that it was exactly what I needed…”
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |
Despite some hesitation from the staff to get started with their new system, it didn’t take long for them to appreciate the speed and simplicity of QTrak. Now instead of jumping through hoops and waiting during precious company time, QTrak offers the mailroom staff a quick and easy solution that proves useful in Baylor’s mailroom. Now, lost or untrackable packages become obsolete due to QTrak’s powerful and smart cloud portal, accessible from anywhere at any time.
| “The whole system has just been much more efficient… QTrak keeps track of all of the information that I need. It has a photo of the package. It knows exactly when the package was delivered and it knows exactly where it was delivered, and that is priceless.”
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |
Package Pod: Locking In Efficiency
Baylor University’s Mailroom, after implementing QTrak, sought an even more significant enhancement that would further improve efficiency, reduce congestion, and provide students with an unparalleled mail/package pickup experience.
| “Baylor is ahead of the curve when it comes to a lot of things. Mail service… still had some room to grow. But these lockers… what a huge difference in such a short period of time.”
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |
To achieve this, Baylor invested in Package Pod, a state-of-the-art smart locker system. Their installation consisted of 32 rear-loading locker units, collectively offering 632 individual lockers, which have proven to be crucial for colleges and universities with package volume similar to Baylor’s.
The innovative rear-loading capability allows mailroom staff to load packages and mail into the lockers from within the mailroom itself. This eliminates the need for staff to enter the public student-access areas, and allows students to access their lockers and retrieve their packages with completely uninterrupted access. This innovative setup not only optimizes the mailroom’s workflow but also significantly elevates the convenience and satisfaction of the entire Baylor community.
In addition to these efficient lockers, Baylor University had specifically requested several workflow configurations that would significantly enhance their daily operations. These tailored configurations were designed to streamline processes, improve accountability, and optimize resource allocation across various departments.
| “I made a couple of requests and I’m telling you, like within 24 hours, QTrak has been very responsive about modifying what they can and trying to make this whole program, the lockers and the software, work for us. It’s just been fantastic.”
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |
But these lockers’ success didn’t stop at convenience. Baylor found plenty of other unexpected benefits such as shorter package hold times due to the automatic notifications, faster deliveries during their peak season, frees up staff time to work on other important tasks, and customizations fit to their workflow.
Innovation That Fits Your Workflow
Embedded QR Code System
One of the most impactful customization’s that we have developed for Baylor University is an embedded QR Code system. The mailroom wanted to replicate the efficiency of locker pickups for at-the-counter pickups. To achieve this, Jesse Souza assigned each student a unique ID number, which was then embedded into a QR code, and included it with every automatic routing notification. Then, when the students come to the counter, they simply scan that QR code which shows ALL the packages on PC checkout, making it quick and easy for staff behind the counter to identify and locate the proper items.
This customization for Baylor also delivered unexpected benefits, including eliminating the need for additional hardware to support the workflow and removing the dependency on the ID department for programming ID cards. This customization proved to be so successful that the Embedded QR Code feature is now utilized by more than 20+ QTrak customers!
| “It’s so great and so efficient because with the way that it used to be, each of these students would get a different email for each package. And that tells them where we need to go to pull their package off a shelf. And so, now we have everything right in front of us on the screen.
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |
Photo and GPS Confirmation
Baylor has also embraced QTrak’s delivery features, including photo capture and GPS tracking. Previously unavailable to their team, these tools have been transformative — providing clear proof of delivery with time-stamped photos and exact drop-off locations. This added visibility has greatly reduced liability concerns and provided peace of mind, ensuring packages are delivered exactly where they belong.
| “We use package delivery with photo capture and GPS, and that has been life-changing for us. It really reduces a huge amount of liability because we have photographic evidence that we delivered their package exactly where it was supposed to be… it’s really saved our backsides more than once.”
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |
Name Auto-Population
Baylor’s mailroom team found significant value in the auto-populate feature and has become an essential time-saver in their day to day cycle. When staff begin entering a mailbox number, the system instantly identifies the correct recipient, ensuring that the package label matches what the software recognizes. This simple automation has significantly reduced errors, prevented misrouted deliveries, and streamlined the process of handling packages. It has also eliminated the need to manually spell out names — which was time consuming and prone to human error — making daily operations faster and more accurate.
| “I love how when we go to put a package in the lockers, how the information will auto-populate. So if we start typing in their mailbox number, it will come up with the students name that’s supposed to be associated with that mailbox number.”
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |
Chain-of-Custody Tracking
With everything logged on QTrak’s secure cloud database, Baylor’s team can easily review recent scans and find a whole chain-of-custody tracking data from the moment it arrives. This has proved to be specifically beneficial when identifying any packages that weren’t picked up. Our database makes it easy to remove the package and seamlessly re-enter them into the system so they’re ready for the next pickup. This streamlined process has eliminated inefficiencies and replaced the outdated system they used before.
| “QTrak software is so great! We can go back and we can look at what we just delivered. We can figure out which ones we didn’t, you know, and then repopulate them, put them back into the system and we’re ready to go.”
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |
Is It Time To Rethink Your Mailroom?
If Baylor’s experience sounds familiar or relatable, it may be time to rethink your mailroom strategy. Legacy systems and manual workflows create inefficiencies, slowdowns, and make it difficult to deliver the excellent service the recipients deserve. The real key is to adopt a solution that integrates seamlessly with your operations — one that adapts to your workflow instead of forcing you to adapt to it. With the right system, you can increase efficiency, reduce errors, and elevate the way your mail and packages are managed.
Baylor’s Mail Services Manager put it best:
| “There’s no reason why they (you) shouldn’t [get QTrak and Package Pod]… it’s worth every penny that we’ve put into it… It’s just made everything so much more efficient, it frees staff to work on more complicated issues, and we get more done than before we had the lockers. It’s made everything so much better.”
– Jesse Souza, Mail Services Manager |