Mailroom

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A typical mailroom and kitchenette. Mailroom.jpg
A typical mailroom and kitchenette.

A mailroom (US) or post room (UK) is a room in which incoming and outgoing mail is processed and sorted. Mailrooms are commonly found in schools, offices, apartment buildings, and the generic post office. A person who works in a mailroom is known as a mailroom clerk or mailboy and the head person (sometimes the only person) is called the postmaster. The mailroom is responsible for a company's incoming and outgoing mail. A mailroom clerk prepares outgoing mail and packages prior to their being sent out via the post office or other carrier.

In a large organization, the mailroom is the central hub of the internal mail system and the interface with external mail. The postmaster manages the department, clerks assist them and mailboys deliver mail for other employees in different departments using a mail cart or a trolley doing regular rounds throughout the day. Sometimes the mailboys will trolley sort using the departmental slots on the trolley to reduce work at the central hub and to speed internal mail. [1]

Working in the mailroom is a prototypical entry-level job in an organization, and working one's way up the corporate ladder "from the mailroom" is a common idiom. At a few companies the mailroom is the basis or metonym for a training program for highly promising early-career hires. U.S. talent agency mailrooms, starting with the William Morris Agency mailroom, became famous for alumni rising to the highest levels in the entertainment industry, documented in the book The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up .

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Letter box</span> Receptacle for receiving incoming mail

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pigeon-hole messagebox</span>

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Ingham Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 15 Lannercost Street, Ingham, Shire of Hinchinbrook, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1935. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 August 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leongatha Post Office</span> Historic site in Victoria, Australia

Leongatha Post Office is a heritage-listed post office and former telegraph office at 4 McCartin Street, Leongatha, Victoria, Australia. It was designed by J. B. Cohen of the state Public Works Department for the Commonwealth Government. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Post Office, Launceston</span> Heritage-listed building in Tasmania

Launceston Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 68-72 Cameron Street, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. It was designed by William Waters Eldridge, with alterations prior to opening designed by Corrie and North. It opened in 1891, while the clock tower was completed in 1903 and altered in 1910. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.

References

  1. "A P Systems MAILROOM". A-p-systems.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2012-07-20.