Wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa enhances client communication with the help of Suomi.fi Messages

The Wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa decided to gradually transition towards electronic communications with the help of Suomi.fi Messages. The purpose of the change was to streamline communications, reach clients faster, facilitate the work of professionals and achieve cost savings. The county also wanted to enable a smooth transition to digital official mail during 2026.

Suomi.fi Messages complements and replaces traditional communications

During 2025, the Wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa sent more than 13,000 messages via Suomi.fi Messages. In late autumn 2025, Viima, the message-writing application of Istekki was introduced into use. In addition to sending individual messages, the application also enables high-volume messages sent to large numbers of clients.

– The Wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa sends mail to its customers electronically to Suomi.fi Messages. All the information the client needs can be found in Suomi.fi Messages. The message-writing application can also be used in the REST interface of Suomi.fi Messages to send larger numbers of messages, such as invitations to breast cancer screening. Thanks to the printing, enveloping and distribution service, messages to clients who have not activated Suomi.fi Messages are automatically directed to paper mail through Suomi.fi Messages. When sending messages, the Wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa does not need to specify whether the letter must be sent to the client by paper mail or electronically, as the printing, enveloping and distribution service sorts the messages via Suomi.fi Messages on our behalf, says Aino Nokelainen, Planning Manager at the Wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa.

In addition, Suomi.fi Messages has been used for appointment reminders in connection with age-related health examinations, among other things. The plan is to expand its use, where possible, to all high-volume messages, such as to informing home care clients of changes in client fees.

Savings, smooth services and better reach with Suomi.fi Messages

Although the Wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa does not have long-term experience of using Suomi.fi Messages yet, the benefits are already clearly visible. In early 2026, the county sent approximately 4,000 messages through Suomi.fi Messages, of which approximately 48 per cent were sent to the recipient electronically. Previously, sending one paper letter may have cost many times more than a letter sent through the printing, enveloping and distribution service tendered out by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Savings are generated even if not all messages are forwarded to the recipient electronically to the Suomi.fi Messages mailbox, yet.

Professionals’ working time is expected to be significantly reduced when the sending of large volumes of messages moves to Suomi.fi Messages. Communication with clients and patients is faster and more sure to reach the recipient.

Getting used to Suomi.fi Messages requires a new way of thinking and working

Successful implementation of the change requires the whole organisation to adopt a new way of thinking. For this reason, the emphasis is on communication about the change and making the change part of daily work of the professionals in the wellbeing services county.
– It has been important to remind professionals not to choose the channel on behalf of the client. It is always the client who decides whether they want to receive the messages electronically or not, says Nokelainen.

In matters related to using Suomi.fi Messages, the flow of information within the organisation is ensured in many different ways. Various regular events, such as briefings for supervisors and personnel, digital morning coffee events and an extensive network of digital contact persons support people in issues related to daily work.  In addition, the internal intranet is an important communication channel enabling everyone to form a shared understanding of the change.

Client communication is implemented in close cooperation with Communications, making wide use of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s ready-made communication materials. For example, the materials are used on the information screens of service locations. The transition to digital official mail is part of the national deployment of Suomi.fi Messages. To ensure that communication to clients is consistent, up-to-date and in line with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s communications, the Wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa wants to communicate about the deployment of Suomi.fi Messages at the same pace with national communication.

Towards the future – controlled expansion and development based on experiences

After the deployment of Suomi.fi Messages, the Wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa has identified challenges and development areas. System development will continue alongside deployments to ensure that the service will meet the needs of the organisation better.

In particular, the need to combine several attachments into a single PDF file and to show whether the client has an electronic mailbox in use has emerged. The monitoring of status information is also an important functionality that can be used to ensure that the message is delivered. These functionalities will be further developed in cooperation with the system supplier Istekki.

Nokelainen has a clear message to other organisations: “Don't hesitate, just go ahead. Suomi.fi Messages will make processes more efficient and save money and time.”