Innovations for Snail mail:
Tests For PC Postage Scheduled for Mid ’97

A lot of people support having personal computers (PCs) print their own stamps, but with postage meter fraud estimated in the range of $100 million annually, the US Postal Service is cautious about new technology. If Neopost has its way, "PC Stamp" will open the door for PC electronic postage.

Neopost is a manufacturer and distributor of postage meters, shipping and document-systems equipment.

Early tests of PC Stamp are scheduled for San Francisco and Washington, DC later this year. The hardware element consists of a modem-size device which connects to a computer’s serial port. Called PC Stamp, the unit is actually the "bank" or metering device. The actual stamp and an electronic bar code address are printed from any standard black and white printer connected to a PC.

The software allows a user to automatically place a phone call which will refill PC Stamp with a selected amount of postage. The unit is not connected to the printer. Built into the software is "Dial-A-ZIPr," an address-certification technology, developed by Envelope Manager of Palo Alto, California. A digital scale can also be attached to the system. PC Stamp’s security is based on crytographics technology from a technology partner called Spyrus Corporation.

Steve Pietz, marketing manager at Neopost says their security technology gives them a lead against industry giant Pitney Bowes and start-up E-Stamp as the first company to secure approval for commercial availability of the product. Pietz also said the company is not ready to reveal the cost of the company’s PC Stamp system but that it will be inexpensive.

More information is available at http://www.pcstamp.com.

(Contact: Barbara Pacini Perkins, AVISO, tel 800-419-2755)