The ViaCTT solution from Correios de Portugal

 

The Changing Communications Environment

 

The ViaCTT service dematerialises physical mail and provides a secure and convenient way to communicate. The future arrives today.

 

Nowadays, there are several different channels to link together all society’s stakeholders. Each of these has its own characteristics and its own applicability in relation to meeting communications needs: phone, email, television, direct mail, advertising,  physical mail,  SMS, etc.

 

In the face of all of these different channels, physical mail is decreasing… all over the world. More and more, physical mail is being slowly replaced by new technologies. However, whilst these are a big threat to traditional mail… they are also an opportunity.

 

Physical mail is still preferred to support professional communications such as delivering invoices, credit notes, bank statements, dunning messages, notifications, etc. The main reasons for this are personalisation, confidentiality, and security.

 

Posts must be able to combine these two different approaches:

1      Traditional mail, that is still considered the best way to deliver professional mail, and

2      Electronic but secure and safe mail, based on new delivery methods, supported by new technology.

 

In order to bring together these two different needs and these two different worlds, it is essential to build postal services completely adapted to the new technologies and that assure full confidentiality and security for current and new postal systems. The ViaCTT service completely responds to these requirements.

 

Bringing Physical and Electronic Together–The ViaCTT

 

Briefly described the main characteristics of ViaCTT are:

 

1      The solution has a high level of efficiency, security and confidentiality.

 

2      It is a public service and, by Portuguese law, has the same characteristics as the physical mail box. Thus, all the stakeholders can use it without any constraints, thereby easily linking businesses, customers and governmental institutions.

 

3      The ViaCTT is not email, thus avoiding the inappropriate use of this communication channel. Almost 50% of email messages are classified as spam, junk mail, phishing, etc. The ViaCTT does not allow this type of “trash” mail, because  only the CTT (Portuguese Post) can deliver and manage the Electronic Mail Box.

 

4      It requires a personal identification of the receiver, in order to assure to the sender that there is not any kind of anonymity, which is very common over the internet. CTT implemented several different procedures to ensure a clear personal identification, considering the different channels of identification used by the receiver, be it directly through the post office, or over the internet site. These procedures of personal identification are also applied to any public service or company.

 

5      Every person or company can receive mail by ViaCTT for free. All costs are supported by the sender.

 

6      ViaCTT supports different business models: B2C and B2B.

 

7      It has payment capabilities and other functionalities, allowing several convenient ways for the receiver to pay, if he so wishes.

 

Challenges Remain

 

However, the ViaCTT service has several challenges to deal with. The most critical one stands at the technological level or business case. Considering that the ViaCTT service must be linked to the sender systems, the big issue is to find the easiest way to adapt the ViaCTT platform to these systems, thereby minimising cost of investment for both parties.

 

In the end, posts must adapt to be the best in the marketplace,  continuing to deliver and to be the third party trusted link between senders and receivers.