New ‘Swiss Post Box’ service launched
A new hybrid mail service has been launched by Swiss Post, called Swiss Post Box.
A new hybrid mail service has been launched by Swiss Post, called Swiss Post Box.
Swiss Post is now digitising physical items and sending them to personal electronic mailboxes on request, allowing customers to receive and deal with their physical letter mail over the Internet – and therefore any time, anywhere.
A Swiss Post statement said:
Swiss Post scans in letters redirected and puts them in the electronic Swiss Post Box. This new service is aimed at people who are often away and wish to deal with their letter mail promptly and online. The basic charge for the electronic mailbox is from €14 a month. Extra services are charged on top of this. The Swiss Post Box will initially be available in Switzerland and Germany. France, Italy and Austria will follow in July.
People who are often away can choose to have their incoming mail forwarded on or held at the post office or their letterbox emptied by someone they know and trust. However, that alone does not guarantee that incoming items will be dealt with promptly. Swiss Post is now closing the gap by going online with its electronic mailbox, the Swiss Post Box. Addressed items can be sent to a new correspondence address. Swiss Post captures the sealed envelopes electronically at a secure scanning centre and e-mails the envelope image to users. With a few clicks, they then decide what happens to the item next.
The easy way to deal with letter mail:
On request, the item is opened and made available as a PDF file. It can also be physically forwarded to any address and archived electronically in the Swiss Post Box. To manage items in the electronic mailbox, all customers need is access to the Internet: the personal Swiss Post Box is password-protected. The standard of security is based on the same guidelines as for PostFinance online banking. Like all Swiss Post services, Swiss Post Box is subject to postal secrecy.
The new service makes it easier to access physical letter mail and addresses the needs of an ever more mobile society. Swiss Post Box gives recipients full control over their letter mail, wherever they happen to be.
Basic price around €14:
Swiss Post Box is a chargeable service. The basic price of a subscription for an individual starts with €14 a month. Extra services are charged on top of this. Swiss Post also offers other service packages for frequent users. From 1 July 2009, members of the Miles & More frequent flyer programme will also be able to use air miles to pay.
Business customers are already using the service:
Swiss Post Box is already being tested at Siemens Mobility (Switzerland and Germany) and will soon be in use at Microsoft Switzerland. However, Swiss Post Box is not only of interest to large and medium-sized businesses, but to smaller ones, too. For example, it is being used by the fully Internet-based start-up SwissPoll, allowing the market research specialist to deal with customer correspondence securely, in less time and on attractive terms.
