National Postal Forum: Highlights of latest services & equipment for the mail center

Several companies took advantage of the recent National Postal Forum in Orlando to unveil their new products and services, all designed to fulfill the needs and tempt the budgets of mail centers everywhere. Here, MCMR presents a roundup of some of the new arrivals: Neopost Online Neopost Online and Grumman announced that they received USPS approval to test a browser-based self-service online kiosk for online postage, which would be the first in this country. The kiosk, Simply Postage, will include a touch-screen computer monitor, a credit card reader, and an integrated printer. If and when the kiosks are approved, Neopost will place them in high-traffic retail areas. Users will be able to print out postage onto self-adhesive labels; initial models will only offer first-class postage, but future plans include adding a scale so that packages could be weighed and postage adjusted accordingly. Neopost Neopost also unveiled some more traditional machines at the Postal Forum, such as their new SI68 folder inserter. It features a number of specially named systems. This tabletop inserter can tri-fold up to five sheets at a time into an envelope, and can reportedly process up to 30,000 envelopes a month.
The SI68 includes a “Load ‘N Go” mode, which automatically detects which feeders have paper, then adjusts the settings such as fold length, envelope size, paper length, and thickness. The “FlexFeed” system allows the user to insert documents in varying combination, so that feeders don’t have to be set to specific paper sizes or tasks. The “Secure ‘N Feed” system detects how thick the first document is, and then matches all subsequent papers to that measurement. The IJ65 is Neopost’s latest digital mailing machine, which it introduced earlier this year but also featured at the postal forum. It is supposedly the first stand-alone postage meter to comply with the USPS’s Information-Based Indicia Program (IBIP) for simultaneous metering and barcoding. The IJ25 has a built-in modem that resets postage, eliminating the requirement for a PC. The IJ25 has two memory keys to store common transactions. You can set a default postage setting, a low postage warning, a high-value warning, and password protection to provide easy and secure operation. An integrated scale weighs envelopes and packages up to four pounds. Smart Card data-entry technology provides easy loading of advertising slogans and software for postal rate changes. The IJ25 is estimated at 20 letters a minute. The IJ25 digital postage meter uses Hewlett-Packard’s inkjet printing technology for postage, barcodes, and advertising slogans at 300 dpi. Neopost also demonstrated its iLs. Pre-Ship logistics software, which allows multiple users to preprocess parcels at their desktop computers. Users enter the parcel weight, the two ZIP-codes, recipient’s address, and desired service time. Users can also rate-shop and include any specific shipping instructions.
A preship label is printed at the user’s desk and attached to the parcel. When the parcel is sent to the mail center, a Neopost shipping system can read the label. The program can also be set to include departmental validation and account budget validation features. For more information about Neopost products, call 800-624-7892 or visit www.neopost.com. Security for the Mail Center For companies that are concerned about the contents of incoming mail, Scanna MSC introduced the Scanmax 25,a cabinet x-ray. The Scan-max measures 17 inches by 24 inches, with an inspection chamber that is 21 inches by 17 inches by 22 inches. It features negative or inverse image options, an 8x zoom and two color options to highlight medium and high-density objects. Scanna also offers a CD-ROM training program for mail center security, called CHECKMAIL. It’s designed to teach how to identify suspect items, and includes a reference library of various dangerous devices and their xray images. It costs $89.95 and runs from any PC with Windows 95/98/NT. For