“New era” beckons as DP DHL goes hybrid

Deutsche Post has described its newly launched hybrid mail service as “a new era in mail communication”. As of today, customers will be able to reserve their personal “E-Postbrief” address.

“We’re making secure written communication on the Internet possible for everyone – this is a revolution,” said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL. “This innovation fits to our Strategy 2015 like a glove: It will make our customers’ lives easier and strengthen us to remain THE Post for Germany.”

The “E-Postbrief” allows private individuals, companies and public authorities to communicate securely with each other on the Internet. The “E-Postbrief” is just as binding, confidential and reliable as a letter – and just as quick as an e-mail.

“We’re bringing the confidentiality of letters to the Internet,” said Jürgen Gerdes, board member in charge of MAIL. “The ‘E-Postbrief’ will make our most successful product, the letter, even better. It is still a letter, but will be even quicker.”

An “E-Postbrief” will cost exactly the same as a traditional letter – 55 euro cents. Users can choose whether their letter will be delivered electronically to another “E-Postbrief” account or be printed out by Deutsche Post and delivered by the mail carrier.

The price remains the same in each case. Additional services like registered letters or color-printed copies will be charged extra.

Gerdes added: “Whether our letter is in physical or digital format, it is based on a high-quality service from one single source. And it’s very attractively priced as well.”

Deutsche Post is staging one of the largest media campaigns of the year to mobilise Germans in favour of the “E-Postbrief”. At www.epost.de users can reserve their personal “E-Postbrief” address free of charge. The address consists of a first name and a surname and the ending @epost.de. A number behind the surname prevents confusion when two people have the same surname. Anyone who registers quickly can secure the number he wishes, or may even get an address without a number – provided he is the first person to use that name.

All users must identify themselves by using the Postident procedure with their personal identity cards or their passports in a Deutsche Post retail outlet – only then the “E-Postbrief” account will be activated. Thus the identity of the users can be confirmed beyond all doubt – and anonymous e-mails, spam or address theft are impossible with the “E-Postbrief”. In the initial phase after the name reservation, users will have an activation code sent to them by letter. In the run-up phase, Deutsche Post is working to create an evenly-spread use of the system’s capacity, in order to avoid any overloads. From November this intermediate step will cease to apply.

A Deutsche Post statement said: “Companies and public authorities can distinctly improve their customer service with the “E-Postbrief” and save money at the same time. The cost of postal processing can be cut by up to 60% by using the “E-Postbrief”. The interest shown by business customers in the new product is accordingly high. Deutsche Post has two other important partners, SAP and Allianz, who have decided to collaborate on the “E-Postbrief”.”

SAP, with an annual turnover of more than EUR 10bn, making it the third-largest independent software supplier in the world, is planning to integrate the “E-Postbrief” into its HR management software SAP ERP HCM. So, companies can send pay slips to their employees electronically and securely, or as a hybrid “E-Postbrief”. In addition, SAP will be checking software application scenarios for public authorities.

“Integrating the ‘E-Postbrief’ into SAP software represents, in our opinion, an important step towards creating continuous electronic business processes between companies, their employees, public authorities and citizens,” said SAP’s Kerstin Geiger, head of industry solutions.

Allianz too intends to integrate the “E-Postbrief” into its communication systems. In Germany alone, the insurance giant has more than 19m customers and rapid communication is a crucial success factor in the interaction with customers.

Ralf Schneider, head of IT and CIO of Allianz Deutschland, explained: “In the digital age, customer communication is changing rapidly. Customers are increasingly coming to expect immediate answers. So electronic interaction with the “E-Postbrief” for the first time offers us the opportunity of secure, binding written customer contact via the Internet.”

“We are delighted that SAP and Allianz, two more top players in German industry, have opted for the ‘E-Postbrief’,” remarked MAIL boss Gerdes.

Cooperation partners of “E-Postbrief” include the Hesse state lottery, Mercedes Benz motor sport, the German Soccer Federation and the Zürich Group, Germany.

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