Tag: Mail Services

ToCOSS calculates Total Cost of Ownership for self-service networks

Posted by | Jun 16, 2008 | |

How high are the costs for a bank’s self-service infrastructure over the entire product lifecycle? A new analysis tool from Wincor Nixdorf provides the answer. It calculates and analyzes the costs of implementing, maintaining and operating complex self-service solutions made up of hardware, software and services.

The tool – ToCOSS: Total Cost of Ownership for Self-Service Retail Banking – examines costs for everything from end-user devices to central systems in the background. It outlines a number of investment scenarios built around an array of parameters. Based on factors that include the cost of acquiring new hardware or software, integration costs, the expense of operating the data center or maintaining and monitoring the various systems, for example, ToCOSS then calculates the costs for the entire product lifecycle of a self-service network (TCO – Total Cost of Ownership).

The new tool is useful whenever banks are planning investments in their self-service networks – in hardware, but particularly in the integration of new software. It helps banks forecast what impact migration to new multivendor applications or integration in multichannel architectures will have on TCO.

The bank’s IT managers can then base their decisions on solid analyses. The TCO analysis delivers investment protection, creates cost transparency and identifies savings potential.

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Postmen told to ditch bikes for trolleys (UK)

Posted by | Jun 16, 2008 | |

Postmen have been told to use trolleys instead of using their bikes, so their shoulders are not injured carrying heavy mail bags.

The move, which has been introduced in Lancashire, comes after one depot took delivery of 60 new bicycles.

All delivery offices in the county are taking part in the trial, which aims to reduce shoulder strain by replacing the bike with “high-capacity” trolleys, which can carry more mail.

But the move has not gone down well with all postmen and women.

One worker from the Leyland depot, where trolleys are currently being favoured over bikes, said: “We are absolutely baffled. They tell us it is health and safety because of the big bags we have on our shoulders but the bikes have saddle bags, so that makes no sense either.

“Can you imagine having to walk miles away from the office, all the time getting further and further away and then having to come back? They are going to be knackered.”

He said postmen and women on the routes chosen for the trial had been told they had “no option” other than to use the trolleys, despite Royal Mail having bought 60 new bikes last year.

The Royal Mail spokesman insisted that “the majority of staff” still had the option of using bicycles on their deliveries.

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Ethiopian State Minister urges Postal Service Agency to expand, improve services

Posted by | Jun 15, 2008 | |

Ethiopian Postal Service Agency could be one of the organizations that generate huge revenue in the country by expanding its horizons and providing efficient services, the state minister for transport and communications sector said.
Speaking at a discussion held between clients here, State Minister for Transport and Communications Sector David Ruach said the agency should increase its income by eliminating backward procedures and providing effective services.
The state minister who advised the agency to draw valuable lessons from agencies in other countries said the government would render its support to the agency.
Ethiopian Postal Service Agency General Manager, Yeiyogidey Gebreyohannes, on his part said the agency has begun implementing Business Process Reengineering (BPR) to effect reform in the agency.
According to him, the agency is currently providing efficient services through its 962 centers across the country.
It has also bought four medium size buses to begin offering delivery work, he added.
Besides the agency has been undertaking activities to expand money transfer activities, Cash for Africa and Express Money services across the country, the general manager concluded.

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Post offices may be reopened under council subsidy plan (UK)

Posted by | Jun 15, 2008 | |

An agreement between the Post Office, the Government and local councils means that, in theory, every one of the 2,500 branches earmarked for closure under a cost-cutting plan could be saved.
Ministers ordered cuts to the network to reduce its GBP 150 million-a-year subsidy. However, councils have been looking for ways to avoid closures in the face of a growing public backlash.
The first post offices to be reprieved are in Essex, where the county council is expected to announce in the next 10 days that it has saved at least 15 of 31 branches closed this year.

The council has set aside up to GBP 1.5 million for the scheme. Some post offices will be reopened on the same premises, while pubs, cricket clubs, libraries and shops will become home to a post office in other cases.
The pilot has attracted interest from councils, with 100 local authorities contacting the Post Office. Half of those are already in talks to follow suit.
However, Alan Cook, the managing director of the Post Office, said the obstacles had been overcome. “We have got to the point where we have established a model that will work for local authority funding,” he said.
The news was welcomed by the postal watchdog. Howard Webber, the chief executive of Postwatch, said: “I feel qualified joy that there could be any extra post offices which offer more services to customers, providing it does not have a damaging impact on the post offices that are remaining in the network.”
Last year, the Government ordered Royal Mail, which owns the Post Office, to close 2,500 branches. By the middle of last week, 764 branches had been shut and 41 saved.
Earlier this month, post office managers told a Commons committee that a further 4,000 branches could be closed.

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Deutsche Post CEO says in no rush on Postbank

Posted by | Jun 15, 2008 | |

Postbank owner, Deutsche Post, is in no hurry to reach a decision on a possible sale of the German retail bank, Chief Executive Frank Appel told Reuters in an interview.

‘I don’t feel any rush or haste. I will decide according to what is best for Deutsche Post, but also for Postbank,’ Appel said on Saturday during a trip to China with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Postbank, the country’s biggest retail bank, is up for sale and its owner has invited expressions of interest. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last week that if offers are good enough, Deutsche Post will push ahead with a sale within weeks.

Deutsche Bank has flagged interest in Postbank, as have Allianz and Commerzbank, which are making a joint approach. They would plan to swallow Postbank into a newly created group that would include Allianz’s Dresdner Bank.

Asked about the possibilities on the table for Postbank, Appel said: ‘We are sounding out options and are not participating in any speculation.’

Appel was participating in a three-day trip with Steinmeier to China, where Deutsche Post’s delivery arm DHL express is moving to strengthen its foothold in the fast-growing market.

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