The
Post Office Is On Your Computer what will you do with it? By: Sharon Wolfe |
It’s
Raining……..
BizNet
Online Magazine Takes A Look At Postage On-Line
As
the above implies, there are times that going to the post office is a real pain.
If
you’re a small business owner, it stinks when you run out of stamps at the
wrong time.
Even
if you use a postage meter, it still stinks when you find out someone forgot to
get the meter refilled, and you need more postage NOW!!!!!
So,
imagine :
Buying
postage 24 hours a day, seven days a week…
Not
having to drive to the Post Office anymore…
Not
having to stand in line at the Post Office anymore…
Spending
the correct amount on Postage each time you send mail…
Your
mail having a professional look when it arrives at its destination…
All
without ever leaving your desk!
Well,
it’s a reality with Internet Postage, now offered by the U.S. Postal Service
through two companies: www.e-stamp.com
(E-Stamp
Corp., San Mateo, CA, 888-437-8267), and www.stamps.com
(Stamps.com Inc., Santa Monica, CA, 888-434-0055)
NOTE:
USPS
Internet Postage program does not currently support international mail.
How
does it work?
In
1998, The United States Postal Service (USPS) introduced a new form of postage
to the public: Internet Postage. Internet Postage is a combination of
human-readable information and a 2-dimensional barcode.
So…What’s
the cost? REASONABLE
How
does it work? WELL
Have
we tested it? Do we like it? YES
|
E-Stamp After
using E-Stamp for 2 weeks, here’s my take on it: They were out of the
starting gate with Version 1.0 before all the initial ‘kinks’ were
out… but isn’t that always the way! AND, I’m happy to have it! |
Stamps.com Information
gathered from their website, tech support and main office, as their
product is not ready for the public as of this writing (9/30/99). They
should have service available in October. (They are trying to get all
their “kinks” handled in the first release. – I like that!) |
System
Requirements: |
See
end of Article (must have 70% of more system resources available). |
See
end of Article |
Internet: |
You
do not have to be on-the internet to
use this service except to download additional postage.
But you do need to have a CD Rom in while using it; this is for address
verification. Per
E-Stamp: “And this is where E-Stamp delivers a big benefit. Because of
the electronic vault, you don’t have to connect to the Internet each
time you need a stamp. The postage is stored right on your PC, ready to be
used. So you can log off the Internet and use your phone line for other
things, like faxing and running your business. This is what makes E-Stamp
so easy and convenient to use.” |
You
MUST be on-line to use this service. However, the advantage here is that
you don’t have to have the CD in the drive to use the program, and you
don’t have to attach extra hardware to your system. Because
there is no hardware involved; you can use this from any computer,
anywhere you can connect to the Internet You
can use this product on any computer; but only one person, one computer at
a time per account.. |
Starter
Kit |
E-Stamp
says: “Our Starter Kit contains everything you need to print your own
stamps.” |
Stamps.com
says: “Our Starter Kit contains a manual and sample labels and envelopes
and a CD with actual software OR you can download the software and begin
right away. (Only 3MB)” |
START
UP Purchase
Price: |
$49.95
less $25 credit in the form of postage = $24.95 |
ZIP,
NADA, ZERO, NOTHING |
ONGOING Price: |
$4.99
minimum; $29.99 maximum for each transaction, based on 10% Service Fee on
postage purchased. |
Personal
Plan: ($1.99
flat fee for under $25 in postage/month)
or you can pay $19.95 one time for a year’s activity. 15%
service fee is added to the $1.99 flat fee if you print more than $25
postage in any given month. Business
Plan:
($3.99/month
minimum; $19.99/month maximum) 10% Service Fee on Postage used, billed monthly at the end of the billing cycle. |
Postage
Scale: |
Will
cost $99 when available, and will attach to the bottom of the “vault”.
It doesn’t display weight, but does display the postage cost. |
Digital
Scale that interfaces (plugs into parallel port). $49.99 one time cost. |
How
much postage can I buy at a time? |
$10
minimum (however, remember the $4.99 fee for each transaction.) $500
maximum in your account at any one time (limit set by the USPS) |
$10
minimum (No transaction fee if under $25.00 per month on the Personal
plan.) $500
maximum in your account at any one time (limit set by the USPS) |
How
do I pay? |
Via
electronic funds transfer from your bank account or credit card (when the
USPS approves credit card payments), and then you immediately download
your postage (up to $500) into the electronic vault. Supplies
can be purchased now with a credit card. |
You
will be able to use major credit cards as a payment method and/or you may
make payments from your bank account through a Direct Account Withdrawal
(ACH) debit process (a process similar to an electronic funds transfer).. |
On-line
vs. Metered Mail: |
For
the small business owner who has the right computer/printer equipment and
e-mail/internet setup, “electronic” postage is now do-able. |
Stamps.com
says: “service fees are a fraction of the costs of a traditional meter.
Additionally, you will be able to purchase and own a low cost integrated
digital scale from Stamps.com, instead of paying on-going monthly scale
rental fees as you would with a traditional meter.” |
Installation: |
Easy
- After signing up on-line, I needed to wait a few days to receive the
“vault” (their equipment), which attaches to the CPU at the printer
port (and the printer cable attaches to the vault). The
vault is about the size of a roll of stamps – it sits on the back of my
PC. E-Stamp calls it an electronic vault, because that’s where your
postage dollars are stored. (I
NEED TO RETURN THE VAULT IN PERFECT CONDITION IF I EVER LEAVE E-STAMP, OR
PAY A HEFTY FEE.) |
No
vault, no CD Rom; but you need to be on the internet to use Stamps.com Once
they rollout their service, all you need to do is download their free
software, open an account, and you can start printing postage. No
start-up cost. No reset fees. No additional hardware required. |
U.S.
Postal Service License: |
When
you set up your account with E-stamp, they automatically file this
application for you. I received mine within 1 business day. |
Same
as with E-Stamp |
Date
Sensitive: |
You
MUST drop off your mail on the
date on the postage label BUT, not to worry, you can ,postdate it, so. if
you are like me and get my mail ready to go at the end of the day and put
it in the mail the next day, no problem.
Or, get it ready Friday or Saturday and mail it Monday, no problem. (Writer’s
note: E-stamp says I can post-date mail up to 10 days in advance. But the
USPS says I cannot put it in the mail until the date stamped.) |
You
can print a date as far as 30 days ahead, according to their Tech Support,
but mail it on the date stamped. |
Address
Book: |
Originally
designed as for e-mail addresses only, it is a little cumbersome, but does
the job. |
Information
Not Available |
Interfaces
with: |
E-Stamp
says: “Microsoft Word, Intuit QuickBooks, Symantec ACT!, Microsoft
Outlook and other popular applications.” Well
– it doesn’t work with Word 2000 or Outlook 2000 versions for me BUT,
the tech is working with me on this as the latest download contained an
upgrade for this. IT
WILL NOT Mail Merge. (I’m disappointed.) How
am I able to use it? Well,
it does work with it’s own software, one address at a time which
doesn’t bother me at this point, since the final mail piece looks so
professional. But I want to go faster! And, I want to mail merge! |
Stamps.com
says: Microsoft
Outlook 97 Microsoft
Outlook 2000 Microsoft
Word 97 Microsoft
Word 2000 Lotus
Word Pro 97 Lotus
Word Pro 2000 Corel
WordPerfect 8.0 Corel
WordPerfect 2000 Symantec
ACT! 4.0 I’m
told they will soon work with Quicken and QuickBooks Will
Mail Merge |
Printers: |
Not
Compatible with HP Office Jet Series R (and possibly whenever both
scanners and printers are attached to the vault). |
Stamps.com
says: “It will work with all printers 300dpi resolution.” |
Mailing
& Shipping Services & Supplies |
First
Class, Priority and Express Mail Insurance
Services
offered on-line by the USPS: Tracking
(must fill out forms) Free
USPS Shipping Supplies Change
of Address Form Zip
Code Look-UP Post
Office Locator Pickup/drop-off
USPS 800 # to schedule USPS
Postal Rate Calculator included in Software for manual weighing Postage
Tracking Report (good for rebilling clients! Or segregating costs between
departments.) Automatic
Address verification and ZIP+4 SUPPLIES: They
will have all USPS approved labels. E-Stamp
says: “Our very own patented window envelopes that feature a special
window for the digital stamp to show through. Print stamp and document in
one step, and then slip into one of our window envelopes for mailing.
Perfect for invoices. These envelopes will be sold exclusively in our
online supplies store.” That sounds good! I
ORDERED labels (for use on envelopes or flat packages) using a credit
card. I received a verification of order, order number and printout of my
order, all in about 2 minutes and delivery in 2 days. |
First
Class, Priority and Express Mail Insurance
Services
offered on-line by the USPS: Tracking
(must fill out forms) Free
USPS Shipping Supplies Change
of Address Form Zip
Code Look-UP Post
Office Locator Pickup/drop-off
USPS 800 # to schedule USPS
Postal Rate Calculator included in Software for manual weighing. Automatic
Address verification and ZIP+4+2+1 SUPPLIES: They
will have all USPS approved labels. |
Initial
Use: |
A
little frustrating for an experienced computer user, mostly because they
didn’t say they weren’t 2000 software compliant yet or how to do a
work-around for their address book. The
vault was easy enough to install. |
N/A |
Other
Comments: |
I
use it daily! |
I
Can Hardly Wait To Try It! And will have another review after I do. |
Who
Could Benefit: |
If
you spend $25 or more a month up to about $1,000 a month.
After that, you are in the range of high-speed postal meters –
and who knows, by this time next year, even that will change.
YOU KNOW HOW TECHNOLOGY IS – faster than a speeding bullet! |
Their
target market initially is the SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) user. Sounds
like it will definitely be cheaper than E-Stamp for the under $25/month
postage user. |
Customer
support |
6AM
to 6PM pacific Time, Monday through Friday. (And they answer promptly) EMAIL
to customer.service@e-stamp.com
OR technical.support@e-stamp.com
gets you a reply via email within one business day. AND
THEY DO REPLY WELL. |
24-hours,
7 days a week using: Live
Voice by Telephone E-Mail E-Mail
Answers INITIALLY,
being able to get a live voice immediately impresses me! What an ingenious
idea they have here! |
WRAP
UP COMMENTS:
Internet
Postage: has made things much easer for me.
I always have just the correct postage, whether it’s 33 cents or 33
dollars… I always have postage on-hand, even now at
Midnight, or I can buy more 24 hours a day.
The imprinted postage gives my small business the look of a big company.
No more using stamps for me!
I
am really looking forward to testing and comparing Stamps.com with E-Stamp, and
will give you a report after I do! Stay tuned…
For
now, E-Stamp is a winner with me!
In fact I’m giving it the Winner Award, for helping my small business
look like a Winner!
SYSTEM
REQUIREMENTS:
[E-Stamp
additional requirements are in brackets and italicized]:
A
personal computer with Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0.
[A 486 or Pentium processor / Pentium is
recommended]
[A
COD ROM Drive]
16
MB of RAM for Windows 95 and Windows 98; or 24 MB of RAM for Windows NT. (32MB
or higher is recommended)
Stamps.com software is 3MB
[19MB available hard disk space for
E-Stamp Internet Postage software]
[57MB available hard disk space for Microsoft Internet explorer 4.0 Service pack
1 -if it is not already installed on your PC]
A
Windows-compatible laser or inkjet printer with a resolution of 300-dpi or
higher.
[An E-Stamp printer, such as a Seiko or
Costar label printer]
An
Internet connection (through an online service such as America Online; an
Internet service provider (ISP) such as Netcom, AT&T WorldNet, or Earthlink;
or a direct connection such as a corporate local area network (LAN))
[an E-Stamp e-mail account]
[Monitor
display resolution of 800x600 and 256 colors or better.]
Writer’s Note:
(A
small postage scale is really necessary if you don’t buy the integrated postal
scale; I have an inexpensive postage scale, and it works fine; my monthly
postage is $70-$100.)
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Copyright © 1997 ~BizNet OnLine Magazine
Last modified: November 08, 2002