This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine, July 2007.
If you've been to the post office lately, there's a good chance you've bumped into it. It's sleek, blue and could easily be mistaken for an ATM machine, but a closer inspection reveals unique features, including a scale, a stamp dispenser and, next to it, neatly stacked, ready-to-use shipping boxes.
This is no ATM. It's an APC -- an Automated Postal Center -- and it's one of several kiosks recently developed to enable consumers to weigh, apply postage to and ship letters and packages without having to wait in long lines at the post office counter.
A mailman's best friend
Debra Chin, manager of retail service equipment for the U.S. Postal Service, is quick to spotlight the benefits of the Automated Postal Centers, which the Postal Service developed in partnership with IBM.
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| The U.S. Postal Service's Automated Postal Center allows users to ship Express Mail, Priority Mail, packages and first-class letters without standing in line at the service desk. (Photo courtesy U.S. Postal Service.) |
"It's the first offering that we've had in the self-service environment where they could [weigh and rate their packages] using their debit card," she said.
Chin said that the APCs, which only accept debit or credit payments, can be used to ship Express Mail, Priority Mail, first-class letters and packages. Roughly 2,500 of the APCs have been deployed at post offices in all 50 states.
Consumer response, Chin added, has been significant. Revenue generated by the kiosks so far in 2007 is 25 percent more than the amount obtained at this same time last year. The number of transactions at the APCs also is up 35 percent over the same time period.
"The trend that we've been seeing is that every year at the holidays -- which is our busiest time -- we increase the usage on these postal centers. After the big holiday season, [usage] never gets to below the pre-holiday season," Chin explained. "So the longer they're out, the more customers are using them."
Not just for post offices
The Postal Service is not the only developer of this new kind of kiosk. Other companies have directed their energies into creating a self-service mailing experience that is simple and convenient for the consumer.
Pitney Bowes Inc., a company that provides mailstream solutions, has partnered with NCR Corp. to create its own mailing kiosks, which are leased to companies and universities for a monthly fee.
"In the university market, if you look at the top five facilities in the campus that students are unhappy with, generally mailing is one of them," said Brian Leary, the director of business and market development, Internet and retail solutions for Pitney Bowes.
Leary said his company's kiosks make it more convenient for students to mail letters and packages, no matter which carrier they use. He adds that a mailing kiosk in a corporate office building can help increase productivity for employees.
"The most interesting comment over and over again is the fact that people aren't leaving their campus or their working environment in the middle of the day to spend an hour at the post office and come back again," he said.
Feeling secure
If there's one thing that manufacturers of mailing kiosks agree on, it's that this relatively new form of self-service not only provides convenience, but also greater security.
Nowhere is that exemplified more than in the kiosks manufactured by ReturnKey Systems Inc. Located in major airports across the country, these kiosks allow airline passengers to mail home any items that are prohibited on their flights.
"I got caught going through TSA security back in 2004 with something that I didn't want to lose and I just wanted to have an alternative," company president Steve Kranyek said. "So we developed the product and put it in 14 different airports."
Kranyek said his kiosks each contain a 1,200-pound combination-lock vault that is partially blast shielded in the event that an explosive device is deposited inside.
"Airport security and Homeland Security ... are super-paranoid about what goes in the kiosks and that they're secured properly," he said.
When it comes to airport kiosks, Kranyek said he foresees a time when they will be equipped with special biometric sensors that can store and identify fingerprints. It's all part of the future, he explained.
"I don't think TSA is ever going to go away."
