Snail mail gets net speed boost

[Netto Azure]

Snail mail gets net speed boost

Frank Marthaler from Swiss Post said the service cuts down on junk mail

he internet has revolutionised the speed at which people communicate.Now the Swiss postal service is hoping to do the same for regular snail mail.
The company offers a service called Swiss Post Box to customers wanting to receive their physical letters over the internet.
This system was first developed by the Seattle-based company Earth Class Mail, which has its own subscribers around the world.

'Relevant mail'

For 14 euros (£12) a month, letters are redirected to a secret location in Zurich where the envelopes are scanned and an image is e-mailed out to customers.
They can then decide whether letters should be opened and scanned by vetted personnel sworn to secrecy, or simply shredded.

Frank Marthaler, executive vice president of Swiss Post, said this enables customers to spend time reading only the letters that they want.
"You will get a higher relevance of mail you really get and you want to have because the others would be shredded and recycled," he explained.
His subscriber base started with small target groups: "Those are of course expats, but obviously also consultants working across Europe or even globally, who want to be online with their home."

Internet power

The Swiss Post Box service is currently only available in Switzerland and Germany, with plans to expand to locations in France, Italy and Austria this year.
The service is tapping into the power of the internet which is replacing snail mail business with e-mails, documents in PDF files and downloads.
"A proportion of letters that were previously posted have now been replaced by e-mails, SMS, etc," said Miguel Sanchez, head of distribution for Geneva at Swiss Post.
One person who does not think snail mail has had its day is postman Claude Monney.
"I think we will always have postmen. There are people who just love putting pen to paper and sending it through the post. I'm not scared," he told Click.
"I love being outside. And you form a bond with the customers. You can have a chat. It's wonderful," he added.

Trust

The postal firm are aiming to re-create this bond with the customer in the online world - it wants to build up a reputation for handling personal data reliably.
"Every postal business is a real trusted third party in their countries. What we are lacking to do real business online is this third party trust," explained Mr Marthaler.
"The internet is a fantastic tool, but it is also a wide space for criminals and what we try to really be is the trusted third party in this environment," he added.

Wow, Scanned mail LOL. XD
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