Swiss Post has launched a new hybrid mail service ‘Swiss Post Box’, digitalising physical items andsending them to personal electronic mailboxes on request, allowing customers to receive their
physical letter mail through the internet – and therefore any time, anywhere.This new service is aimed at people who are often away and wish to deal with their lettermail promptly and online, the company said. The basic charge for the electronic mailbox starts at€14 a month, with additional services at an extra charge. The Swiss Post Box will initially beavailable in Switzerland and Germany. France, Italy and Austria will follow in July.
People who are often away can choose to have their incoming mail forwarded on or held at thepost office or their letterbox emptied by someone they know and trust. Swiss Post is now closingthe gap by going online with its electronic mailbox, the Swiss Post Box.
Swiss Post captures the sealed envelopes electronically at a secure scanning centre ande-mails the envelope image to users. The physical letter remains unopened. The Swiss Post Box usersthen decide what happens to the item next. They can request the letter to be opened confidentially,the contents scanned in and then delivered as a PDF file. Alternatively, they can have the letterdelivered to an alternative address and archived electronically in the Swiss Post Box.
To manage items in the electronic mailbox, all customers need is access to the Internet: thepersonal Swiss Post Box is password-protected. The standard of security is based on the sameguidelines as for PostFinance online banking. Like all Swiss Post services, Swiss Post Box issubject to postal secrecy.
The new service makes it easier to access physical letter mail and addresses the needs of anever more mobile society. Swiss Post Box gives recipients full control over their letter mail,wherever they happen to be.
Swiss Post Box is already being tested at Siemens Mobility (Switzerland and Germany) and willsoon be in use at Microsoft Switzerland. However, Swiss Post Box is not only of interest to largeand medium-sized businesses, but to smaller ones, too, the company pointed out.
