E-Stamp Internet Postage First Solution Approved for Beta Testing by U.S. Postal Service; The Internet Post Office Company Makes History, Tests PC Postage With Consumers.WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 1998--E-Stamp Corp. today announced that E-Stamp Internet Postage See PC Postage. is the first online postage See PC Postage. solution approved by the U.S. Postal Service The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processes and delivers mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. The service seeks to improve its performance through the development of efficient mail-handling systems and operates its own planning and engineering programs. for phased beta testing (programming) beta testing - Testing a pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software by making it available to selected users. This term derives from early 1960s terminology for product cycle checkpoints, first used at IBM but later standard throughout the , marking a revolutionary event in the history of postage. E-Stamp Internet Postage is the result of over two years of market research, product development and security testing Security Testing: (The) Process to determine that an IS (Information System) protects data and maintains functionality as intended. The six basic security concepts that need to be covered by security testing are: confidentiality, integrity, authentication, authorisation, by experienced professionals from the software industry. As the first company to meet the Postal Service's advanced security requirements, E-Stamp's "first approved" status establishes it as the online postage category and market leader. "The indicia Signs; indications. Circumstances that point to the existence of a given fact as probable, but not certain. For example, indicia of partnership are any circumstances which would induce the belief that a given person was in reality, though not technically, a member of a given we unveil today represents the most significant new form of postage payment in three quarters of a century," said Marvin Runyon, Postmaster General POSTMASTER GENERAL. The chief officer of the post office department of the United States. Various duties are imposed upon this officer by the acts of congress of March 3, 1825, and July 2, 1836, which will be found under the articles Mail; Post Office and Postage. , United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Postal Service postal service, arrangements made by a government for the transmission of letters, packages, and periodicals, and for related services. Early courier systems for government use were organized in the Persian Empire under Cyrus, in the Roman Empire, and in medieval , in his speech during the ceremony. "The authorization of this beta test is a major step toward the Postal Service's commitment to providing innovative products and services as we enter the 21st century." Runyon unveiled the Information Based Indicia Information Based Indicia refers to a system used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) for labels or marks to be applied to the mail item to indicate electronic postage payment. by printing the first official indicia, or SmartStamp(R), using E-Stamp Internet Postage. E-Stamp's SmartStamp is the first new evidence of postage approved by the Postal Service in more than 78 years - the last indicia approved for postage meter marking was in 1920. E-Stamp Internet Postage will bring a new era of postage convenience to small office/home office See SOHO. customers. E-Stamp begins the first phase of regional beta tests in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, with later expansion to other regions. The beta test phase follows successful completion of all prior steps in the Postal Service's rigorous 9-step approval process as published in the Federal Register, which E-Stamp began in December 1996. E-Stamp completed all other major milestones including concept of operations A verbal or graphic statement, in broad outline, of a commander's assumptions or intent in regard to an operation or series of operations. The concept of operations frequently is embodied in campaign plans and operation plans; in the latter case, particularly when the plans cover a series , documentation, and several testing phases including product and security tests as well as full loop alpha tests at the Postal Service. Over the course of the next few weeks, volunteers qualified through E-Stamp's Web site (www.estamp.com) will be enlisted to participate in the subsequent phases of the public beta testing, which will be extended to include two additional regions. Interested beta participants can visit the E-Stamp Web site for more details. Information-Based Indicia Program In an effort to improve operational efficiency and reduce the millions of dollars lost annually to fraud, the Postal Service initiated the Information Based Indicia Program (IBIP (Information Based Indicia Program) See PC Postage. ) to increase product security while at the same time integrate advances in technology. The program developed a new form of postage - a two-dimensional, machine-readable bar code - that will function similarly to the postage stamp or traditional meter imprint. How It Works Users purchase postage online using a major credit card, transferring funds electronically or pre-paying by check. Postage is then downloaded and secured in the E-Stamp Security Device, an electronic vault that connects to a PC's printer port. At the same time users print out envelopes in standard word processing or business applications, E-Stamp Internet Postage will verify the address and print a SmartStamp with the correct postage, deducting the postage amount from the electronic vault. SmartStamps can also be printed on mailing labels or directly on the mailing piece itself - the latter used with new multi-window envelopes that show both the postage and the address. "Hewlett-Packard Company has worked closely with the USPS (1) (Uninterruptible Switching Power Supply) A power supply for a computer that contains its own battery and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) circuitry. See power supply and UPS. and E-Stamp over the past six months to test the scanability and printing of Information Based Indicia," said Carolyn Ticknor, HP vice president and general manager of the LaserJet Solutions Group. "In order to provide our customers the highest quality printer products, we must ensure compatibility with innovative new technologies that enhance productivity. From the beginning, we recognized the potential of this market and the excitement that E-Stamp's solution would generate." Partners E-Stamp will use recent investments by AT&T Ventures and Microsoft Corp. to bring E-Stamp Internet Postage to market, establish the PC postage category, and build the infrastructure to integrate PC postage into every software application. E-Stamp's open licensing policy and Postage Application Programming Interface (E-Stamp PAPI(tm)) may allow additional partners and program developers to integrate E-Stamp and easily "postage enable" popular desktop applications. "As an investor in E-Stamp, we are strong believers in its vision - making online postage an integrated function in every software desktop - and we consider ourselves to be an important E-Stamp partner," said Steve Ballmer, executive VP of worldwide sales and support for Microsoft Corp. "We believe that the integration of the Internet into our solution is what will make online postage eventually as ubiquitous as using a telephone, fax, or email," said Sunir Kapoor, president and chief executive officer of E-Stamp Corp. "With the Postal Service's approval, we are now ready to put E-Stamp Internet Postage into the hands of small office/home office beta customers." About E-Stamp E-Stamp Corp. was formed to create the electronic commerce platform for postal services worldwide. The company pioneered online postage technology using the Internet and is the first to market a secure Internet-based software solution that enables customers to generate PC postage from their existing PCs and printers. The company maintains its competitive edge with a strong patent position, an innovative business model, and a management team that includes veteran Microsoft and Oracle executives. Headquartered in Palo Alto, the company can be reached at 650/843-8000. To receive information via the Internet, address your request to info@estamp.com, or access the company's Web site at http://www.estamp.com. CONTACT: E-Stamp Corp. Leslie Thomas, 650/842-6468 leslie.thomas@estamp.com www.estamp.com or InterActive Public Relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most : Amy Grady, 415/703-0400 x227 amyg@ipri.com www.interactive-pr.com |
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