Abstract:
A method of operating a postage metering system for printing a postage indicium for use with a business reply mail piece. The method includes the step(s) of: (i) transmitting a registration ID number to a data center, the registration ID number being associated a particular mail campaign of which the business replay mail piece is a part; (ii) receiving postage indicium information from the data center, the postage indicium information including delivery address information generated using the registration ID number; and (iii) printing the postage indicium on the business reply mail piece using the postage indicium information.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates generally to information based indicia types of postage metering systems. More particularly, in the preferred embodiments, this invention is directed to a system and method for metering business reply mail where the delivery address has already been pre-printed on the business reply mail piece. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The Information-Based Indicia Program (IBIP) is a distributed trusted system proposed by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to retrofit and augment existing postage meters using new technology known as information-based indicia. The IBIP relies on digital signature techniques to produce for each mail piece an indicium whose origin cannot be repudiated. Thus, in contrast to traditional postage metering systems employing mechanical printing technology and physical security, the IBIP supports new methods of securely applying postage to mail pieces. Generally, the IBIP requires printing a large, high density, two-dimensional (2-D) bar code on a mail piece. The 2-D barcode encodes various information associated with the mail piece and is subsequently signed with a digital signature. 
   The USPS has published draft specifications for the IBIP. The INFORMATION BASED INDICIA PROGRAM INDICIUM SPECIFICATION, dated Jun. 13, 1996, and revised Jul. 23, 1997, (“IBIP Indicium Specification”) defines the proposed requirements for a new indicium that will be applied to mail being processed using the IBIP technology. The INFORMATION BASED INDICIA PROGRAM POSTAL SECURITY DEVICE SPECIFICATION, dated Jun. 13, 1996, and revised Jul. 23, 1997, (“IBIP PSD Specification”) defines the proposed requirements for a Postal Security Device (PSD) that will provide security services to support the creation of a new “information based” postage postmark or indicium that will be applied to mail being processed using the IBIP technology. The INFORMATION BASED INDICIA PROGRAM HOST SYSTEM SPECIFICATION, dated Oct. 9, 1996, defines the proposed requirements for a host system element of the IBIP (“IBIP Host Specification”). The INFORMATION BASED INDICIA PROGRAM KEY MANAGEMENT PLAN SPECIFICATION, dated Apr. 25, 1997, defines the generation, distribution, use and replacement of the cryptographic keys used by the USPS product/service provider and the PSDs (“IBIP KMS Specification”). The specifications are collectively referred to herein as the “IBIP Specifications”. Thus, the IBIP Specifications include requirements for interfacing user (customer), postal and postage meter manufacturer infrastructures which are the system elements of the IBIP. Furthermore, the IBIP Specifications set forth the information and printing requirements for the postage indicium. 
   The user infrastructure, which resides at the user&#39;s site, may exist in several different configurations, both of which are well known in the industry. One configuration includes a postage security device (PSD) coupled to a personal computer (PC) system. The PSD is a secure processor-based accounting device that dispenses and accounts for postal value stored therein. In another configuration, no PSD is required at the user&#39;s site. Instead, the user simply uses a standard PC and connects to a Data Center to securely download postage indicia for printing. 
   The IBIP Specifications provide requirements for the indicium that consists of both human-readable data and PDF417 bar code data. The human-readable information includes an originating address, including the 5-digit ZIP Code of the licensing post office, PSD ID/Type number, date of mailing and amount of the applied postage. The bar code region of the indicium elements includes postage amount, PSD ID, user ID, date of mailing, originating address, destination delivery point identification, ascending and descending registers and a digital signature. 
   The IBIP Specifications require that, for each mail piece, the delivery address and the corresponding postage indicium be generated and printed together and an integral unit. This is to ensure that address cleansing is performed and that there is a one to one correspondence between the delivery address and its associated postage indicium. As a result, the postage metering system must print this unit on the actual mail piece stock or label(s) for later attachment to the mail piece. 
   Generally, these types of postage metering systems, an example of which is the ClickStamp® Online system from Pitney Bowes Inc. of Stamford, Conn., are intended for the small office and home office (SOHO) market that does not generate large amounts of outgoing mail. However, this market has been slow to embrace the benefits of computer based postage. Instead, many potential customers continue to use other forms of postage payment, such as: stamps and direct post office window transactions. 
   One reason potential customers are slow to adopt these new systems may be that no good solution exists for applying postage to business reply mail. Business reply mail is typically provided by the sender and is preprinted with various information (delivery address) to encourage the recipient to return it to the sender and facilitate handling by the sender. Generally, many companies and private concerns use business reply mail to solicit information from recipients (current and prospective customers of the sender). As such, business reply mail has a wide variety of uses and is often customized depending upon the needs of the sender. A few examples of the uses for business reply mail are: subscription solicitations, information request responses, proxy statement responses (included with notices of annual stockholder meetings), remittance documents (bill payment) and the like. Oftentimes, the business reply mail is provided to recipients as part of a direct mail campaign, an invoice or as a detachable insert in a periodical magazine or newsletter. Thus, potential customers for using computer based postage receive large amounts of business reply mail. 
   Because of the requirement of printing the delivery address and the postage indicium together, problems exist when a computer based postage metering system user desires to send a business reply mail piece back to its sender. As discussed above, these types of mail pieces typically have the delivery address (specified by the sender) preprinted. Thus, processing this type of mail piece in conventional fashion would result in one address (generated by the postage metering system) being printed over the top of the other address (preprinted by the sender). Clearly, this is unacceptable. Therefore, several options exist. In a first option, the user may create a wholly new envelope from blank envelope stock and not utilize the business reply mail piece that was provided. This has the disadvantages of requiring the user to incur additional cost by unnecessarily consuming an extra envelope and burdening the sender (now the recipient) because the sender&#39;s incoming mail handling systems are most likely adapted to process the business reply mail pieces that they originally provided. Another option is to print labels for the delivery address and the postage indicium, respectively, and affix them to the business reply mail piece. However, there is a risk that the postage labels and their corresponding address labels may become unmatched. All of the label printing option have the disadvantage of requiring the user to incur additional cost by unnecessarily consuming labels and dealing with the complexity of feeding label stock through the printer. 
   Therefore, the large volume of business reply mail handled today has created the need for an improved computer based postage metering system that handles business reply mail pieces in a more effective manner without compromising the requirements of the IBIP Specifications. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a method of operating a postage metering system, a method of operating a data center, a method of operating a business reply mail processing system, a data structure for use in processing business reply mail and a business reply mail piece. Generally, this is accomplished by associating a delivery address for a mail campaign, of which the business reply mail piece is a part, with a registration ID number that is subsequently used by a recipient (user) of the business reply mail piece to apply postage to the business reply mail piece. 
   In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method of operating a postage metering system for printing a postage indicium for use with a business reply mail piece. The method includes the step(s) of: (i) transmitting a registration ID number to a data center, the registration ID number being associated a particular mail campaign of which the business reply mail piece is a part; (ii) receiving postage indicium information from the data center, the postage indicium information including delivery address information generated using the registration ID number; and (iii) printing the postage indicium on the business reply mail piece using the postage indicium information. 
   Therefore, it is now apparent that the present invention substantially overcomes the disadvantages associated with the prior art. Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. As shown throughout the drawings, like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts. 
       FIG. 1  is a simplified diagrammatic representation of a business reply mail processing system in accordance with the present invention. 
       FIG. 2A  is an example of a first business reply mail piece that exists in the prior art. 
       FIG. 2B  is an example of a second business reply mail piece that exists in the prior art. 
       FIG. 2C  is an example of a third business reply mail piece that exists in the prior art. 
       FIG. 3  is a simplified schematic representation of a business reply mail piece in accordance with the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of the information flow for a life cycle of a business reply mail piece in accordance with the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a flow chart describing the operational characteristics of the life cycle of a business reply mail piece in accordance with the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , a business reply mail processing system  100  in which the present invention may be incorporated is shown. The processing system  100  includes a data center  200 , a sender system  300  in operative communication with the data center  200  and a user or customer postage metering system  400  also in operative communication with the data center  200 . Generally, the data center  200 , the sender system  300  and the postage metering system  400  work cooperatively to facilitate the application of postage on a business reply mail piece (BRMP)  20 . Referring to  FIGS. 2A ,  2 B and  2 C, examples of various types of business reply mail pieces in the prior art are shown. 
   The data center  200  may be comprised of any suitable combination of computer (hardware, software and peripheral devices) systems. Generally, the data center  200  works cooperatively with the postage metering system  400  to generate a postage indicium  28  in response to and corresponding with information supplied by a user (not shown) of the postage metering system  400 . The data center  200  includes a computing system (main frame computer, network server, or the like)  210  in operative communication with a user database  220 , a sender registration database  230  and an address database  240 . The databases  220 ,  230  and  240  may be stored in any suitable permanent memory device, such as: a hard disk drive, an optical disk drive, magnetic tapes or other conventional storage device. A more detailed description of the operation of the data center  200  and the databases  220 ,  230  and  240  is provided below. 
   The sender system  300  may be comprised of any suitable combination of printing (not shown), mailing (not shown) and/or computer systems. As described above, the business reply mail pieces are generally distributed as enclosures with or attachments to other outgoing mail pieces (not shown) generated by the mail campaign sender. Thus, those skilled in the art will recognize that the configuration of the sender system  300  is highly dependent upon the detailed requirements of each specific mail campaign. Also, since the details of the sender system  300  are not necessary for an understanding of the present invention, its description will be kept to a minimum with additional comments to provide background information as necessary. Preferably, the sender system  300  is in electronic communication with the data center  200  over any suitable computer based network using a personal computer (PC)  310 , or any other suitable computing system. However, it is within the contemplation of this invention that this communication could take on any form, such as: person to person, person to voice response system, off line correspondence (physical mail or electronic mail), or the like. 
   The postage metering system  400  may be of any conventional type that is compliant with the IBIP Specifications, such as the ClickStamp® Online metering system available from Pitney Bowes Inc. of Stamford, Conn. Generally, the postage metering system  400  includes a computer system  410 , such as a personal computer (PC) running appropriate application software, and a printer  420  (laser printer, thermal transfer printer, thermal direct printer, ink jet printer, or the like) interfaced with the computer system  410  using conventional communication techniques (RS 232, LAN, WAN, TCP/IP, or the like). Using the computer system  410 , the user initiates a transaction session with the data center  200  for the purpose of printing postage. The computer system  410  and the data center  200  work cooperatively to generate and print a postage indicium  28 . Further information about the details of this transaction session and the exchange of information between the data center  200  and the computer system  410  are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,835,689; 5,781,438 and 5,781,634; all of which are specifically incorporated herein as reference. As discussed above, the postage metering system  400  may print directly on the mail piece to produce the postal indicium or on label stock for subsequent application onto the mail piece. 
   Referring to  FIG. 3  in view of  FIG. 1 , an enlarged view of a simplified schematic representation of the BRMP  20  in accordance with the present invention is shown. Generally, the BRMP  20  may be a post card, an envelope or a parcel. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the configuration of the BRMP is defined by the sender of the mail campaign and that the concepts of the present invention are applicable to any configuration. Therefore, for the sake of brevity and clarity, the BRMP  20  shown is of an envelope style and no further mention of the other configurations will be provided. The BRMP  20  includes a delivery address  22 , a facer identification mark (FIM)  24 , optionally, a registration ID number  26 , optionally, the postal indicium  28  (printed by the user as described in further detail below) and a quick response incentive message  30 , optionally provided by the sender and intended for the user. The delivery address  22  is specified and pre-printed on the BRMP  20  by the sender. The FIM  24  may be pre-printed by the sender or, in the alternative printed by the user using the postage metering system  400 . The registration ID number  26  is provided by the data center  200  and in the most preferred embodiment is pre-printed on the BMRP  20  by the sender. However, the sender may provide the ID number  26  to the user in any other manner. The message  30  may also be optionally pre-printed on the BRMP  20  by the sender to communicate some additional information to the user. 
   Referring to  FIG. 4  in view of  FIGS. 1 and 3 , a schematic diagram of the information flow, necessary for an understanding of the present invention, between the sender system  300  and the data center  200  and the data center  200  and the postage metering system  400  during a life cycle of the BRMP  20  is shown. Generally, the arrows have been labeled with reference letters A, B, C, D, E, F and G to show the sequence of events in the life cycle of the BRMP  20 . The life cycle commences when the sender initiates the mail campaign and concludes when the sender receives the BRMP  20  back from the user. With the structure of the business reply mail piece processing system  100  described as above, the operational characteristics will now be described. Referring to  FIG. 5 , while referencing the structure of  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  4 , a flow chart  500  describing the operational characteristics of the relevant portions of the life cycle of BRMP  20  in accordance with the present invention is shown. 
   At  502 , the life cycle commences when the sender system  300  transmits a delivery address to the data center  200 . It is assumed that the sender has previously established a relationship with the data center  200 , such that the data center  200  recognizes the sender from a plurality of different senders. Thus, the sender registration database  230  may contain a plurality of sender accounts where each sender account includes contact information (mailing address, e-mail address, billing, etc.) and other data. Next, at  504 , the data center  200  performs address hygiene (address correction) in conventional fashion by cross referencing the input delivery address with the address database  240  to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the delivery address. Next, at  506 , the data center  200  generates the registration ID number  26  that is unique to that delivery address and transmits it to the sender. Preferably, the ID number  26  also identifies the particular sender associated with the delivery address. As an option, the data center  200  may also transmit the cleansed delivery address if corrections to the input delivery address were required. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the ID number  26  may be comprised of any combination of human and/or machine readable characters in any conventional format, such as: alphanumeric or bar code. As an option, the ID number  26  should also contain check digits or other suitable technique so that a determination can be made if the user transmits the ID number correctly. Next, at  508 , the sender supplies the ID number  26  to potential users by incorporating the ID number  26  into a mail campaign. This is preferably accomplished by pre-printing the ID number  26  directly on the BRMP  20  in proximity to a space reserved for the postage indicium  28 . However, the ID number may be supplied to the user along with a statement or some other communication from the sender. It should be understood that the ID number  26  is thus the same for every BRMP  20  that a particular sender desires to receive at a designated delivery address. Thus, the BRMP  20  is still a uniform stock item that does not differ from mail piece to mail piece or user to user. 
   For the sake of clarity, it is assumed that the user desires to use the BRMP  20  to communicate with the sender. Next, at  510 , the user initiates a postage transaction session with the data center  200  via the postage metering system  300  and transmits the ID number  26  to the data center  200  in place of transmitting a delivery address. Thus, the user experience with the postage metering system  300  and the data center  200  is substantially the same as for traditional postage transactions that require input of the delivery address  22 , except that the user inputs the ID number  26 . Next, at  512 , the data center  200  uses the ID number  26  to search the sender registration database  230  for the delivery address  22  that corresponds to the ID number  26  and uses the stored delivery address to generate and transmit the postage indicium  28  to the postage metering system  400 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that the postage metering system  400  forgoes printing the delivery address  22 . This is properly coordinated between the data center  200  and the postage metering system  400 . Next, at  514 , the data center  200  may optionally send a message (preferably by e-mail) to the sender system  310  indicating that the user has dispatched the BRMP  20 . 
   Based on the above description and the associated drawings, it should now be apparent that the present invention improves many aspects of applying postage to business reply mail pieces. For example, the users benefit in that: (i) they are able to use the pre-printed BRMP  20  and do not have to consume their own envelope or label stock; and (ii) entry of a three or four line delivery address  22  is simplified. As another example, the data center  200  benefits in that address hygiene occurs once for a mail campaign and not for each transaction session at the user end. This saves valuable time and computer resources. As another example, it should be clear that according to the present invention, the postage indicium  28  has embedded within it, as required by the IBIP Specifications, a post office zip code that matches the post net bar code that is typically already printed on the BRMP  20  (not shown) by the sender. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  3  and  4 , as a further optional aspect of the present invention, the sender may wish to subsidize the postage associated with the BRMP  20 . Traditionally, senders have subsidized the cost of postage by applying for a permit with the United States Postal Service (USPS). An example of such a mail piece is shown in  FIG. 2C . However, this postage paid BRMP  20  does not provide any incentive for the user to respond quickly. Thus, in instances when the sender would like a quick response (bill payment, etc.), the user has no particular motivation to do so. Also, the sender must make an application to the USPS to obtain the permit number. 
   On the other hand, the sender may utilize the data center  200  to subsidize the postage by providing an appropriate authorization to the data center  200 . Thus, when the user contacts the data center  200  and transmits the ID number  26 , the data center  200  can invoice the sender (instead of the user) for the postage. Most preferably, the subsidy may have an expiration date or a diminishing schedule. The message  30  indicates that the cost of postage is fully subsidized if the BRMP  20  is posted by a specified date. Therefore, associated with the ID number  26  in the sender registration database  230  is information about any postage subsidy to by applied to the BRMP  20  and any relevant expiration dates (if any). Those skilled in the art will recognize that this type of capability eliminates the need for the sender to take out permit numbers with the USPS and provides another mechanism for motivating users to transmit the BRMP  20  in a timely manner. 
   Optionally, if the mail campaign is such that time sensitive responses are required (proxy votes, limited time offer coupons, etc.), then a further beneficial feature may be incorporated into the present invention. The sender may provide the data center  200  with a predetermined expiration date. If the user contacts the data center  200  after the expiration date then the data center  200  will inform the user of such. Thus, the user has the opportunity to save postage by foregoing the tardy mailing that would not have its desired effect even if it were mailed. 
   Many features of the preferred embodiment represent design choices selected to best exploit the inventive concepts as implemented in a particular business reply mail processing environment as pertaining to traditional response card type business reply mail. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and adaptations can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, any amount of subsidy, full or partial, and any relevant time frame, infinite or limited, may be applied to the subsidy. Also, the message  30  need not necessarily be applied to the BRMP  20 , but may be communicated to the user in some other convenient manner. 
   As another example, the data center  200  may also possess additional report generation capabilities. For each ID number  26 , a report may be automatically prepared on a periodic basis about the status of the mail campaign, such as: the number of BRMPs  20  that have been processed since the last reporting period, the total number of BRMPs  20  that have been processed and other pertinent information. 
   As yet another example, the data center  200  may not issue the registration ID number  26 . Instead, the data center  200  may allow the sender to specify the registration ID number  26  so long as it does not conflict with any other previously existing ones. 
   As yet still another example, the sender may specify more then one delivery address to the data center for the same ID number  26 . Thus, the sender would leave the delivery address  22  blank and define other parameters for the data center  200  to use in determining which of the delivery addresses to use. For instance, based on the timeliness of the user contacting the data center  200 , the sender may desire that the BRMP  20  be sent to different delivery addresses  22 . Other parameters may be for payment types of responses where the BRMP  20  that are likely to include large amounts are sent to a different delivery address  20  for expedited handling. In this instance, the sender may define these users to the data center  200  or provide the user with a code to transmit to the data center  200  along with or as a component of the ID number  26 . 
   As still yet another example, the data center  200  may periodically download its databases to the postage metering system  400  so that much of the activity described above may occur “off-line” at the postage metering system  400 . 
   Therefore, the inventive concept in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details of the preferred embodiments described above, but is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.