The Competition Other companies such as Neopost, a French company, and Pitney Bowes are developing similar software, although E-Stamp Corporation s efforts and strategic marketing alliances appear much further ahead. Headquartered in Paris, the company developed the world s first electronic postage meter and electronic rate-calculating scale. Neopost has a U.S. office in Hayward, California, the address listed on its Web site. Neopost calls its software Simple Postage and has similar system requirements as E- Stamp Corporation. The offer includes a stamp dispenser, a digital scale, a free roll of labels, and a month s free access.
Users connect through a modem and refill their postage meters with ease.
This dial-up capability eliminated the inconvenience of a trip to the post office. The company is preparing to test market a service called ClickStamp and join the e-race. This forward step by the USPS, one that supports eliminating the need to buy postage equipment and to make regular excursions to a post office, has been in the works since 1995. Initially, Pitney Bowes would have seemed the most likely candidate to emerge at the forefront. Instead the lead has gone to a software manufacturer.