Patent ID: 7693942

Claim:
A method for processing mail, comprising: receiving a mail item, wherein the mail item is a postal item having recipient information and one or more pages enclosed in the mail item; scanning the mail item including the recipient information and the enclosed one or more pages into an image file, the image file including image data of the recipient information and image data of the enclosed one or more pages; identifying a recipient from the recipient information in the image file, wherein identifying the recipient from the recipient information comprises: converting the image of the recipient information into text; matching the text of the converted image to profile information associated with a recipient, wherein the profile information associated with the recipient is stored in a database that comprises profile information for a plurality of recipients; calculating a confidence level of a match between the text of the converted image and the profile information associated with the recipient; comparing the calculated confidence level of the match to a threshold; and identifying a recipient for image file based on the outcome of the comparison of the calculated confidence level of the match to the threshold, and making the image file available to the identified recipient by at least one of transmitting an e-mail message, based on an e-mail address in the profile information, to the identified recipient, or storing the image file in a database accessible to the identified recipient, wherein the image file is not made available to the identified recipient if the image file does not comply with one or more recipient preferences.