Patent ID: 7739200

Claim:
A method of electronically consolidating mail items between a plurality of senders and a postal administration that handles delivery of said mail items to their destinations, said method comprising: consolidating files received from the plurality of the senders into a single consolidation file in a central database associated with a remote central server of a third party entity; wherein each file contains, for each mail item, a unique identity code and an address of a destination of said mail item; sending a collection order to a mail item collection service so that a collection employee collects the mail items to be sent from the plurality of senders, each mail item being affixed with the unique identity code for the purpose of identifying both the sender and the mail item, during collecting of the mail items from the plurality of senders, inputting said unique identity code borne by each mail item at a portable input and transmission means and transmitting said unique identity code to said remote central server from said portable input and transmission means, via a wireless telecommunications network; comparing said unique identity codes received at said remote central server with the unique identity codes that are present in said consolidation file; informing a sender of the plurality of senders of any omitted mail item or error in the consolidation file based on the comparing of the unique identity codes; once collection is finished, taking delivery of the mail items and, at said third party entity, printing a bar code onto each of the mail items for the purpose of facilitating subsequent sorting of the mail items by the postal administration; and after informing the sender of the any omitted item or errors, sending said single consolidation file to a server of the postal administration and handing over the mail items to a collection office of the postal administration.