Patent ID: 7539651

Claim:
A mail production system comprising: a mail finishing system ( 12 ) for converting documents into finished items of mail ready for hand-over to a postal service, said mail finishing system having a print sub-system ( 120 ) and at least one stacker; a secure accounting system ( 14 ) for generating accounting data relating to the items of mail produced by the mail finishing system ( 12 ); and an inserter system controller ( 125 ) operatively connected to the mail finishing system ( 12 ) and to the secure accounting system ( 14 ), for at least control of said at least one stacker; wherein the secure accounting system directly controls the print sub-system ( 120 ) of the mail finishing system ( 12 ) and controls the overall operation of the mail finishing system ( 12 ) by communicating with the inserter system controller ( 125 ), which in turn controls the operation of the mail finishing system ( 12 ) pursuant to commands received from the secure accounting system ( 14 ).