DE19745641A1 - Customer card for post office customers - Google Patents

Abstract

Customers sending postal items are given a customer card by the postal department. The card has a picture (3) of the card owner and data (10,11,12) stored in the magnetic strip (4), address for posted item and picture or personal characteristics details of the receiver. The card contains an image (3) and machine readable data (4) on the card owner. The card is presented to a customer of a postal company. The card data about the sender, is stored in a database. The items sent by post have an identification tag and address for the key word of the data set of the customer. The card is then used to identify the correct receiver for the posted item. Additional images and data are stored on the card for people connected with the receiver, so the item may be given to an authorized neighbor of the addressee.

Description

1. Problems and goals

Let's start from the mail area and note:

• a) Who was the handover? : In fact, anyone can deliver items (parcel, Registered mail, etc.). When it is handed over, a signature of the handed over is given with which we mostly cannot determine who it really was. A postal company can not legally proving today that the delivered item is correct (the recipient) has already been handed over.
• b) The administration to whom (data on the handed out e.g.: demonstrable (not false)) and surname), name, address, telephone number, customer number, personnel number or one Assignment z. B. by location, street, house, room, field number IDZA (IDZA: Identification- String address (from the work of post modernization SO, 2, 2A ...) etc.) the shipments handed out is still manual today or is even not good, incorrect or exempt made nothing of the single signature (mostly illegible). It takes a lot if necessary Time to say to the customer or to send the note with a (worthless, unidentifiable) signature show that the shipment has already been handed over.
• c) If the handed out has the consent of the correct recipient to send the items receive? Let us observe a mail carrier when it is handed over. Then we see that he hands over the consignment to the neighbor immediately, without checking whether the handover is authorized is to get the shipment (s). What if the neighbor "forgot" the right one To give the consignee (s)?
• d) For a convincing, correct manual -es, -e proof, protocol, test are time-consuming and not economically feasible, plus problems with administration and research.
• e) Investigating or checking, checking, etc. whether the shipment (s) are correct (who and / or when and / or where and / or how) arrived, from the sender himself, at which Postal company (without asking the recipient or without (oral, written ...) Notification directly from recipient) is not possible.
• f) One of the special consignments is the urgent consignment. If the recipient is not at the receiving address present, the effort of extra distribution is in vain. The recipient gets the hurry Consignment (s) only when it is at the receiving address again (e.g. home).
• g) Receipts, receipts, confirmations of the consignments (e.g. sent, sent, entered, thrown in ...) with machine-detectable and / or readable data about the sender.

Our goals are to solve the above problems. We will see that with our suggestions not only in the special broadcast area but also with normal broadcasts and around the  To dampen or exhaust effort, we use the introduction of our proposed Procedures and thus the corresponding equipment, facilities that modernize postal traffic further.

This work is very closely linked to the work series for modernization at Swiss Post. It would Recommended to read them under the following file numbers

• - G94 19 854.3
• - 295 09 552.0
• - 295 15 850.6
• - 196 20 697.9
• - 196 21 594.3
• - 196 22 853.0

comment

• 1. Since each user has their own view, situation, situation, in our work, in one Bleed, one picture and sometimes several suggestions, components, Devices made. You may not have to be present at the same time during a realization be. Through various combinations of the individual components, devices, suggestions in In one bleed, one picture and sometimes in one sentence we get several solutions to implement numerous stages which, in his opinion, are best for the user.
• 2. Personally, not every suggestion is recommended to be realized.
• 3. We can mostly solve our problems above with our last work on that Modernization, rationalization of postal traffic.

2. Suggestions A) With customer card

The main principle: If necessary, the data (machine-readable normal address and / or new address with IDZA: we will discuss it later) of the owner if applicable, the persons entitled to receive the image of the owner alone or, if applicable, the image (s) of the persons entitled to receive on the card. As a result, the mail carrier can be used with a quick visual inspection to determine whether the handover is the owner of the card. This is the Main principle. We see some deviations and variants in the next sections. Instead of or in addition to the image (s), we can personalize the recipient (s), the Authorized to receive the card holder in our work. These are e.g. B. fingerprint, Features of the eye, face, etc.

For the identification of the shipments, depending on the admission procedure, we can use the Customer card and / or the receipt and / or posting slip with machine-readable data to use.

Whatever is on the menu, we have numerous variations here, some of which in the next See and discuss sections.

A.1) About the pictures

We put on the card next to the data as in the last work (addition of the file number) also the image of the owner alone or with other people who somehow belong together. The  are z. B. not only family members but also relatives, partners, neighbors, Acquaintances, etc.

In picture numbers 1 and 2 (let us not forget remark number 1 !) We see a variance of the postcard. On card 1 is the picture (number 3 ) of the owner. With the name, if necessary, normal address (number 12 ), possibly with the IDZA (number 10 ) and / or the customer number (number 11 ). The machine-readable data (e.g. normal address ( 12 ) and / or IDZA ( 10 ) and / or customer number ( 11 ) possibly directly or indirectly further data (e.g. account number, further requests or service, tele-connection (s ), Access authorization etc.) for further modernization) can on the strip 4 and / or on the memory 6 . There are various ways of storing this data today so that it can be read by machine. If the choice for the stored data fell on the strip, we can display the memory number 6 as a sum of money storage in the image number 1 .

Afterwards, when a shipment is handed over, the shipment carrier can carry out a visual inspection make whether the picture on the card with the name of the recipient with the face of the Delivered matches and the card is valid. This is one way of handing it over. In the event that the person handed over is not the same as the recipient (name on the shipment) is and is a postal company of the opinion: it is sufficient that a neighbor with those above personally available data without the consent of the correct recipient the shipment on its own A neighbor can accept responsibility for the recipient when he is absent Presenting his card to receive the shipment for the recipient. With the proposed card can A shipment carrier ensures that the data given to the person being handed over is correct belong. The shipment carrier first makes a visual inspection to determine whether the picture on the card is with the The face of the handover is identical and the card is valid, then he saves the card's data thus also the clearly identifiable handover (e.g. with the device according to Figure 3). After that, a postal company has machine management with quick access, quick Investigation (In the last paper on the post, we also suggested that this Research also from the sender (in the office, at home, on the go, in the post office, etc.) with multiple variances: machine question between sender and recipient or between sender and postal company), convincing proof that the shipment on day xx. xx. xx already that Handed out (with name, address maybe phone number or more general Telecommunications data ...) was handed over.

We wanted to solve the problems a), b), d).

Also in picture 1 and 2 (but now on the back 2 , but after the remark 1 it doesn't have to be on the back.): Did we want to pay attention to the personality of the shipment and the customer or (!!!) save on the Cards and if the owner Jenie Chau has other people who somehow belong to her, we can (but do not have to) put the pictures (8) of these people on the back 2 of the card. The data of these people can be saved directly and / or indirectly with the stripe ( 5 ) and / or with the ( 7 ). Storage size of the data can be cleverly reduced. If the number of people is greater than 2, you can use the buttons (it is also possible to choose the corresponding picture or person without a button with the appropriate design or with just one button). This gives us the following option: if the recipient is absent when handing over, one of the persons in the pictures may be authorized to receive the shipment. Anyone who recorded or was handed over the consignment, their data was automatically processed after the visual inspection by the consignee. B. with the device from image number 3 (from the last work on modernization in postal traffic).

We wanted to solve the problems c), d).  

Now we wanted to deal with one of the special programs, namely the urgent program, so the problem f which should reach the recipient as quickly as possible. For the solutions we have also in the Work series on modernization at Swiss Post some suggested. Here we clarify that Solution with the IDZA addressing. To reduce the effort or the new launches to exploit, we continue to use them to modernize, improve and improve postal traffic.

B) Addressing with the IDZA from the work and registration series "Modernization in postal traffic"

Abbreviation IDZA: Identification string address: this is a string with which the distribution address of a customer can be determined. However, it is not itself a distribution address. The following are possible: postal customer number (it would be clearer if we replaced the word "number" by "character string". A number is also a character.) Or a, telephone number, account number, fax number, number of a new device. B. after picture 9 ... The following diagram from the registration series shows us an example about the IDZA.

Table 1: An IDZA by group with sub-assignment for another individual. IDZA does not have to be assigned to a group

As in the series on modernization and rationalization in postal traffic, we have proposed that for a group of people and / or for each additional person in this group IDZA should be assigned. Here we repeat what has been said in the last work: Through the Assignment can be addressed indirectly. This means: a shipment is addressed with an IDZA, assigned to the recipient and / or receiving address.

There are numerous ways to set up such an IDZA. In this work we can only explain using a few examples. An example: Accepting a postal customer A has an IDZA 3456-6543. For shipments can be addressed as follows: (For more information, please see the registration (add file number!))

For addressing with the IDZA without the normal address, is for distribution for individuals Consignment or a quantity of consignments that have common recipients, the normal one Distribution address printed in the IDZA memory. We read more in the series of the Post-modernization (add file number).

The following possible data is stored in a memory under this IDZA 3456-6543

• 1. Name (s) (depending on the opinion of users) can or the name (s) not applicable) without or with
• 2. Normal address with which a shipment is still being delivered to the recipient can, without or with
• 3. Telecommunication data (by telephone communication data we mean data with which distant, acoustic (modem in the computer, Telephone set (with landline and / or cellular), scalling, new devices acute and / or written Communication (s) enables (enable). Telephone number is only one of this type of data.) With which machine telecommunications between the postal company and the recipient without or with,
• 4. Account number without or with,
• 5. Special campaign (s), wish. For example: flexible distribution (s) with different Distribution addresses (e.g. on weekends, on weekdays, in a period ...) without or with numbers announce the consignments automatically with or without further automated notifications between Sender, recipient, postal company etc., consignment account statement with or without
• 6. further sub-assignments for existing persons who somehow belong together without or with,
• 7. other registered data. These are e.g. E.g .: data about incoming shipments (e.g .: Number in a period without or with date (on, from) without or with whom without or with the type of Shipments etc.) without or with data about the sent shipments (e.g. date (from and / or to) without or with where without or with to whom without or with the type of programs without or with already distributed without or with on the way without or with yet or not to stop without or with Information about the distributions (e.g. acknowledgment, confirmation, data about the handed over ...) without or with
• 8. further data for access or access authorization with or without,
• 9. Data, address via "filtered", unwanted senders. These are senders that the Receiver (the IDZA) did not want to accept their shipments.

These data are e.g. B. in a memory to the IDZA 3456-6543 (without or with Sub-assignment here: without) heard and can thus be addressed.

If the recipient Jenie Chau has an urgent shipment, it is first queried by machine from afar or determine where the recipient is at the moment or where the shipment is to be taken. The happens with the help of the IDZA, because with the IDZA a postal company has the necessary data do.  

Let's exhaust the proposed card, the IDZA !. Because these introductions already require a certain effort. Then we will see that with the introduction of the IDZA, we have a lot of interesting services to offer customers and many other ways to modernize postal traffic that are still impossible. For example:

• 1. Withdrawal and / or destruction of a consignment: It has sometimes occurred to us that a consignment must or should be taken back for some reason before it should reach the recipient. To this day it is impossible if the shipment has already been dropped or is on the way.
  This is possible if the shipment can be clearly identified. Some options are:
  • 1. When recording a shipment, a unique identification, identity is assigned to the shipment. The shipment can be addressed by entering the shipment identity (e.g. on the receipt). This enables a shipment to be clearly identified. This is only a local, limited solution. And or
  • 2. When recording, the data of the sender and the recipient may be included with the day (usually it is also sufficient without a month, without a year on the shipment) of the recording for the identification of the shipment. The shipment can thus be clearly identified. Again, there are many directions in which modernization can be branched out. This is possible if we use the postcard we proposed for the recording. This is because the required data about the sender (even if the sender is in a group on the card) is stored directly and / or indirectly on the card and is machine-readable.
    With this unique identity we can do even more. B. Machine tracking, registering, managing, rerouting, stopping, retrieving, destroying, etc. ***
    This withdrawal can also be done from simple to almost infinitely complex or comfortable (process possible up to the last second, from home, office, on the road, from the place of residence, directly to the customer, ie not necessarily to a branch).
• 2. Redirection and / or flexible distributions: we already have a redirection already mentioned for the urgent shipment. If the recipient is not at the normal receiving address, the consignment can be forwarded to the current address or stored at a location at the recipient's request and the recipient can pick it up. Here we are talking about other possible diversions and / or flexible distribution.
  We are aware that a student, employee or, in general, a customer who works in a time or period (regularly and / or irregularly) e.g. B. on weekends, during holidays, when visiting, etc. So living in or in one place, in a different period z. B. lives in the working days in another place. To date, the recipient has to be at the receiving address again in order to receive the items. Mechanical and thus economic recording (s) and / or administration and / or processing using this information, data around the problems optimally not possible.
  We can achieve this with the introduction of the IDZA and corresponding systems, devices. If the recipient has a shipment under the IDZA, it will be checked according to the special requests, actions (number 5) that are in the memory of their IDZA, where the shipment is (taking into account the transport time, of course, whether the arrival day of the shipment is still there or not in the visiting time or at the weekend ... is) to be sent.
  These entries of the redirected address (es) can be made by a customer by telephone, mobile phone or with one of the new devices, e.g. B. according to the picture number 8 , 9 or on a system, make device at a branch. This redirection (s) can thus take place at short notice and take effect immediately.
• 3. Moving without changing the addressing: until today, the address and telephone number of a customer (a postal or telephone company) will have to be changed when moving. Cause that
  • a) Costs also loss of time due to changes from the customer side as well as from the post office, telephone company side
  • b) Connection with the person who has moved via the post (with the old address) or via a telephone company (with the old telephone number) after a period of time impossible. The consignment can no longer follow the recipient if the relocated person cannot, or could not, communicate all of his acquaintances, relatives, friends ... to his new address.
  This is also possible with IDZA addressing. The relocated person (s) only need to inform the postal company of the new address. The normal distribution address ( 2 ) in the memory belonging to the IDZA is changed. The IDZA of the relocated person remains unchanged if the relocated person (postal customer) so requests. This allows all acquaintances, relatives, friends ... to send shipments with the "old IDZA", even though the recipient has long moved. Here we have a personal IDZA assignment.
• 4. Filter function of the 1st type: Some customers as recipients would like consignments from certain senders not to be sent to them. Such items can be sorted out by recording the sorting of the sender data on the item when it is recorded (with the card) and with the data ( 9 ) which are in the memory of the corresponding IDZA of the recipient.
• 5. Moving simulation or filter function 2. Type: the customer (recipient) remains unchanged under the normal distribution address (not moved) and wishes that the postal address (IDZA) is changed for some reason to shipments addressed with the old IDZA can no longer be sent to him. So we only need the customer's IDZA to change. The distribution address that remains in the memory of the new (but also the old) IDZA unchanged. Only the senders who use the old IDZA will notice that "none Receiving address under this IDZA "for example to hear and / or read.
• 6. Account debit: Since we are already using the card when we took it in, we wanted to take another step so that the fee for the shipment can (but does not have to) be deducted from the account. This means that customers have the option of paying the fee in cash or once, in addition to the amount of money (for postal customers: replaces the value of the stamp as in the post-modernization work series) as shown in Figures 1 and 2 .
• 7. Simply clear evidence. Proof: since the sender's data when the picture was taken When entering the card by machine or reading it, we leave this data on the receipt and / or print the receipt. Then in addition to the data about the recipient, we also have the data (also in normal name and normal address) via the sender on the receipt and / or the Receipt. With this note we have a simple one that a shipment on day xx. xx. xx from Sender A was sent to recipient E. That is an option. We'll be right back suggest other options.

C. Further exploitation or a step further in the modernization Consignment account - consignment transfer - account balance

In this section we will expand our modernization a bit. We look at that here Mail traffic under the eye of a bank employee and solve our problems and wishes a little different than in the last works.

To date, postal customers have not been able to determine how many consignments they currently have in their or their "consignment account". In our last work we suggested some ways in which the role of the postal company is active (communication from the postal side). Here we will discuss further suggestions. The role of the customer is active (query from the customer side). We can combine both. This means that the active role can be changed. The advantages are:

• - the superfluous messages and thus also superfluous costs or for some sensitive ones Stress and disturbances can be prevented. So dampen operating costs,
• - We have already had experience that we are on important, joyful, happy programs in important, joyful, happy "objects" are waiting for our work here, and "curious" whether it was lost just in time, not on the way, wrong, mistakenly distributed is or are. Here the customers have the opportunity to track these "objects" themselves, ask control yourself, find out shortly about their arrival etc.

Let us take advantage of our proposed cards and create a "consignment account" for a card and / or a person and / or a group of people ... and imagine that the traffic with the consignments is similar to the traffic at the banks. A shipment from a sender A (person (s), companies, offices ...) to a recipient E would then be a "transfer" of the "object" from A to E. The shipment account number is then the IDZA in the sections above. With this consideration, we suddenly have all of the above solutions. Because with a consignment account statement, a consignment account holder has all the requested data about the arriving, the sent without or with data about who are still traveling, without or with weight, fee of the consignment, how much without or with which without or with whom without or with where without or with what type (in a hurry, by hand, registered, package, parcel, money, invitation, Echo ⁷ , time limited (official, private, etc.) without or with whether the object is on the way or already distributed without or with who is the handed over (yet very much) etc.

The objects here are e.g. B. letters, thing (e.g. parcels), letter, document (also amount of money ???) etc. Let us also use the devices in our last work. Then the customers have it Possibilities of home, office, workplace, place of residence (vacation, visiting, spa, in Hospital, hotel, on the street, at a counter with or without staff ...), almost everywhere from where such a device gives to check its shipment account, to continue to "transfer" to inform etc.

A rough consignment account statement is shown as an example with the following table.

This shipment account statement can be printed on a piece of paper or from a new device or known from the banking area is a computer with a modem to the holder (postal customer) become. That comes from our consideration above that the postal traffic is similar to the traffic the banks.

There are numerous flowing stages for the implementation (s), from simple (less effort) to too complex (more effort).

Claims (7)

1. Customer cards
Mailing customer has a card on which the picture of and machine-readable data about the customer are,
characterized in that mailing customers receive mailing cards from a mailing company. This card contains an image and machine-readable data from the owner. The data of the owner or the authorized person on the card are machine-readable. 2. The card in claim 1 can (but does not have to) contain further images with or without machine-readable data from or about other persons,
characterized in that the card of claim 1 further images, data of people who have or have a trusted relationship with the person in claim 1. The device in Figure 1 or 2 ( 9 ) enables the data of the corresponding person to be selected and thus available for further data processing. For example, save. 3. The postcards in claim 1 and 2 can be used for recording, characterized in that data about senders are to be recorded mechanically: save in a database (for registration, consignment account balance, proof of consignment and / or on the shipment sent for automatic distribution control, the recipient via the Announce the shipment with data about the sender, take it back, destroy the shipment from the sender side, to debit the charges for the consignments. 4. The postcards in claim 1 and 2 can be used for mailing, characterized in that the consignment is addressed with the IDZA and recorded by machine Data with the card about the sender for flexible distribution, rerouting, notification, Moving simulation, filtering of the consignments (unwanted consignments Rejection), expected shipments, machine registration in the Consignment account of the recipient and / or the sender, notification of arrival, via the receipt by the recipient and / or by the postal company to the sender. 5. Retrieve mailing account and mailing account statement on card balance with new devices - with computers - (page 8, 9)
Consignments are addressed with identification - character string - address as the keyword of the customer's data record, characterized in that a customer has a consignment account with a postal company that is linked to the IDZA (e.g. Chau76131D - for Jennifer Chau in Forststrasse 27, 76131 Karlsruhe Germany) marked as an account number. In the further data such as "real" address, name, other authorized persons, forwarding address (es), options (e.g. flexible (re) distribution, unwanted, desired sender list, ...), real account for Fee debit ... as well as the status of the shipments of the owner. The cards of the above claims are then consignment account cards with which one can print out an account statement or check the balance of the consignments. 6. Devices, computers, systems with which the possibilities in claim 5 can be realized can. 7. Receipts for delivery
A receipt and / or delivery note at a mailing company has data about the sender that are machine-readable, characterized in that the data about the shipment with data of the sender that can be easily machine-printed are printed on a receipt in a machine-readable form.