Half a Decade "Stamps" Straight from the Internet

Stampit, initially designed for businesses, was followed in 2004 by Stampit Home, a version for smaller business customers and private users. Since 2005 Stampit Web offers a complete online version. Originally developed for letters, customers comfortably can frank parcels from their own home computers meanwhile. More than 120,000 customers currently use one of the three Stampit applications. For those interested in giving Stampit a try, Deutsche Post will offer a specially priced "Happy Birthday" software package for both Stampit Business and Stampit Home in September.

School starts this year with "Stampit & Schule" ("Stampit and school"), a new educational package for vocational and secondary schools. With this instructors can prepare upcoming office managers and future business personnel for their future professions and students can become familiar with digital franking. The packet version of the software simulates the complete procedure of postage purchase and franking, sparing schools the actual costs of postage and internet access. Instructors interested in "Stampit & Schule" can order it for free at www.stampitundschule.de.

So far Stampit is still unique on the German market and has won many awards since its release half a decade ago. Business software providers such as SAP, Datev, Sage and Lexware integrated Stampit into their own business solutions. The internet auction eBay has followed their example. Medion, a German manufacturer of home computers, offers Stampit for various PC systems and thus makes it even easier for customers to use. Also postal customers in both Switzerland and Great Britain are able to enjoy the convenience of PC franking. Stampit has been licensed to Swiss Post and Royal Mail UK. Just four weeks ago, Eesti Post, the Estonian national postal service, successfully concluded a pilot run of Stampit.

With Stampit customers can purchase postage and frank their mail items using a standard PC and printer. The postage paid label, a 15 millimeter matrix code containing various dots within a square, is printed straight from the user's computer. Like commercial barcodes used on retail products, these matrix codes can be read and verified automatically by mail center scanners.