e-skills UK Guide

Using online postage systems

Automatic postage systems

Despite the best use of IT in your business you will almost always need to send letters and packages the old fashioned way – by mail. Over the years new systems have been introduced to help businesses manage their mail costs. Franking machines are still a popular way of managing and auditing outbound mail, and are certainly easier than having to keep stocks of stamps if you are sending out moderate volumes of letters. Although a franking machine can save you money (about 2p per item sent) there is still a need for you to purchase or lease a franking machine.

With the huge use of PCs in businesses there is a new way of paying for postage that can be as straightforward as using your computer and a printer. The Royal Mail system is called SmartStamp, and is the only system available in the UK so we will be exploring it in detail for this project.

This Guide will help you save money and time by using online postage payment systems.

What is Royal Mail SmartStamp?

SmartStamp is a product available from the Royal Mail that enables you to print out your own stamps as and when you need to. The stamps themselves are unlike traditional postage stamps. Instead they are made up from a square barcode with lots of black and white machine readable squares that are scanned by the mail sorting centre after you have posted your item. This way Royal Mail can check that the SmartStamp is valid.

How to setup and use SmartStamp

Luckily the process for setting up SmartStamp is relatively straightforward. You need to register for an account online at this location:

Royal Mail SmartStamp

Once you have your account setup you will need to install the SmartStamp software. This can be downloaded or installed from a CD. To run SmartStamp you need to be running one of the later operating systems from Microsoft (such as Windows 2000, Windows NT or Windows XP) and have a printer capable of printing at 300 DPI or higher. You also need to be running Internet Explorer as your web browser. If you want to understand more about buying a suitable PC to run SmartStamp then we have a guide here that may help:

Buying a PC

Alternatively if you need to understand more about printers then we have a guide here:

Printing documents

Using SmartStamp is straightforward and the software is easy to use. The most difficult part of the process is getting use to printing labels and envelopes, but once you have mastered this it is easy.

Linking SmartStamp to other software

You may have built up a database or other listing of contacts or suppliers that you wish to mail to. In this case there are some software packages that SmartStamp will link to and automatically printout the contact details. These include:

• Microsoft Address Book.
• Microsoft Outlook.
• Microsoft Exchange.
• Microsoft Excel.
• Symantec ACT.
• Microsoft Access.
• eBay.

This way you can start to build a useful mailing tool for your business.

SmartStamp issues

Whilst SmartStamp is a useful system for businesses there are some points that you will need to bear in mind:

• You need to make sure that your PC and printer are suitable for running SmartStamp and printing out the appropriate stamps. If you have an old printer and/or PC then you may find the results are less than satisfactory. It would be strongly recommended that you upgrade your hardware to support SmartStamp.

• Setting up SmartStamp to print appropriately may also be problematic as some printers are fairly awkward to setup for label and envelope printing. Luckily the Royal Mail have thought of this and provide you with the ability to print out test stamps to make sure the system works.

• You have a finite time to send out any mail once you have printed out the stamp – typically 24 hours. If you exceed this time then the stamp will be invalid and the mailed item will not be processed properly. If stamps are printed out incorrectly or you do miss postage dates then it is possible to get a refund from the Royal Mail by applying to the appropriate department.

SmartStamp costs

Unlike some other automatic postage systems used overseas you will need to pay a subscription to use SmartStamp. This is £4.99 per month or £49.99 per year. Naturally each time you print a stamp it will be charged to your account, plus you will need to pay for consumables such as printer ink, labels and envelopes. On the plus side you will no longer have to purchase stamps or lease a franking machine. SmartStamp also allows you to personalise part of the stamp area with your company slogan or website address.