Help the Hospices is the leading charity supporting hospice care throughout the UK, ensuring the very best care for everyone facing the end of life. The majority of hospice care in the UK is provided by the charity’s 213 member hospices. Care is given free of charge to the patient and their friends and family. It can be at home, in the hospice and in the community and can be for days, months or years.

Help the Hospice’s services support hospice employees and volunteers and help to champion the voice of hospice care. They include a wide range of training and education programmes, informative and practical resources for hospice staff, and work to influence government policy.

Chris Burns, HR Director at Neopost said: “For Neopost to decide on who is nominated as our charity of the year we have to consider a number of things. Is it relevant to employees? Is it a national charity or local to our Head Office in Romford? What is its funding status? And so on. Help the Hospices ticks all the boxes for us. The work hospices do to care for people facing the end of life and their families has touched a number of our employees and will do so in the future”.

Neopost have offices all over the country and are going to get each one involved with raising money for Help the Hospices. Fund raising events will include a Summer BBQ, Dress Down Days and a Christmas raffle.

Neopost has also partnered each of their regional offices with a local hospice. The aim is not just to raise money but to encourage employees to volunteer their time.

To kick the fund raising year off Neopost has made an initial donation of £2,000. Stephen Ballantyne, Corporate Partnerships Manager at Help the Hospices, went along to pick up the cheque from Neopost and said “We are delighted to have been chosen as Neopost’s charity of the year. We are really looking forward to the coming year and hope that Neopost employees enjoy fundraising for hospices in their communities. Their support will go a long way to helping hospices so that they can continue to care for people with life-limiting and terminal illnesses and provide support to their families.”

www.neopost.co.uk

© Hellmail.co.uk

Re-branded Pitney Bowes Mail Distribution Manager™ Software Suite, the solution is a modular system consisting of software and hardware components designed to support the operative and administrative activities of a mail service provider.

The solution is aimed at private post and courier businesses as well as the growing inter-office/ in-house mailroom market. A range of modular features have been devised to suit the requirements of the different industry sectors.

Delivery Services Providers

Today’s delivery businesses must be seen to offer more value than the former monopolies. PB Mail Distribution Manager helps to drive efficiency across administrative functions such as order processing, invoicing, employee administration, research, district administration and route planning.

The concept focuses on registering data for every single shipment. This individual registration forms the basis for optimising billing, shipment tracking, quality control, complaint management and more.

In House Mail Service Providers

Internal postal services are usually tasked with processing external incoming post, external outgoing post and in-house post. PB Mail Distribution Manager enables these despatches to be handled in an efficient manner that is cost-transparent – an essential requirement in today’s business climate.

External incoming post is logged at specially-designed manual stations. Using an optimised name search, the system communicates the correct recipient or the correct recipient department and automatically gives the routing information for the delivery. At the same time, the system collects weight and despatch format data so that the item can be correctly billed.

Similarly, for despatch of external post, details of the sender are logged along with the weight and format for the despatch and the recipient address. In this way, the costs incurred can be precisely calculated or analysed on a cost-centre, department or even employee level. Using PB Mail Distribution Manager enables companies to effortlessly select the optimal delivery service provider and to automatically sort mailings to achieve available discounts.

In-house post is also logged (either manually or automatically) and the resulting costs charged to the sender. Routing information is provided automatically making delivery more efficient. The system handles individual despatches, mass despatches (such as circulars, pay slips, etc.) and provides senders with the flexibility to despatch items in hanging folders or boxes.

Stefan Berndt, Product Manager Sortation, Pitney Bowes, states: “The launch of PB Mail Distribution Manager enables Pitney Bowes to offer true end-to-end solutions support to mail carriers throughout Europe. In combination with our sortation hardware, PB Mail Distribution Manager offers the flexibility and efficiency required for this young, vibrant marketplace to compete effectively.

“For in-house mail service providers, the technology provides a means of transparently tracking and tracing all incoming and outgoing mail. This integrity is increasingly important for businesses feeling the impact of strict compliance regulations. Additionally, the solution optimises mail delivery, potentially saving firms considerable sums at a time when every investment must be rapidly seen to deliver.”

© Hellmail.co.uk

With some 20% of youngsters now unemployed, over 150 companies have agreed to provide work experience and training to help reduce the jobless rate for 16-24 year olds. The move is supported by unions and business amidst concern that without swift action, the recession could see an even bigger rise in unemployed youngsters, many of whom could miss opportunities in the years ahead or face years on state benefit.

Microsoft and Pfizer are two of the many companies and organisations supporting the “Backing Young Britain” initiative, with £1bn to be spent to create 100,000 new jobs for young people and an additional 50,000 jobs in areas of high unemployment. The government said it aims to provide job guarantees for anyone aged between 18 and 24 who has been out of work for 10 months.

Concerns have been raised by the Conservative party that the move may not meet expectations and is simply a re-working of YOPS and New Deal programmes that were often only short-term.

The jobless total amongst 16-24 year olds is now 920,000.

© Hellmail.co.uk

At a time when colour is being used more freely across all types of documents – from marketing messages to statements, bills, policies and invoices – many businesses are finding the transition to consistent and accurate colour output complex and confusing.

Several composition systems provide colour management and enable colour management at the point of creating the output. However, this output print file then becomes very specific for a particular printer. With colour management in Pitney Bowes VIP the customer has independence between the print-job and the end device. This is more desirable for service bureaus and customers with multiple printer lines as they have the flexibility to direct colour print work to any device, secure in the knowledge that the colour output will be accurate.

In the main, colour management is achieved through utilising the industry standard International Colour Consortium (ICC) methodology with profiles that describes how a device reproduces colour. Pitney Bowes Emtex Software, in partnership with CMI, has developed comprehensive support for ICC Profiles within its VIP server, a high-performance output management solution. VIP now supports colour management for all RGB and CMYK data, and for named spot colours through the application of ICC profiles created by CMI’s colour management suite, enabling users to make precise colour matches for personalized direct mail, transactional and transpromo applications.

Tim Moylan, President, Pitney Bowes Emtex Software, comments: “Today’s businesses understand the power of digital colour as a means to increase revenue, eliminate pre-printed forms and improve customer service. However, successful colour management is proving challenging to personnel across both corporate print centres and service bureaus.

“Together with CMI we have developed a solution that addresses this challenge and that delivers true process flexibility and accuracy to high-volume print centres.”

Colour management provides the accurate rendering of a particular colour in print or online, colour matching and consistency between devices, and the ability to move colour to black-and-white printers for disaster recovery or multi-site operations. In addition, correct colour management of spot colour for company brand logos is required to maintain brand integrity.

Through referencing input ICC profiles, describing the colour spaces of images used within the printstream and a printer device ICC profile, VIP ensures accurate and consistent rendition of colour in real time to maximise performance. VIP can also reference spot colour libraries, generated by the CMI workflow, to map named spot colors (from PostScript or PDF data) directly to the target colour device.

This functionality enables organisations to colour manage input printstreams (including AFP, Postscript, VPS, PDF and PCL) to any specific colour devices controllers supporting IPDS, Postscript, VPS, PPML/VDX and IJPDS printstreams.

Chris Trimbach, General Manager, CMI, comments: “The high-volume print environment is challenging and competitive and businesses are looking for suppliers to provide solutions that maximise productivity and output quality.

“We are delighted to be working closely with Pitney Bowes to bring true colour management expertise and flexibility to the market.”

© Hellmail.co.uk

Areas affected include East Anglia, London, the South West and other parts of the UK. Royal Mail network drivers will again be striking affecting all cross-country mail services. Full details of strike action are listed below.

Monday 17th August:

* Coventry delivery office (~500 staff)

* Leamington Spa delivery office (~140 staff)

* London Airport Mail Unit (~120 staff)

* London Mount Pleasant (over 2,000 staff in deliveries, collections and sorting)

* Nottingham East delivery office (~50 staff)

* Stoke-on-Trent (continuous strike action)

Wednesday 19th August:

Network drivers (~1,300 staff) at:

* Birmingham Vehicle Operation Centre

* Coventry

* East London Regional Distribution Centre

* East London VOC

* Essex RDC,

* Greenford VOC

* National Distribution Centre, Northampton

* Nine Elms VOC, Vauxhall

* Peterborough VOC

* Princes Royal Distribution Centre Indoor and VOC, north London

* South West Regional Distribution Centre Indoor and Drivers, Bristol

* Yorkshire Distribution Centre VOC, Leeds

Plus all of London deliveries, collections and sorting with the exception of Mount Pleasant and London Airport Mail Unit.

Thursday 20th August

* Peterborough delivery office

Friday 21st August

* Peterborough collection drivers

* Kings Lynn delivery office

Saturday 22nd August

* Boston delivery office

* Carrickfergus delivery office (Northern Ireland)

Monday 24th August:

* Skegness Delivery Office Lincolnshire

* Huntingdon Delivery Office Huntingdonshire

© Hellmail.co.uk

The main one that normally grabs peoples attention is the savings on postage once you start using a franker. These are quite straight forward and are applied the minute you start using a machine (ie you don’t have to cliam the savings back) and can reach the staggering level of 32% discount! Alright, this isn’t on your standard letters that you are going send, but even on those you save at least 3p on every first class letter and at least 5p on every second class letter, so not bad at all. Depending on your volume of mail, these discounts can sometimes go a long way to paying for the rental of the franking machine making all of the other benefits a freebie!

Monitor all of your postage spend (without the need of an accountant)
As all of the funds that are put onto a franking machine are done electronically it is very easy to keep detailed records of your complete spend on postage, together with all of your new savings…

Always put the correct postage on every letter or parcel that you send. Using stamps this is practically impossible and leads to you either spending more on your postage by overstamping or risking your customers being hit with a surcharge should you decide to try and get away with putting less postage than required on.

It goes without saying that it can only be a benefit to advertise your business on every piece of mail that you send out (unless your a debt collector in which case you may want to turn your logo off!), not only does this increase awareness of your business, it also looks very professinal and can give the impression that an organisation is perhaps bigger than it really is.

Security. As well as the risk of theft from outside, you will no longer have to hide all of the stamps from the staff at Christmas time…

And finally, let’s face it. NO ONE wants to spend their afternoon queueing up at the Post Office.

If you need any further information on this subject, both mailroomadvisor.com and franking-machine.com are full of useful advice on all aspects of franking machines.

Watch the clip here

The Personal Post franking machine from Pitney Bowes is currently our favourite free trial offer and is probably the most popular low volume franking machine on the market. Taking up a very small footprint the Personal Post comes complete with a 2kg scale which should cater for most of the heavier items that you may need to post.  As this is an integrated scale (attached to the franking machine) it makes life far easier and faster to process all heavy letters and parcels.  As with all of the models that are currently available as a free trial, the Personal Post franker is a front loading machine which is hand fed by the operator.  This also means that you can use any franking machine labels, which could save you a significant amount of money if you process a reasonable number of thick letters and packets as they are franked in exactly the same way as an envelope.

Whatever size mailing solution you are looking at, from a small franking machine to process just five letters per day to a full solution catering for tens of thousands of items all machines come with a guideline of the recommended volumes that the manufacturer has set for their equipment.  This is no different for the Personal Post, Pitney Bowes give a guide mail volume of just 20 letters per day, however certainly don’t take too much notice of this (It would mean the franker is not designed to run for over 2 minutes per day!) as every organisation that sends mail has peaks and troughs throughout the month or year depending on the actual business.  If your mail volumes are generally quite low, perhaps with a spike at the end of each month for a statement run but you want to portray the professional image that a franking machine can bring, the Personal Post could be a very good addition to your business.

So, what does Pitney Bowes have to say about their Personal Post Franking Machine?

The Pitney Bowes Personal Post postage meter is the perfect choice for budget conscious small businesses that want convenience at an affordable price.
This compact meter fits right on your desktop. And the integrated scale makes it a snap to calculate exact postage for letters and packages. Let Personal Post’s easy-to-use keypad guide you through the postage printing process.
No more time consuming trips out of the office to buy stamps – order your postage by phone in just under a minute.
Promote your business – put your logo or company name on every letter you send.
Mail standard letters, packages and even recorded and special delivery.

Machine Specs for the Personal Post franking machine

• Speed   -   Front Loading
• Scale   -   2kg Integrated Platform
• Label Dispenser   -   Manual (As if you are franking an envelope)
• Inking System   -   Inkjet
• Security   -   4 Digit Pin
• Download Postage by Phone   -   Yes

So,what does Pitney Bowes have to say about their DM50 franking machine?

Our all-in-one DM50™ mailing system with its built-in scale lets you weigh and calculate postage at the touch of a button. You get exact postage every time – no guesswork. You can even print promotional messages on your envelopes! Print postage on letters and packages right from your office. Save time and money while you’re at it. Enjoy the convenience of a digital postage meter and avoid the hassle of going to the post office.
The DM50™ incorporates a 2.5kg integral weighing platform, freeing up desk space and guaranteeing that each letter or package bears the correct postage value.
No more time consuming trips out of the office to buy stamps – order your postage by phone in just under a minute.
Use the exact postage every time – no more over stamping to ‘ensure it gets there’.
Promote your business – put your logo or company name on every letter you send.
Mail standard letters, packages and even recorded and special delivery.
Intellilink® connects the DM50 to a secure server, via the Internet, enabling services such as postal tariff changes, software updates and advertising slogans to be downloaded quickly and effortlessly.

Machine Specs for the DM50 Franking Machine

• Speed   -   Front Loading
• Scale   -   2.5kg Integrated Platform (Situated on top of franker)
• Label Dispenser   -   Manual
• Inking System   -   Inkjet
• Security   -   4 Digit Pin
• Postage by Phone   -   Yes
• Intellilink   -   Yes

The Autostamp franking machine from Neopost is a good entry level franking machine that comes complete with a 2kg scale to help with any heavy letters or parcels that you may wish to post.  The Autostamp is a slightly de-featured version of the popular IJ25 model from Neopost, although don’t let that put you off.  The only difference between the two models is the amount of different postage rates on the scale, so if you only normally use the regular first and second class postage rates*  then the Autostamp may be a cheap way for you to own a new franking machine.

* Bear in mind that even if you don’t have a particular postage rate such as ‘recorded signed for’ you can still look it up on a Royal Mail price chart and enter the value manually on any franking machine.

So, what does Neopost have to say about their Autostamp franking machine?

The AutoStamp™ combines advanced digital technology with a sleek look and compact dimensions to comfortably fit into any modern office environment. High-quality digital printing gives crisp, clean impressions and a quiet performance. The AutoStamp™ franks straight onto envelopes up to 8mm thick or onto self-adhesive labels on larger packages or parcels.

The AutoStamp™ always franks the exact postage. The integrated electronic scale accurately sets the machine to the correct postage, so you save on postage costs and cut out the risk of over or under stamping. Everyday postal rates are stored in the AutoStamp™ memory, while other rates – such as Recorded Delivery – can easily be set manually. When postal tariffs change, the AutoStamp™ is easily updated.

With the AutoStamp™, you’ll enjoy a more business-like image – not to mention free advertising! You can customise your mail message to include your company name, special greetings, marketing slogans – even logos and photographs. There are also eight pre-set messages to choose from as well as stamp, date or message-only modes for extra flexibility. All our new machines have been designed with Pricing in Proportion (Royal Mail’s new tariff where mail is priced according to both its size
and weight) in mind, and are ideally suited to both the professional mailroom and office environment.

Machine Specs for the Autostamp Franking Machine

Franking Machine

• Width x Height x Depth   -    300mm x 190mm x 210mm
• Weight   -   2.8kg
• Maximum speed   -   20 per minute
• Slogan size   -   45mm wide x 25mm high
• Envelope thickness   -   8mm maximum
• ENERGY STAR® Compliant
• Inking System   -   Inkjet
• Accounts   -   None
• Memory jobs   -   2
• Label dispenser   -   Manual

Weigh Platform

• Width x Height x Depth   -   135mm x 30mm x 165mm
• Capacity 2kg in 1g increments
• Power supply via franker

Click on the button to view the brochure for the Neopost Autostamp franking machine.