System and method of postal-charge assessment

A method of implementing a postal-revenue collection system according to which a requesting postal customer is charged postage only for mail pieces associated with that postal customer that are detected in the postal system, the method comprising the steps of:

• associating, in response to a postal-customer request electronically communicated from a requesting postal customer to a postage vendor, a postal-fee payment code with data indicative of the identity of the requesting postal customer, the postal-fee payment code being a collective code to be associated with a plurality of mail pieces authorized to be introduced into the postal system;
• storing, in a postal-customer account database in which are stored data uniquely relating each requesting postal customer with data indicative of a set of postal-customer requests registered in association with that postal customer, a postage-request data set including data indicative of at least each of the identity of the requesting postal customer and the associated collective postage-fee payment code;
• communicating from the postage vendor to the requesting postal customer a postage-fee accounting indicia to be applied to each mail piece of the plurality of mail pieces with which the postal-fee payment code is authorized to be associated, the postage-fee accounting indicia being indicative of at least the postal-fee payment code;
• receiving into the postal system a mail piece including a surface exhibiting the postage-fee accounting indicia;
• extracting an image of at least that portion of the mail-piece surface exhibiting the postage-fee accounting indicia;
• resolving the extracted image and storing in computer memory a resolved data set associated with the mail piece and including resolved data indicative of at least the postage-fee payment code exhibited on the corresponding mail piece;
• consulting the postal-customer account database and comparing the resolved data set associated with the mail piece to postal-customer account data in the postal-customer account database in order to determine whether a unique postage-request data set including data indicative of a postage-fee payment code corresponds with data in the resolved data set associated with the postage-fee payment code exhibited on the mail piece;
• enabling the requesting postal customer to associate with the postage-fee payment code associated with the postage-request data set a single authorized delivery address to which delivery of mail pieces exhibiting the postage-fee accounting indicia is restricted;
• and,
• to the extent there is identified to the satisfaction of a predetermined confidence threshold a postage-request data set associated with an active postage-fee payment code and including data that uniquely corresponds with data in the resolved data set, assessing a postage charge to the requesting postal customer associated with the uniquely identified postage-request data set.

A method of implementing a postal-revenue collection system according to which a requesting postal customer is charged postage only for mail pieces associated with that postal customer that are detected in the postal system, the method comprising the steps of:

• associating, in response to a postal-customer request electronically communicated from a requesting postal customer to a postage vendor, a postal-fee payment code with data indicative of the identity of the requesting postal customer, the postal-fee payment code being a collective code to be associated with a plurality of mail pieces authorized to be introduced into the postal system;
• storing, in a postal-customer account database in which are stored data uniquely relating each requesting postal customer with data indicative of a set of postal-customer requests registered in association with that postal customer, a postage-request data set including data indicative of at least each of the identity of the requesting postal customer and the associated collective postage-fee payment code;
• communicating from the postage vendor to the requesting postal customer a postage-fee accounting indicia to be applied to each mail piece of the plurality of mail pieces with which the postal-fee payment code is authorized to be associated, the postage-fee accounting indicia being indicative of at least the postal-fee payment code;
• receiving into the postal system a mail piece including a surface exhibiting the postage-fee accounting indicia;
• extracting an image of at least that portion of the mail-piece surface exhibiting the postage-fee accounting indicia;
• resolving the extracted image and storing in computer memory a resolved data set associated with the mail piece and including resolved data indicative of at least the postage-fee payment code exhibited on the corresponding mail piece;
• consulting the postal-customer account database and comparing the resolved data set associated with the mail piece to postal-customer account data in the postal-customer account database in order to determine whether a unique postage-request data set including data indicative of a postage-fee payment code corresponds with data in the resolved data set associated with the postage-fee payment code exhibited on the mail piece;
• enabling the requesting postal customer to associate with the postage-fee payment code a postage expiration date;
• designating as inactive a postage-fee payment code with which there is associated a postage expiration date that has elapsed;
• and,
• to the extent there is identified to the satisfaction of a predetermined confidence threshold a postage-request data set associated with an active postage-fee payment code and including data that uniquely corresponds with data in the resolved data set, assessing a postage charge to the requesting postal customer associated with the uniquely identified postage-request data set.