Automated mailpiece processing

An automated method for providing an address for printing on an unaddressed mail piece, the method comprising:

• retaining a plurality of mailing lists,
• receiving an identifier obtained from an unaddressed mail piece,
• identifying a retained mailing list associated the received identifier,
• selecting an address from the identified mailing list, and
• providing the address for printing on the mail piece from which the identifier was obtained.

An automated method for preparing a plurality of mail pieces for automated addressing, the method comprising:

• receiving an order for the printing of customer-specified content on a plurality of mail pieces,
• receiving a mailing list containing at least a plurality of addresses with which the customer desires the mail pieces be addressed,
• associating the mailing list with the order, and
• encoding each of the plurality of mail pieces with information enabling the mail piece to be associated with the received mailing list.

An automated method for processing a mail piece, the method comprising:

• attempting to obtain identifying information from the mail piece,
• if identifying information is successfully obtained, providing the identifying information for address retrieval,
• receiving information in response to the identifying information,
• if the received information comprises an address, printing the address on the mail piece and routing the mail piece to a location for addressed mail pieces.

A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method for addressing a mail piece, the method comprising:

• retaining a plurality of mailing lists associated with a plurality of different mail piece orders, each mailing list containing at least a plurality of mailing addresses,
• reading an identifier from an unaddressed mail piece,
• using the identifier to identify one of the retained mailing lists,
• selecting a mailing address from the identified mailing list, and
• instructing the selected mailing address to be printed on the mail piece.

An apparatus for addressing a mail piece, the apparatus comprising:

• means for retaining a plurality of mailing lists associated with a plurality of different mail piece orders, each mailing list containing at least a plurality of mailing addresses,
• means for reading an identifier from an unaddressed mail piece,
• means for using the identifier to identify one of the retained mailing lists,
• means for selecting a mailing address from the identified mailing list, and
• means for printing the selected mailing address on the mail piece.

A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method for providing an address for printing on an unaddressed mail piece, the method comprising:

• retaining a plurality of mailing lists,
• receiving an identifier obtained from an unaddressed mail piece,
• identifying a retained mailing list associated the received identifier,
• selecting an address from the identified mailing list, and
• providing the address for printing on the mail piece from which the identifier was obtained.

An apparatus for providing an address for providing an address for printing on an unaddressed mail piece, the apparatus comprising:

• means for retaining a plurality of mailing lists,
• means for receiving an identifier obtained from an unaddressed mail piece,
• means for identifying a retained mailing list associated the received identifier,
• means for selecting an address from the identified mailing list, and
• means for providing the address for printing on the mail piece from which the identifier was obtained.

A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method for preparing a plurality of mail pieces for automated addressing, the method comprising:

• receiving an order for the printing of customer-specified content on a plurality of mail pieces,
• receiving a mailing list containing at least a plurality of addresses with which the customer desires the mail pieces be addressed,
• associating the mailing list with the order, and
• encoding each of the plurality of mail pieces with information enabling the mail piece to be associated with the received mailing list.

An apparatus for providing an address for preparing a plurality of mail pieces for automated addressing, the apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving an order for the printing of customer-specified content on a plurality of mail pieces,
• means for receiving a mailing list containing at least a plurality of addresses with which the customer desires the mail pieces be addressed,
• means for associating the mailing list with the order, and
• means for encoding each of the plurality of mail pieces with information enabling the mail piece to be associated with the received mailing list.

A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method for processing a mail piece, the method comprising:

• attempting to obtain identifying information from the mail piece
• if identifying information is successfully obtained, providing the identifying information for address retrieval,
• receiving information in response to the identifying information,
• if the received information comprises an address, printing the address on the mail piece and routing the mail piece to a location for addressed mail pieces.

An apparatus for processing a mail piece, the method comprising:

• means for attempting to obtain identifying information from the mail piece,
• means for providing the identifying information for address retrieval if identifying information is successfully obtained,
• means for receiving information in response to the identifying information,
• means for printing the address on the mail piece and routing the mail piece to a location for addressed mail pieces if the received information comprises an address.