Method for tracking a mail piece

Abstract

A system and method for tracking a mail piece includes capturing an image of the mail piece, associating a tracking number for the mail piece with the image, providing the mail piece and tracking number to a carrier, and utilizing information from the image to investigate a lack of delivery if no delivery verification is received from the carrier within a certain time period. The system and method may also include extracting information from a portion of the image and presenting the extracted information to a carrier, receiving additional information related to the mail piece from the carrier in response to presenting the extracted information, providing the mail piece, the additional information, and a tracking number for the mail piece to a carrier, inserting the mail piece into a mail stream, and then utilizing information from the image to investigate a lack of delivery if no delivery verification is received from the carrier within a certain time period.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.