USPS to release Intelligent Mail additions this month

Later this month, the US Postal Service will unveil additional capabilities for its Intelligent Mail service, which allows the agency to track pieces of mail from origin to destination.

The new functionality “will provide a measure of discount to big mailers who satisfy the criteria for full-service mailings,” said Ross Philo, CIO and SVP of the Postal Service, in an interview with InformationWeek.

He added that the agency will also soon release an iPhone application that uses the mobile device's GPS capabilities, and that the agency will promote its improved offerings.

“One of the areas that you'll see us do more of is to advertise post office capabilities in much of the way that you've seen with the flat-rate box campaign recently,” said Philo, who also noted that “many people aren't even aware that even now they can print out their own postal labels at home.”