Washington, Aug 6, 2015: The US Postal Service is thinking of getting smarter in order to beat the competition. One of the ideas it was contemplating with was the introduction of a smart mailbox.
A report in nextgov.com first alerted us to this development. According to USPS’ Office of the Inspector General, such a mailbox equipped with tiny sensors could collect data on mail delivery and pick up time, or the outdoors temperature. The owners could also control the box’s internal temperature and locking mechanism with a smartphone app.
Such a mailbox was just one of the many scenarios being contemplated by the Postal Service’s under its broad plan for the Internet of Things (IoT), a term for a connected network of devices and sensors. The Service had drawn up a report around that vision called the “Internet of Postal Things”, in collaboration with IBM.
The IG’s office had recommended that the Postal Service “start experimenting with Internet of Things technologies” to modernise its business, “as well as develop new business models to stay relevant in the digital age.”
The paper went on to state that The Internet of Postal Things (IoPT) — instrumenting the postal infrastructure with low-cost sensors to enable them to collect, communicate, and act upon a broad variety of data — “could help the Postal Service generate operational efficiencies, improve the customer experience, and develop new services and business models. Interconnecting the postal network can provide endless opportunities for new, smarter applications, especially in the areas of delivery, transportation and logistics, building management and government services. “
The main IoPT applications identified in the paper were in four key areas:
Transportation and logistics: Applications to monitor the status and performance of vehicles throughout the value chain. These applications aimed to, for example, reduce fuel costs, limited the need for manual intervention such as in maintenance, and optimised how people, systems, and assets work together.
Smarter postal buildings: These would encompass systems to better manage energy usage, build security and safety, and reduce maintenance costs.
Enhanced mail and parcel services: Would include applications to protect and improve the core business. Sensors generate new data that increased the value of products for senders and recipients and enabled the creation of new services.
Neighbourhood services: These would be centered around applications that used IoT technologies to leverage the presence of postal vehicles and carriers in the same areas every day. “Connected” vehicles and carriers with handheld devices could become platforms able to support the collection of data and the provision of both postal and government services to local communities.
Those of you interested in reading the entire report, click here.
Image Credit: US Postal Service