JP2002297716A - System and method for processing mail - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and a method for processing mail capable of saving postal charges and efficiently processing mail by processing collectively the mail from plural senders. SOLUTION: Postal charge system information of information about charges of various kinds of mails is stored in a postal information database 22a. Mail quantity information of information as to the quantity in the every mail classified based on address information and shape/weight information is stored in a mail quantity database 22b. A mail form selection-processing part 23a selects a mail form capable of distributing the mail at the most inexpensive charge, based on the mail quantity information and the postal charge system information. A postal charge calculation-processing part 23b calculates total postal charge in the every sender based on postal charge information of the each mail determined by the mail form.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mail processing system and a mail processing method for reducing postage and improving mail processing efficiency by collectively sending mail from a plurality of senders to a post office. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In post offices, various postal rates are discounted by satisfying regulations such as "a certain number of mails of a certain shape is more than a certain quantity" and "specify a predetermined matter on an envelope". Postage discount service was provided.
For example, "city special post" means that a postal item specified by the postal code has a certain number of postal items of a certain shape or more, the postal item specifies "city special post", and the post office sends the postal item. Was available by paying.

[0003]

As described above, conventionally, in order to use "city special mail", mails to a specific area (area in charge of a certain post office) must be a certain number or more, It was necessary to deliver the mail to the post office in the area, but it could not be used unless more than a certain amount of mail was sent to a specific area. In addition, there is no system that collects mail from a plurality of senders so that the number of mails exceeds a specified amount and provides lower postage. Further, there is no system for calculating the postage of postal matter sent in various postal forms.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and has a mail processing system that reduces postage and increases the efficiency of mail processing by processing mail from a plurality of senders at once. And a mail processing method.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. In a mail processing system according to the present invention, mails from a plurality of senders are collectively sent to a post office. This is a postal processing system that saves postage and increases the efficiency of postal processing. It includes a postal information database that stores postage system information, which is information on the rates of various types of postal items, and requests for postal processing by senders. A mail quantity database storing mail quantity information, which is information on the quantity of each mail, classified based on the mail information including the destination information and the shape / weight information, and the mail quantity information. And a postal form selection means for selecting a postal form that can deliver mail at the lowest rate based on postage system information and sender information for identifying the sender. A postage information database that stores postal information, and a postage calculation means that reads out postal information from the postal information database and calculates the total postage for each sender based on the postage of each postal item determined by the postal form. And characterized in that:

[0006] Thus, a postal information database that stores postage system information, which is information on the rates of various postal items, and information on the quantity of each postal item classified based on destination information and shape / weight information. A mail quantity database that stores mail quantity information, mail quantity information,
A mail form selecting means for selecting a mail form capable of delivering mail at the lowest rate based on the postage system information; a mail information database storing mail information in association with sender information for identifying a sender; It does not apply to individual senders because it has postage calculation means that reads out postal information from the postal information database and calculates the total postage for each sender based on the postage of each postal item determined by the postal form. You can use the preferential postage service (for example, △△% discount for XX or more) by combining mails from multiple senders. Further, the above-mentioned postal processing system makes full use of various postal forms, so that the calculation of postage becomes complicated. However, by managing mail information for each sender in a database, it is possible to automatically settle each sender.

Further, in the postal processing system according to the present invention, a refund destination instructing means for instructing all mails to specify a specific refund address, and mail information of the mail returned to the refund address are provided. It is characterized by further comprising an indeterminate postal mail database stored as indeterminate postal information, and an indeterminate postal mail detecting means for detecting a postal matter corresponding to the indeterminate postal information. Thereby, a refund destination instructing means for instructing all mails to specify a specific refund address, and an indeterminate postal database storing postal information of postal items returned to the refund address as undetermined postal information And postal mail detection means for detecting postal matter corresponding to postal address postal information, so that postal matter returning with postal indefiniteness can be centrally managed. In addition, by creating a database of information about the mail,
At the time of subsequent mail processing, it is possible to detect mail that returns with an unknown address in advance and stop sending the mail, or if the correct address is known, change it to that address .

Further, in the mail processing method according to the present invention, mails from a plurality of senders are collectively sent to a post office to reduce postage and increase the efficiency of mail processing. Storing postage system information, which is information on the rates of various postal items, in the postal information database; and, for postal items requested to be sent by the sender, postal information including destination information and shape / weight information. Storing the mail quantity information, which is information on the quantity of each mail, based on the mail quantity in the mail quantity database; and Selecting a postal form that can be delivered at a fee; and storing postal information in a postal information database in association with sender information that identifies the sender; Reads mail piece information from the stool was information database, based on the postage for each mailpiece determined by postal form, characterized by a step of calculating a postage sum for each sender.

Further, the program according to the present invention realizes a mail processing method for reducing postage and improving the efficiency of mail processing by collectively sending mail from a plurality of senders to a post office. Program
A step of storing postage system information, which is information on charges for various types of mail, in the postal information database; and a step of storing mail information requested by the sender for mail processing based on mail information including destination information and shape / weight information. Storing mail quantity information, which is information about the quantity of each piece of mail, into the mail quantity database; and based on the mail quantity information and the postage system information, the mail is charged at the lowest rate. A step of selecting a form of mail that can be delivered; a step of storing mail information in a mail information database in association with sender information for identifying a sender; reading mail information from the mail information database; Calculating the total postage for each sender based on the postage of the goods. It is.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the present invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention described in the claims, and all the combinations of the features described in the embodiments are necessary for solving the invention. Not necessarily. First, the configuration of a postal system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mail system using a mail processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a sender terminal 1, a sender terminal 2, ... (hereinafter, referred to as a sender terminal 10) for mailing a mail using the present system. Also,
Reference numeral 11 denotes a printing company A, a printing company B, a printing company C,... (Hereinafter referred to as a printing company 11) for which the sender requests printing and enclosing of mail. Reference numeral 12 denotes a mail processing system 12 including a database 22 for storing information necessary for mail processing, and for processing mail from a plurality of senders collectively. Reference numeral 13 denotes a delivery company that delivers mail to each post office in accordance with instructions from the mail processing system 12 when mail must be delivered directly to each post office as a condition of the mail format. Reference numeral 14 denotes a network through which the sender terminal 10 and the terminals of the printing company 11 and the delivery company 13 communicate with the postal processing system 12. Although not shown, terminals that can be connected to the sender terminal 10, the postal processing system 12, the network 14 of the printing company 11 and the delivery company 13,
For example, a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or a liquid crystal display device, and an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse are provided.

Next, the configuration of the mail processing system 12 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the postal processing system 12 according to one embodiment of the present invention. A control unit 21 controls data in the postal processing system 12. Reference numeral 22 denotes a postal information database 22a for storing postal information, which is information on postage regulations, and postal information for the postal information.
The mail information is classified according to the postage based on the weight information, and the mail information is stored in association with the mail quantity database 22b storing mail quantity information which is information on the quantity of the classified mail, and the sender information for identifying the sender. This is a database including a postal information database 22c to be stored and an indeterminate postal database 22d to store postal information of postal items returned to the return address as indeterminate postal information. Reference numeral 23 denotes a processing program unit that performs various processes based on information stored in the database 23, information transmitted from the network 14, and information input from input means of the postal processing system 12.

Next, the internal configuration of the processing program unit 23 will be described. Reference numeral 23a denotes a mail form selection processing unit that selects a mail form that can deliver mail at the lowest rate from the mail quantity information and the postage system information. Also,
23b reads out postal information from the postal information database 22c, and calculates the total postage for each sender based on the postage of each postal matter determined by the postal form selected by the postal form selection processing section 23a. It is a processing unit. Reference numeral 23c denotes a refund destination instruction processing unit that instructs all mails to specify a specific refund destination address. still,
This instruction may be transmitted by the refund destination instruction processing unit 23c via the network 14 to a terminal installed at a place where the mail is printed and created on behalf of the sender such as the printing company 11 or the like.
Further, the instructions may be printed on paper or output as an electronic file in a file format that can be browsed by general text browsing software, and in a format and method desired by the person creating the mail. You may pass it. Reference numeral 23d denotes an indeterminate postal mail detection unit that detects a postal matter corresponding to the indeterminate postal information. As a method of outputting the detection result of the postal matter, the postal matter may be output in a format suitable for the subsequent processing, such as creating a list of the relevant postal matter.

Each of these processing units described above may be realized by dedicated hardware.
Each processing unit is a memory and a CPU (central processing unit).
And a program for realizing the function of each processing unit may be loaded into a memory and executed to realize the function. The memory may be a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk device, a magneto-optical disk device, or a flash memory, a read-only recording medium such as a CD-ROM, or a RAM (Random).
Access Memory), or a computer-readable and writable recording medium using a volatile memory such as an access memory or a combination thereof.

An embodiment of a method for constructing the database 22 will be described below. First, when a plurality of senders request the printing company 11 to print a mail, the sender terminal 10 transmits print data such as the contents and address of each mail to the printing company 11 terminal. The printing company 11 prints from the contents of the mail to the destination based on the print data, and encloses and seals it in a predetermined envelope. At this time, a plurality of senders access the mail processing system 12 from the sender terminal 10 and transmit the mail information including the destination information and the shape / weight information corresponding to the mail data passed to the printing company 11 from the sender terminal 10. Postal processing system 1 that received it
In step 2, the mail information is stored in the mail information database 22c in association with sender information (sender name, sender ID, etc.) that can identify the sender.

Next, the mail processing system 12 classifies each mail by referring to the mail information stored in the mail information database 22c and the postage system information stored in the mail information database 22a. The quantity of each classified mail is counted, and the mail quantity information is stored in the mail quantity database 22b. Also, in the mail returned to the refund address determined in advance by the refund destination instruction processing unit 23c due to unknown address, unknown address, etc., the mail information of the mail is read from the mail information database 22c, The destination information and the address information included in the mail information are stored in the unfixed postal database 22d as unfixed postal information. The database 22 is constructed by the above method. Note that the above construction method is an example and the present invention is not limited to this. Further, if the destination information and address information to be transferred can be obtained from the indeterminate postal information stored in the indeterminate postal database 22d, the transfer information is output by storing the information in association with the indeterminate postal information. Can also. Also, the sender can be prompted to change the address information.

Next, the operation of the postal processing system 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 in a case where the postal form selection processing section 23a selects the postal form of "city special mail". This is described below, including the flow of mail. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mail processing system 12 according to one embodiment of the present invention, including the flow of mail. First, the postal form selection processing unit 23a reads out the postal quantity information from the postal quantity database 22b and the postage system information from the postal information database 22a. Select (Step S20). Here, it is assumed that “special city mail” has been selected because mail of the same shape to a certain post office exceeds a certain quantity.

Next, the postage calculation processing section 23b reads the mail information from the mail information database 22c,
Based on the postage of each postal matter determined by the postal form selected by the postal form selection processing unit 23a, the total postage for each sender is calculated (step S21). Next, the refund destination instruction processing unit 23c instructs to specify a specific refund destination address on all mails (step S22). In response to this instruction, when printing the postal data passed from the sender, the printing company 11 encloses and seals the envelope in which the return address is printed, or the envelope has a transparent vinyl portion in which the printed content is visible from the outside. If so, the designated return address is printed in the area corresponding to that part. Then, the postal matter is delivered to the delivery company 13, and the postal matter classified into "city special mail" is delivered to the designated post office. As described above,
By using the postal processing system 12, the sender can select a postal form with the lowest postage rate from various postal forms and send mail in the postal form. Furthermore, for postal items sent in various postal forms, the postage for each sender can be automatically calculated. Also,
By adding a postage settlement function to the postal processing system 12, the postage settlement of postal items requested by a plurality of senders may be performed instead.

Next, if the address of the postal matter sent is incorrect or the addressee is moved or the address is unknown or the address is undefined, the postal matter will not be sent to the refund address specified in the postal matter above. It returns (YES of step S23). Since the process does not normally return (NO in step S23), the process in the mail processing system 12 ends. Here, in the case of YES in step S23, the postal matter information of the returned postal matter is read out from the postal matter information database 22c, and the address information and the address information included in the postal matter information are regarded as the indeterminate postal information, and the indeterminate postal database is used. 22d (step S24). Thereafter, in the postal matter processed by the postal processing system 12, the unfixed postal mail detection unit 23d refers to the unfixed postal information stored in the unfixed postal mail database 22d and detects the postal matter of the corresponding destination information. (Step S25). As described above, by using the postal processing system 12 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the sender does not need to send a postal matter whose address is unfixed, and the mailing cost can be reduced. Also, the post office can save the trouble of returning postal items whose address is unknown or whose address is unfixed to the return address.

The processing program unit 23 shown in FIG.
A program for realizing the function of the processing unit that performs various processes in a computer-readable recording medium,
Each process may be performed by causing a computer system to read and execute the program recorded on the recording medium. The "computer system" mentioned here
The term “OS” includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. The “computer system” also includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used.

The "computer-readable recording medium" is a portable medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. That means. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a volatile memory (RAM) inside a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted through a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. , For a certain period of time.

The above program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the "transmission medium" for transmitting a program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line. Further, the above program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient. As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments and includes a design and the like within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the postal processing system according to the present invention, a postal information database for storing postage system information, which is information on charges for various mail items, A mail quantity database storing mail quantity information, which is information on the quantity of each mail classified based on shape / weight information, and mail pieces based on mail quantity information and postage system information. A mail form selecting means for selecting a mail form which can be delivered at the lowest rate, a mail information database storing mail information in association with sender information for identifying a sender, a mail information is read from the mail information database, and mail is read. Based on the postage of each postal matter determined by the form, there is a postage calculation means that calculates the total postage for each sender, so each individual sender The application that were not preferential service of postage, can be used in putting together the postal multiple of the sender. In addition, the above-mentioned postal processing system makes full use of various postal forms, which makes the calculation of postage complicated.However, by managing postal information for each sender in a database, the postage is automatically calculated for each sender. Can be calculated. As a result, the sender can use various postal forms in a plurality of mails, and the postage is automatically calculated, so that there is an effect that complicated postage calculation can be efficiently processed.

Further, in the postal processing system according to the present invention, a refund destination instructing means for instructing all mails to specify a specific refund address, and postal matter information of the mail returned to the refund address are provided. The system further includes an indeterminate postal mail database that stores the postal information with indeterminate postal information, and an indeterminate postal mail detection unit that detects a postal matter corresponding to the postal indeterminate postal information. . As a result, since the post office has specified the refund destination, it is possible to obtain an effect that the post office is more efficient than refunds to the addresses of various senders.

In addition, by making a database of destination information and the like of postal matter returning with an unknown address, postal matter returning in advance with an unknown address is detected in the subsequent postal matter processing. Can be canceled or the destination can be changed if the correct destination is known. As a result, an effect is obtained that the sender can reduce unnecessary costs. Also, as a post office, there is an effect that labor and costs can be reduced by reducing the number of mails to be returned.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a mail processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a postal processing system 12 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mail processing system 12 according to the embodiment of the present invention, including the flow of mail.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Sender Terminal 1, Sender Terminal 2,... 11 Printing Company A, Printing Company B, Printing Company C,. Unit 23a postal form selection processing unit 23b postage calculation processing unit 23c refund destination instruction processing unit 23d address unknown mail detection unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claims 1. A mail processing system for reducing postage and improving the efficiency of mail processing by collectively sending mail from a plurality of senders to a post office. A postal information database that stores postage system information that is information, and a postal matter requested to be sent by the sender,
A mail quantity database storing mail quantity information which is information on the quantity of each mail classified based on mail information including destination information and shape / weight information; the mail quantity information; and the postage A mail form selecting means for selecting a mail form capable of delivering mail at the lowest rate based on the system information; and a mail information database storing the mail information in association with sender information for identifying the sender. And a postage calculating means for reading the postal information from the postal information database and calculating a total postage for each sender based on a postage of each postal matter determined by the postal form. Postal processing system. 2. A refund instruction means for instructing all mails to specify a specific refund address, and the mail information of the mail returned to the refund address is stored as unfixed postal information. 2. The postal management system according to claim 1, further comprising: an indeterminate postal mail database; and an indeterminate postal mail detecting means for detecting a postal matter corresponding to the indeterminate postal information. 3. A mail processing method for reducing postage and improving the efficiency of mail processing by collectively sending mail from a plurality of senders to a post office. Storing postage system information, which is information, in a postal information database; and in the postal matter requested to be sent by the sender,
Storing mail quantity information, which is information about the quantity of each mail classified based on the mail information including the destination information and the shape / weight information, in a mail quantity database, the mail quantity information; A step of selecting a postal form capable of delivering mail at the lowest rate based on postage system information; and storing the mail information in a mail information database in association with sender information for identifying the sender. Reading the postal information from the postal information database and calculating the total postage for each sender based on the postage of each postal matter determined by the postal form. Method. 4. A program for realizing a mail processing method for reducing postage and improving mail processing efficiency by collectively sending mails from a plurality of senders to a post office. Storing postage system information, which is information about postage charges, in a postal information database; and in the postal matter requested to be sent by the sender,
Storing mail quantity information, which is information on the quantity of each mail classified based on the mail information including destination information and shape / weight information, in a mail quantity database, the mail quantity information; A step of selecting a postal form capable of delivering mail at the lowest rate based on postage system information; and storing the mail information in a mail information database in association with sender information for identifying the sender. Reading the postal information from the postal information database and calculating the total postage for each sender based on the postage of each postal matter determined by the postal form. program.