Claims
- 1. A method of updating an addressee database comprising addressee information for a plurality of addressees in an incoming mail sorting apparatus comprising the steps of:
a) providing the addressee database stored in memory associated with the incoming mail sorting apparatus; b) providing a mailpiece to be read and sorted by the incoming mail sorting apparatus; c) reading the mailpiece to determine whether the mailpiece is an update form; d) reading update information from the mailpiece if the mailpiece is the update form; and e) updating addressee information as required by the update information on the update form.
- 2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the update information is in a barcode.
- 3. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein in step c) the determination as to whether the mailpiece is an update form is made by reading a signal from the mailpiece.
- 4. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the signal is indicative of the type of update being made to the addressee database.
- 5. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the signal comprises a character that indicates the type of update information on the form.
- 6. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the update information is presented in a field on the update form, and the field on the update form is read using intelligent character recognition.
- 7. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the update information is name update information for an addressee in the addressee database, and the name update information for the addressee is stored in the addressee database in a name field, and previous name information is stored in the addressee database in another name field.
- 8. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the update information is delivery point code information for an addressee in the addressee database.
- 9. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the update information is title information for an addressee in the addressee database.
- 10. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the update information is new employee information for an addition to the addressee database.
- 11. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the steps of printing the update information onto the form.
- 12. A method of updating an addressee database in an incoming mail sorting apparatus linked to one or more personal computers via a communication interface comprising the steps of:
a) providing the addressee database stored in memory associated with the incoming mail sorting apparatus; b) providing an electronic mail message containing addressee database update information to the incoming mail sorting apparatus through the communication interface; c) reading update information from the electronic mail message using the mail sorting apparatus; and d) updating addressee information in the addressee database as required by the update information contained in the electronic mail message.
- 13. The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the update information is a bar code.
- 14. The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the update information is presented in a field on the update form and the field on the update form is read using intelligent character recognition.
- 15. The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the update information is name update information for an addressee in the addressee database.
- 16. The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the update information is delivery point code information for an addressee in the addressee database.
- 17. The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the update information is title information for an addressee in the addressee database.
- 18. The method as claimed in claim 12 further comprising the step of sending another electronic message to the one or more personal computers providing the update information, indicating whether updating was performed.
- 19. A method of updating an addressee database comprising addressee information for a plurality of addressees in an incoming mail sorting apparatus comprising the steps of:
a) providing addressee information to a computer system; b) converting the addressee information into a machine readable format using the computer system; c) recording the addressee information on an update form, the update form configured to be processed by the incoming mail sorting apparatus; d) providing the form to the mail sorting apparatus; e) providing the addressee database stored in memory associated with the incoming mail sorting apparatus; f) providing a mailpiece to be read and sorted by the incoming mail sorting apparatus; g) reading the mailpiece to determine whether the mailpiece is the update form; h) reading update information from the mailpiece if the mailpiece is the update form; and i) updating addressee information as required by the update information on the update form.
- 20. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the step of, after step (a), validating instructions using the computer system.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] Reference is made to application Ser. No. 09/452005 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,535, titled METHOD FOR PROVIDING INSTRUCTIONS TO A MAIL SORTING APPARATUS, issued Aug. 21, 2001 and assigned to the assignee of this application.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09451458 |
Nov 1999 |
US |
Child |
10159896 |
May 2002 |
US |