Postage Meter Supplies

The postage meter is a crucial piece of office equipment that makes mail management a simple task. Depending on the diversity and the volume of mail handled, several ranges of postage meters are available in the market. In accordance with the Federal regulations, the meter unit of the equipment can only be leased, while other parts can be purchased or leased for a time period.

The supplies pertaining to the postage meter can be broadly classified into consumables, software, data provision, and hardware. Most can be purchased online from recognized postage-meter vendors. Consumables include bag and tray tags, tabs, water seals, bottled ink, inkjet printer-specific cartridges, white or colored adhesive labels, strapping, and glue dot.

The most common software used are a combination of the CASS (coding accuracy support system) and PAVE (presort accuracy validation and evaluation). CASS matches the street address, city, and state on the office postal list to the Postal Service-approved database, while PAVE prints it out in the required form. Several versions of these applications that are operable in different platforms are available like the Accumail Tool Kit. Software such as Easy street, QuickLocate, and Zip USA has a wider marketing application.

The data provision consists of lists, including mailing lists, business lists, consumer lists, resident occupants, new home owners and movers; databases, which may be of gender, location, telephone numbers and zip codes; and carrier route maps, which depict the quickest possible mail delivering route.

The hardware depends on the type of the postage meter used. A printer is a definite requirement. The commonly used printers are a thermal printer, line, or dot matrix printer. The meters also need a strapping machine that may be manual or semi-automatic.

Most of the supplies can be obtained directly from the system manufacturers or independent dealers; however it is advisable to purchase them after a thorough inquiry about their after-sale service and customer support.