Mailmark: What to Expect

If you haven’t already heard, Mailmark is the result of a £70 million investment by Royal Mail and is expected to revolutionise the way businesses send mail.

A combination of a new 2D barcode and state of the art optical technology, Mailmark has been designed to improve mail tracking, as well as offering considerable cost savings to customers using the technology.

About The Technology

Replacing the traditional ‘town and crown’ franking mark, the new Mailmark technology introduces a 2D barcode that will show both the class and format of the mail.

With this technology comes new advanced digital reporting. Mail franked with the new 2-D barcode can be permanently tracked by businesses, meaning you know exactly where your mail consignments are within the Royal Mail network, from processing to delivery, with just the click of the button.

What to Expect

Businesses adopting the new Mailmark technology can expect to receive many benefits.

• Better value – Mailmark is guaranteed to always be Royal Mail’s lowest franking prices. As well as this, any Royal Mail pricing updates are instantly applied, allowing your business to avoid any underpayment surcharges. With Royal Mail collecting over £2 million from businesses in surcharges last year alone, this has the potential to save your business time and money.
• Sophisticated reporting – The new digital reporting technology will allow businesses to accurately track the progress of mail, allowing for improved efficiency
• Faster – Mailmark compatible franking machines will connect using LAN, making the process much faster and freeing up the analogue or fax lines
• Professional – Mail franked using the Mailmark technology can include your company logo and return address, presenting a professional image on your mail
•  Real time usage – Mailmark gives your business access to real time usage reports, allowing you to keep track of your postage costs
• Enhanced responses – With Mailmark comes a new business reply service. Improve responses to your business mail by including the new prepay business reply offering with the contents of your letter.

What Next?

Franking machine users do not have to upgrade or replace machines as the old franking service will still remain.

Franking machines will have to be replaced or upgraded in order to be Mailmark compatible. When deciding whether or not to upgrade your franking machine, consider the volumes of mail your business sends and the differences in tariffs. You should also consider whether or not a Mailmark compatible machine would increase productivity, and the convenience and cost benefits the machine could bring to your business.

Your existing machine may already be Mailmark enabled, so check with your franking machine provider.

This article was contributed by The Mailing Room