Pitney Bowes Inc.

David P Gardner

Jeffrey D Pierce

Steven M Kaye

Mark Bresnan

Andrei Obrea

Clare E Woodman

Melissa Cacace-Bailey

Jeffery D Pierce

Jeff Pierce

Rebecca E Carvell

Claire E Woodman

A digital document delivery system and method for providing to a user an electronic primary document with associated secondary documents. The secondary documents can have relative priorities and are based upon user preference data. An electronic inserter, bill processing server and interactive bill presentation server are used to make the primary and secondary documents available for viewing by a user via the user's web browser, as well as to allow the user to interrogate the system and to respond to the primary document, such as to pay an account due as stated in the primary document. The digital document delivery system and method also notifies the user of the existence of a primary and secondary documents for viewing.

System and method for presenting and processing documents on the internet

Information stored at a resource remotely located across a network is automatically imported according to pre-defined selection criteria, formatted in a form usable by a local processing resource, stored in the formatted form, and provided to the local processing resource for use by it. In one embodiment, a mailing list manager has an import module coupled to a browser. The import module receives a set of user-defined information selection criteria. The import module commands the browser to establish a network connection to a remote network resource containing desired information. When the connection is established, the browser requests information from the remote network resource according to the selection criteria. Information received from the network resource is stripped of unnecessary information, formatted for use by the mailing list manager and stored in a database maintained by the mailing list manager. In a preferred embodiment, the network resource is a Web server with a search page that is coupled to a searchable database of addresses, and the addresses are usable in a mailing list.

Method and apparatus for importing information from a network resource

The present invention provides a way to access a secure environment by virtue of a right to access another secure environment. The present invention is directed to, in a general aspect, a method of authenticating membership for providing access to a secure environment. The environment for which access is requested can be a network environment, such as, for example, an Internet, containing a first secure domain and a second secure domain. Network connections can be made using TCP/IP protocols. Claimants inside and outside of the first secure environment are afforded access to the second secure environment. The first secure environment uses its own authentication information, such as a database of user names and passwords, for authenticating claimants. In order for an outside claimant to gain access to the second secure environment, the outside claimant must have previously been an inside claimant. When the inside claimant accesses the second secure environment, the server of the second secure environment stores location information on the claimant's computer. The method allows for authentication of claimants for providing access to several secure environments based on access to a first secure environment.

Method of authenticating membership for providing access to a secure environment by authenticating membership to an associated secure environment

An apparatus for separating print stream data containing a plurality of primary documents and information concerning associated customers to receive the documents, wherein the apparatus receives customer preference data that allow separation of the print stream data into an electronic primary document print stream and a hard copy primary document print stream. The print stream separator further generates a second output for the customers that are to receive their primary documents by electronic delivery, where this second output contains information regarding which of a plurality of secondary documents the customer should receive with the primary document. The priorities of these secondary documents may be based upon specific customer preference data for the specific customer receiving his or her primary document. Priorities for these secondary documents can also be included in this second output. A method corresponding to this apparatus is also described.

System and method for separating a print stream into an electronic document print stream and a physical document print stream

A system and method for electronic printstream delivery including the steps of providing a database containing a plurality of electronic documents wherein at least some of the electronic documents have an associated barcode in an electronic printstream and splitting the electronic delivery printstream into a plurality of electronic documents. Once the electronic documents have been individually split from the electronic printstream the presence of electronic barcodes that are associated with at least some of the electronic documents are identified and interpolated. The electronic mail pieces are then generated using the information obtained from the identification of the electronic barcodes, wherein each electronic mail piece includes one of the plurality of electronic documents and at least some of the electronic mail pieces include respective electronic inserts. The electronic mail pieces are then delivered by an electronic delivery system.

System and method for bar code recognition in an electronic printstream

The invention is a method and system for creating an address object, in an object oriented development environment of a data processing system. The address object is utilized during the creation of a document within a data processing system. The method includes both the object creation environment and the method of object utilization. The method establishes an object creation function within the data processing system, and then instantiates the address object by registering an object class within the object creation function, and then naming the class. Instantiation of the object establishes a programming interface to the address object. The properties of the address object are established by placing a set of object methods such as storage instructions, display instructions, and, printing instructions, together with: postal coding functionality; address manipulation functionality; a set of addressing data tables; and, a human interface within the address object by utilizing the established programming interface. The system user invokes the address object which causes the system to perform postal coding and address manipulation on the address field under control of the address object. The system establishes and utilizes the address object by employing data processing means for manipulating data; memory means for storing a plurality of data tables for use by the data processing means; input means for inputting data to the system; and, output means for outputting data from the system.

Method for utilizing the postal service address as an object in an object oriented environment

A Mail Generation Computer (MGC) is connected to a Local Area Network (LAN) at a customer site having a mail generation facility. A desktop PC on the LAN, under user control, accesses the MGC and submits a mail job to the MGC via the LAN. The MGC responds to the request and calls various mail piece generation modules needed to implement the request, thus freeing the user's equipment for other uses. The invention includes a job coordinator module for the MGC, to call, run and coordinate the various modules. The system embodied in the server thus allows any user at the customer site to submit a job to a process implemented on the LAN, which generates a finished mail piece or pieces, thus freeing the user from control over each portion of the mail generation process and similarly freeing the user's equipment for implementing other tasks.

Network-based mail piece generation

The invention is a method of determining the contents of a selected data field. The steps begin by attaching, from an application program, a database to be mapped. Once the database is attached, a field identification module (FIM), will scan the contents of the database to determine a data field identifier for each of the data fields to be worked upon. The FIM will then compare each of the data field identifiers with a list of known identifiers stored in a repository and assess a first score in respect of the comparison wherein the score is representative of a probability that the comparison is an accurate comparison. When a first probability score has been determined, the FIM will sample the data field according to a pre-selected list of requirements and make a second comparison with the data field. The FIM will then assess a second score. After sampling and scoring the data field, the FIM will construct a test case wherein the data field is used in the postal coding or host application and a third comparison is made in respect of the test case. The FIM will then assess a third score. The FIM will choose a field type based on the weighted average result of the three scores, and then request that the system operator confirm the selected field type. Once confirmed, the data field identifier and the data field represented thereby are added to the repository as one of the known identifiers.

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Southbury, CT, United States of America

David P Gardner