System for accounting for postage expended by a postage meter having

Abstract

A system for accounting for postage expended by a postage meter. The system includes a keyboard and display for entry of commands and postal information, a printer, a memory for storing account records and program data, the memory further including a non-volatile memory for storing account records and other data, an interface to an electronic postage meter, and a processor including a CPU. The processor controls an electronic postage meter through the interface in accordance with the program data and entered postal information to set the meter and then responds to signals from the meter to update account records. The processor may also edit selected account records in accordance with entered information. In one disclosed embodiment the system responds to an operator request to print the account data base by repetitively scanning the account data base and sequentially printing accounts. In another disclosed embodiment the system stores images of account to be edited in selected regions of non-volatile memory before beginning to edit the account. These embodiments increase the security of the data in the accounts by avoiding exposure to data loss due to power failures or transients while accounts are being processed. In another disclosed embodiment a record of edited accounts is maintained by the system to allow a service technician to detect unauthorized editing of accounts. In still another disclosed embodiment the system tracks the contents of the postage meter ascending register to detect off-line meter usage.