AUTOMATED POSTAL CENTERS (APCS)

Automated Postal Centers- The Board of Governors approved funding to design and develop 2,500 self-service kiosks called Automated Postal Centers that will let customers buy stamps and postal products just as ATMs enable customers to conduct self-service banking. Evaluation of 30 units will begin in October. Nationwide deployment will begin in mid-winter and is expected to be completed by summer 2004.--USPS April 1, 2003

March 2001 Article

What's the first step for a government kiosk project? "Know your customers," says Steve Youngblood, program manager of the U.S. Postal Service's Automated Postal Center project. "Find out what they want."

      US Postal Service counters serve around seven million customers per day; the potential benefits of a line-busting kiosk self-service program are huge. The USPS spent two years on market research before field-testing their kiosks. Surveys asked customers the best approach to deliver products and services; focus groups discussed the kiosk concept and helped design the screens. "Customers were surprised by the sophistication of the kiosks," says Youngblood. "They were also pleased to hear that we wanted to improve customer service."

Fifteen prototype self-service kiosks were deployed around Orlando — thirteen in post offices and two in grocery stores — in May 1999. Users can weigh items to be mailed, shop for rates, buy stamps, retrieve information, and print labels for express mail with 24/7 availability. The kiosks were widely advertised, and their popularity is such that they've been left in the field while the prototype is being modified. Youngblood compares their acceptance to the early days of the ATM. Users are initially reluctant and a bit intimidated, but once they've tried them, they return again and again: "When we moved one kiosk from a grocery store to a post office [for greater revenue potential], we got letters saying 'Give us our kiosk back!'"

      Early challenges included the speed of movement from one screen to the next, and cash acceptors that jammed so frequently they've been forced to accept only credit and debit cards. This has reduced the downtime of the kiosks (and maintenance costs), and transaction volume and revenue are actually higher now than when they accepted cash, according to Youngblood. They chose a soup-to-nuts solution with IBM's Kiosk Manager to remotely monitor functionality and stock (stamps, mailing labels, receipts) in each kiosk. Alerts and pages are automatically sent to the appropriate technician for repair or replenishment.

The fifteen kiosks currently serve over 14,000 customers a week, but there has been no resulting reduction in staff. "The lines have gone from horrendous to more manageable," says Youngblood. "Orlando is a busy city for us." Orlando was chosen as the pilot city because of its demographics and high revenue post offices. The next two test cities are Atlanta and Dallas, chosen for similar reasons — "Atlanta's demographics are similar to those of the U.S. as a whole," says Youngblood — with Columbus and Minneapolis both in the running as the fourth testing ground.

Youngblood says the US Postal Service will expand its kiosk program to include 100 more units in Orlando, Atlanta, and Dallas in the next twelve months, with 4000 kiosks planned nationwide by 2003. Their size — perhaps part of the intimidation factor — is being reduced from six to three feet wide, and the black-and-white USPS screens are being made more colorful. An attract loop with proximity sensors and faster transaction rates will increase their appeal. Limited Internet access is being added for customers to access postal-related information. "We might add access to other government sites like the IRS in the future," says Youngblood.

      Video and poster advertising could become a revenue source for the kiosk program. "We're considering all possibilities for cost reduction, including advertising" concludes Youngblood. "We're in a very competitive market."