Postal strike leads businesses to online alternatives

 

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By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 6 Nov 2009 at 09:19

The newly-ended postal strike may have caused grief for online shops, but communications companies enjoyed a bumper period while Royal Mail workers were out of action.

“We've seen a massive growth in both interest and business in the last weeks because of the postal strike,” Allan Chester, owner of UK PostBox told PC Pro. “People have seen that there's a lot more than just the Royal Mail as an option.”

UK PostBox runs an integrated mailbox service that uploads mail from PO Boxes to the internet so that customers can access hard-copy mail from their computers, for example. The company says it has had so much interest in the past few weeks that it is launching a new service that cuts out the Royal Mail altogether.

The service will allow customers to upload messages to a secure server, with the recipient sent a message telling them that a mail is waiting for them. They can then download their mail from the server.

“The recent strikes have confirmed the need for a paperless system that does not rely on Royal Mail or have the fallibility of email,” said Chester. “With the launch of iSecurePost, customers will finally be able to send and receive postal mail entirely online - cutting down on postage costs and environmental impact, without compromising on security or peace of mind. The system protects against identity theft and spam mail."

According to the company, its automatically encrypted iSecureMail is more secure than email and offers more control to end users. “Many companies send PDF files via email, containing sensitive information without any regard to their and the recipient's security,” said Chester, who claims the system should also stand up in court if there was a dispute over whether an mail had been received or not.

Mails sent through the service cost between 8p and 13p, depending on volume.