07.18.2016
Pitney Bowes Inc. a global technology company that provides innovative products and solutions to power commerce, today announced the launch of the SmartLink device, a digital technology solution that connects postage meters to the Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud to streamline the client experience and enable a new range of services. The SmartLink device leverages a secure Internet of Things (IoT) platform to enable a host of online tools and services, including automated postage rate updates, low postage alerts, AutoInk technology, usage tracking and analytics, error notifications and simple self-help tutorials, all with 24/7 online account management features.
“Enhancing our analog mailing systems currently in use today with the revolutionary digital solutions and applications in the Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud creates significant new value for our clients,” said Mark Shearer, Executive Vice President and President, Pitney Bowes Global SMB Solutions. “Our small and medium businesses clients are burdened by growing complexity of mailing and shipping and look to Pitney Bowes to help simplify and optimize their sending operations with valuable digital services. With the SmartLink device, our clients will enjoy having their meters always up to date, never out of ink and delivering greater value every day.”
These digital services further simplify operations and allow clients to easily modify account preferences from a centralized location online. Meters connected with the SmartLink device will receive low ink monitoring service and the ability to automate the process of purchasing ink via the Pitney Bowes AutoInk program. Usage analytics and automated ink replenishment deliver greater savings and improve operations. New proactive alerts and greater support services will also help ensure the continuous operation of shipping and mailing workflows.
“As a small business, any savings we can take advantage of for office supplies is great,” said Laura Interrant of Lotus Motorcars of Long Island. “In addition, not having to remember when to reorder a supply and having it done for you is even better.”
Pitney Bowes partnered with Electric Imp to develop the SmartLink solution within the Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud. The SmartLink solution enables collection of real-time data from Pitney Bowes physical devices, paving the way to valuable data analytics and digital services.
“SmartLink is a smart, real-world IoT use case, capturing transformational business data and helping business customers avoid down-time – all while maintaining network, data, device and application security at high levels,” said Hugo Fiennes, CEO of Electric Imp. “Partnering with the experts at Pitney Bowes has been a great experience, and shows how our flexible platform can seamlessly integrate at scale with existing machines in the field. The result is a secure, cost-effective, real-time connection to next generation cloud services that improve Pitney Bowes’ customer experiences and provide insights to improve operations and future products for years to come.”
The SmartLink device is designed to work with Pitney Bowes low and mid volume mailing systems, including the model K700 (Mailstation2), DM100i and DM200L. New versions of these models will include the SmartLink device. The rest of Pitney Bowes’ line of mailing systems offers digital connectivity solutions, including the recently announced SendPro P series of high volume mailing and shipping solutions.
For high-volume production mailers, Pitney Bowes introduced its Clarity solutions suite, a new SaaS-based offering which leverages the physical and digital technologies of the Industrial Internet to integrate and organize data collected from sensors on production mail machines in order to support real-time insight, predictive analytics and prescriptive maintenance. Hosted on GE’s Predix platform, Clarity solutions represent the first commercially available solution generated by Pitney Bowes’ collaboration with GE to bring the power of the Industrial Internet to the production mail industry. Many of the same benefits are now available to small and medium businesses through their SmartLink connection.
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