NL1025307C2 - System and method for the delivery of postal items. - Google Patents

Abstract

The system is for delivery of physical postal items from a sender to one or more distant receivers. On the sender side is a postal product server (1), which creates on the sender side an electronic postal item representative of the despatched physical item. The electronic postal item is despatched together with data representative of the physical address of the receiver to a central post server (30), comprising a post collecting server (21) and which has a first network which receives post. The central point server has an unformatted post database (26) for storage of the electronic postal item. A post formatting server (22) formats the electronic postal item. A formatted post data base (27) stores the formatted electronic post. A post sender server (23) sends the formatted electronic postal item over a second network to the electronic address of the receiver. A receiver-side print-out unit (93), connected with the second network, receives a print-out of the electronic mail postal item, and the physical postal item is despatched to the receiver.

Description

t

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DELIVERY OF ITEMS

The present invention relates to a method and system for delivering physical mail items.

Traditional physical mail delivery, such as offered by national postal services, makes it possible for senders to send physical (that is, paper) postal items, for example letters and postcards, to recipients. In a typical situation, an organization ✓ wishing to send letters to consumers produces the contents of a physical mail item or physical mail items in an electronic manner, i.e. with a word processing unit, prints the mail item or items, places the mail item (s) in (a).

. Envelope (s) addressed to the recipient (s) and transporting the mail item (s) to the mailroom. At this point, the national postal services or a service provider from the private sector collect the envelope (s) from the mailroom, and transport the mail items to a regional sorting and collecting location 20 where the mail at destination is delivered by specialized machines without or with human assistance being sorted. The envelope (s) is (are) physically transported by various means to regional sorting and collecting locations, which serve the area around the address of the recipient. From there, the letters are transported to the address and delivered to the house. The addressee opens the envelope and can read the mail.

In general, the mail is delivered once a day (six times a week) and, depending on the geography and quality of the postal organization, a letter, without taking into account specialized courier services, requires at least one day to be delivered I The process described above has not changed much in recent decades. A letter is produced (printed) and collected by a postal organization that transports the I letter and delivers it to the addressed recipient.

I The development of the internet has made it possible to send and receive messages electronically by using a system called e-mail "I (electronic mail). Instead of physical addresses, electronic mail addresses are which uniquely identify a person or group sharing a particular electronic mail account, since electronic mail is electronic, messages can be sent from one electronic mail account to another almost immediately at the touch of a button.

Internet Service Providers (Internet Service Providers I ISP) act as the bearer of the mail and allow the sender to send electronic mail and allow the receiver to receive electronic mail.

I Typically, an electronic mail account of a user is stored on a server that is linked to the Internet. The electronic mail recipient does not have to be logged in to this electronic mail account or even to his computer. The electronic mail, on the other hand, is stored to be retrieved later as desired by the recipient.

Electronic mail has several advantages over the traditional physical mail service. First of all, electronic mail can be delivered much faster due to the electronic nature of the message. Secondly, electronic mail is cheaper to deliver since the 10253 07 - 3 digital signals that make up the electronic mail are much easier to transport over long distances (if the internet infrastructure is present) than a physical object such as a package. transport is. Finally, an electronic mail message can simply be delivered to more than one recipient by simply typing in additional electronic mail addresses, wherein no additional physical copies of the message, extra envelopes or stamps are required.

10 However, electronic mail has some drawbacks 9 compared to the traditional postal service. First of all, electronic mail requires that both the sender and the receiver have a computer (or at least have access to a computer). While everyone has a physical address where he is located or where he can receive physical mail, not everyone has access to a computer and only a portion of these people actually have an electronic mail account.

Moreover, sending electronic mail or being connected to the internet is susceptible to viruses, which viruses can damage the system of both the sender and the receiver. It is also not always clear to the recipient whether the sender is indeed the sender who suggests it (it is fairly easy to change the sender's address). Moreover, since sending electronic mail is very cheap, there is no barrier against sending large numbers of electronic mail items to recipients who have not always requested this type of information (this type of electronic mail is currently referred to as "spam"). Finally, the addressee wishes to read (important) electronic mail messages from paper. Some postal items cannot (yet) be replaced by an electronic equivalent.

1025307- Η

4 I

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for the delivery of H physical mail items in which at least one of the above-mentioned drawbacks are obviated. According to a first aspect of the present invention, a system is provided for delivering physical mail items from a sender to one or more remote I receivers, the system comprising an I mail item production server on the sender side providing the sender side for the asm an electronic mail item

H

is representative for the physical mail item to be delivered and I for sending the electronic mail item and I for the recipient's physical address representative data I over a first network to a central mail server, wherein the central mail server comprises: - a mail collection server for collecting mail sent by the sender side item production server and H received from the first network; An unformatted mail database for storing the electronic mail item; I - a mail formatter server for formatting the electronic mail item into an application-oriented mail format; - a formatted mail database for storing the formatted electronic mail; - a subscriber database in which a relationship (mapping) between physical addresses and corresponding electronic addresses of recipients is stored; - means for retrieving the recipient's electronic address from the relationship (mapping); - a mail sending server for sending the formatted electronic mail item over a second network to the electronic address of the receiver; 1025307-5 - a receiver side printer, connected to the second network, for receiving and printing the electronic mail item, thereby providing the physical mail item to the recipient.

The system provides for the delivery of physical mail items, usually made of paper, in which the content is electronically transmitted by or collected from the sender and transported via an electronic infrastructure to the recipient's residence, resulting in the printing of a physical mail item (paper) on a suitable printing device. The entire chain of activities and transport, from the central printing of the postal items by the sender (or on behalf of the sender), putting the mail in the envelope, adding stamps, transporting the mail to the postal company, going through different stages of sorting and finally transporting and delivering the envelope with the postal item during the stay, is replaced by an electronic process, while a printed postal item (letter) is insured during the recipient's stay .

According to a preferred embodiment, sender preferences are pre-stored in a sender database and receiver preferences are pre-turned into a receiver database, the postformer server being programmed to determine the application-oriented mail format based on said sender and / or receiver preferences. Three types of preferences can be provided. Preferences set by the recipient and by the sender, while the preferences are subdivided into general preferences and preferences per mail item. Examples of the general preferences set by the sender are post-format templates for the use of 1025307 and a preferred general delivery window.

I Examples of preferences set by the sender per I mail item are a request for delivery confirmation and I delivery class. Examples of preferences set by the receiver 5 are mail category blocking lists and the activation or deactivation of incoming mail authentication.

According to a preferred embodiment, the mailing server is programmed to determine the timing of sending the mail item based on said sender preferences previously stored in the I sender database and / or the receiver preferences I stored in the receiver database beforehand.

According to a preferred embodiment, the second network is a wire or wireless network with communication channels that are exclusively accessible to the mail server and the printing unit. The information transmitted over the network is therefore not publicly accessible.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the second network is a wireless telephone network, preferably a GSM network.

According to a preferred embodiment, the data representative of the physical address of the recipient comprises the zip code and the house number of the recipient's residence. The sender can therefore address the recipient with its physical address, that is, the street name, the house number and the place, or can use the unique combination of postcode or house number instead. The mail item can thus be sent in the traditional way by using the information that was already available. Additionally, the data may include the name of the recipient I or a predefined sequence number. This I data enables a cross-check of the delivery address I 1025307-7, thereby minimizing the risk of a mail item being sent to the wrong address. The electronic format is suitable for printing by the printer.

In a further preferred embodiment, the mail server is programmed to send first identity data representative of the identity of the intended recipient at the recipient's physical address to the printer, in which the printer is provided with input means for entering second identity cards. data from an actual receiver, the printer unit being programmed to check whether the first identity data matches the second identity data and to print the mail item only if the first and second identity data match.

> 9

Only when the recipient of the mail item is indeed the authorized mail recipient, can the mail item be printed by the printer.

In a particular preferred embodiment, the input means are formed by a keyboard. The receiver enters a unique code (which forms the second identity data). Alternatively, a fingerprint scanner can be used, which provides a signal that is uniquely representative of the fingerprint of the receiver.

In another preferred embodiment, means are provided for sending status information back to the sender that is representative of the status of the arrived mail item. The sender will be able to determine whether or not the mail has actually arrived, at what time the mail has arrived, whether or not the mail has actually been printed, et cetera.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for delivering physical mail items from a sender to one or more remote receivers, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing on the sender side of an electronic mail item representative of the physical mail item; b) sending the electronic mail item and data representative of the recipient's physical address via a first network to a mail collection server of the central mail server; c) storing the electronic mail item in an unformatted mail database of the central mail server; D) formatting the electronic mail item into an application-oriented electronic mail format; e) storing the formatted electronic mail in a formatted mail database of the central mail server; F) retrieving the receiver's electronic address from a relationship (mapping) between physical addresses and corresponding electronic addresses of the receivers, the relationship being pre-stored in a subscriber database of the central mail server; G) sending the formatted electronic mail item from a sending server via a second network to the electronic address of the receiver, the electronic address being representative of a printing unit located at the receiver's residence; H) receiving the formatted electronic mail at the printer; I) printing the received electronic mail item on the printer, thereby providing the physical mail item to the recipient.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention. Reference is made in the description to the accompanying figures, in which Figure 1 shows a diagram with an overview of a preferred embodiment of the overall delivery system;

Figure 2 shows a diagram of a preferred embodiment of the printer; and

Figure 3 shows a diagram of the communication channels 15 between the central mail server and the printer.

* 9

In the description and figures, the same numbers refer to similar parts or components. It is also to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary and are not restrictive of the claimed invention. For example, although physical mail items are referred to in the present document as mail items or letters, the invention is not limited to letters in a limited sense. Bank statements or even newspapers can also be considered as postal items.

The present system has two main participants: the sender who wants to send a letter to a receiver and a receiver who will receive letters. The sender creates mail items in a standard electronic format 30 by using a mail item production server (1) (Figure 1). The electronic format can meet the XML standard, but any open or even proprietary standard can be used. The sender sends the 1025307 “I 10 electronic mail items including information about the I addressee and other parameters, for example time or I delivery window, validity period and information about the I layout (layout), to the system.

The connection and the protocol used between the sender and the system can be of any type. Examples are secure leased lines (12) and the public internet I (11). Various secure transport protocols apply over that connection.

I 10 The system collects the mail items, performs standard security checks and stores the mail items for I shipment.

Based on the shipping preferences (set by the sender and receiver, as will be discussed later), the individual electronic letter or mail is generated in an application-oriented electronic format. Examples I of formats that can be supported by the I printing unit are: XML, PDF and PCL. The actual format I selected depends on properties such as I 20 safety and compression ratio. | The mail server is connected to the printing unit of the recipient by using different I protocols or carriers. Both wireless connections, such as the GSM standard (but also the successors thereof, for example CMSA or UMTS are possible) and wire connections, for example telephone or (television) cable, can be used. The system will uniquely identify each printing unit (100). The preferences I of the recipient can be viewed and changed via the Post View and Preference Manager (Mail View and

Preference Manager) (24), which is connected via the internet and the browser (85).

I 1025307-11

The receiver has a proprietary printing unit (100) on the plot. This printer can be a closed system printer (93) or can be an application-oriented * add-on device (91) that can be coupled to a commercially available printer (82). The proprietary printer (100) has a unique electronic address that serves as a unique connection to the address of the recipient.For example, a zip code and house number identify the address of the recipient.There is a relationship (mapping) between the device's electronic address and * the zip code and house number combination that is stored in the subscriber database (28).

In a further preferred embodiment, the name or a series number of the receiver (s) is added to improve identification. The connection between these two items is owned and stored within the system's subscriber database (28).

The mail server contacts the print unit of the recipient and sends the piece to the device. The system controls and controls the printing unit and will occur in the event of problems. When the paper level is low, for example, an action will be started to refill the device. All required technological and control actions that are required to ensure correct printing are part of the present invention.

The printing device stores private mail items, while the printer indicates on a screen that a mail item has arrived. Non-private mail items - for example advertising material - are printed immediately without confirmation. In one of the preferred embodiments, the printer (100) requires a personal identification method for each recipient to activate printing. In other embodiments, however, printing can be accomplished without the identification of the receiver, as will be explained below.

The recipient will then identify himself via a generally accepted method of identification, such as with the help of a personal identification number I (PIN). Other identification methods such as fingerprint recognition (or combinations of technologies) can also be applied.

It is possible to set preferences about which type of mail items can be printed directly (without identification) and which items require identification.

The sender receives information regarding the status of the mail item. The time of delivery to the printer and the time of actual printing are certain examples of reportable status information.

The present system functions as an archiving system. For a recipient, it is possible to view the mail items that have been printed (or are ready to be printed) by using a standard internet web browser.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention shown in Figs. 1-3 are described in detail below. Figures 1-3 are diagrams showing the components of a physical digital or wireless network, which network provides an example of a working environment for the present invention.

The sender has installed a so-called mail item production server (1). The mail item production server cooperates (interfaces) with an existing mail infrastructure of the sender's organization. The mail item production server sends the mail items in a standard electronic format to the mail communication server (21) via a first network, for example a rented line I 1025307-13 (12) from a private network or the internet (11).

The mail collection server (21) handles all communication between the mail item production server (1) and the other parts of the delivery system (20). For example session control, receiving mail items and sending back random types of confirmations.

Communication between the mail item production server (1) and the mail collection server (21) can be of any type p and of any protocol, depending on the preferred implementation. The aforementioned examples are secure leased lines (12) and the public internet (11).

Different secure or non-secure and even 15 proprietary transport protocols can be applied.

* *

There is a central control unit that controls all operations for mail delivery. This component is called the delivery mail server (30). The mail item production server (1) sends the formatted electronic mail items including information about the addressee and other parameters such as (but not limited to) time or delivery window, validity period and formatting information, to the mail collection server (21). The mail collection server (21) collects the mail items, performs a standard security check, and stores the mail items in the unformatted mail database (26).

The sender database (25) and the receiver database (28) contain pre-stored information that is necessary to determine when and how mail items should be sent. For some mail items, the sender can determine when the items are sent and for others, the recipient can determine the most suitable time or day for receipt. Other examples of receiver preferences 1025307, - I are the activation or deactivation of the identity check, possibly depending on the postal category. I mail items to be sent are set to belong to a certain I mail category. Examples of such categories are advertisements and updates of bank statements. It can be set by the receiver that some categories are blocked.

The recipient can set preferences via an I (standard) internet browser (85). The mail view and preference manager (24) is connected via an internet port to update the preferences and to view their archived mail items.

I Based on the sending and receiving preferences I (stored in the sender database (25) and receiver database I 15 (28)), the mail from the unformatted mail database I (26) is formatted and prepared for transmission by the I post formatter server (22) and stored in the formatted I mail database (27). The individual mail items (such as I stored in the formatted mail database (27)) are generated in an electronic format that includes compression, security and other optimization technologies.

Next, the mail server (23) sends the mail items stored in the formatted mail database (27) on the previously described date and time, taking into account the preferences set by the sender and receiver (which preferences are stored in the mail server). sender database (25) and the receiver database (28)).

The mail server (23) initiates a communication session via the connection port (41) to the connection control unit (61). The connection port comprises I (Figure 3) a wireless port (42) and / or a wire port I (43) and the connection control unit (61) contains a respective wireless control unit (62) and / or an I / O 2525307 control unit (63). The actual selected port (wireless port (wireless port) or wire port (wired port)) depends on the preferred implementation. The communication control unit can contain both a wireless control unit 5 and a wire control unit if communication over both a wireless connection and a wire connection is supported.

The mail delivery server (23) archives the mail items that can be sent or sent in the post archive database (29). This contains not only the postal items, but also additional status information that can be used and viewed by the recipient or sender. The post archive is accessible through a browser (85) connected via an Internet service provider (55). The post view and preferred manager (24) controls the process for * access to the archive.

For wireless communication, wireless service providers (service providers) (52) are used, for example a telephone company. For wire communication, public wire service providers (53), for example telephone or cable companies, can be used. Both types of providers are called communication service providers (51).

The two sets 42.52.62 and 43.53.63 perform the communication between the mail server (30) and the printer control (71). Some of the functions are session management, sending and receiving, compression and decompression and handling security.

At the receiver, a dedicated (dedicated) printing unit (93) may be installed with a print control unit (91) and an integrated print component (83) or a separate print control unit (91) together with a commercial J025307

I printing unit (82) are installed. It is not I

I necessary to have the commercial printer (82) coupled to a personal computer.

The application-oriented printer unit is a print control unit combined with an integrated one

I printing component (83). Both the integrated printing component I

I (83) in the case of a dedicated printer as I the commercial printer (82) in the case of a combination of a print control unit, the proprietary printer (100) will be called.

Communication between the print control unit (91) and the commercial printing unit (81) is established by using standards such as (non-limiting) PCL and PostScript.

The mail items are delivered by the mail server (23) to the print control unit (91) after a connection to the print control unit is established

I brought. The print control unit stores these mail items I

I in an internal receiving station database (72). The I

I print controller is capable of immediately I

I print mail items (without requesting identification) or I only after identification and confirmation of the recipient.

I Postal items are printed immediately when the following requirements are met: I 25 - there are no identification accounts at the establishment I. set in the receiving database, or I - the sender did not indicate that the mail item I should not be printed immediately; and I - the recipient has not set the preferences of the mail item type so that they do not have to be printed immediately; and the proprietary printer is not experiencing problems such as (non-limiting) paper on, ink on or toner on.

If a mail item cannot be printed immediately due to a problem in the proprietary printer and all other requirements are not met, the item will be printed immediately when the problem is solved. When a mail item does not meet the stated requirements, this bad will be printed after identification of the recipient.

The print control unit communicates with the receiver via the user interface unit (74). The user interface unit consists of the print control unit display (75), the user input device (76) and the user identification unit (77).

; Examples of the user interface device are (non-limiting) a touch sensitive display layer or a keyboard. An example of the user identification unit is (not limiting) a fingerprint scanner. The user identification unit can also be combined with the user interface device, for example in the case of identification via a PIN code.

The print control unit display (75) displays the number (and other information) of mail items (in the recipient mail database) waiting to be printed for each recipient.

A single print control unit can be set to control more than one receiver. The recipient 30 can initiate the printing of his mail items. He will have to prove identification via the user identification unit. After positive identification, his mail items will be printed. The receiver can use a 1025307

18 I

delivery website, print control unit or I

delivery call center indicate which mail item types I

can be printed immediately (without identification) I

and which pieces via the user interface unit I

5 require identification. I

When the mail items are printed on the I

printer, becomes a print confirmation for the I

mail item stored in the remote I

mail confirmation database (73). This information becomes I

10 regularly returned via the communication control unit I

and GWC and undefeated in the post archive database (29). The I

Shipper will provide information regarding the status of the I

received mail. The time of delivery to the I

print control unit and the time at which I

15 is printed on the dedicated printer I

Nf I

just examples of reportable status information. This I

information is sent by the mail collection server I

to the mail item production server. I

The recipient can via a web browser, using I

20 from a delivery post view master (24), the mail items in I

see the post archive database that is printed or that I

be ready to be printed in the formatted I

post database. The system therefore acts as I

archiving system for all incoming and delivered mail. I

The print control unit controls and controls the I

printer and will occur in case of problems. I

For example, if the paper level is low, an action I

be started to refill the paper unit. The I

dedicated printer management server (31) becomes I

30 used to control data from the application-oriented I

to pick up the printing unit. The control data exist I

(not restrictive) from: I

- Overall condition of establishment; I

1025307-1

19 - Paper level; and - Ink or tone level.

The retrieval of this management information can be initiated by the operation control center as a result of a query at the help desk (help desk), initiated on the basis of a schedule by the management server of the dedicated printer itself to collect control data, or initiated by the print control unit or application-oriented printing unit as a result of a problem in the device. > The collected control data is stored in the control database of the application-oriented printer.

The requested rights are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments of the invention, but are defined by the claims, within the scope of which many modifications can be considered.

| 1025307e

Claims (27)

A system for delivering physical mail items II from a sender to one or more remote receivers, II the system comprising a sender side II mail item production server (1) for providing an electronic mail item representative of II for the sender side II the physical mail item to be delivered and for II sending the electronic mail item and data II representative of the physical address of the receiver over II a first network to a central mail server (30), the II central mail server comprising: II - a mail collection server (21) for collecting II mail sent by the sender side item production server (1) II and received from the first network; - an unformatted mail database (26) for storing the electronic mail item; I - a postformatter server (22) for formatting the electronic mail item into an application-oriented electronic mail format; I - a formatted mail database (27) for storing the formatted electronic mail; I - a subscriber database (28) in which a relationship I (mapping) between physical addresses and corresponding I electronic addresses of the receivers is stored; Means for retrieving the recipient's electronic address from the relationship; I - a mail sending server (23) for sending the electronic mail item formatted over a second network I to the recipient's electronic address; A receiver-side printer (93), connected to the second network, for receiving and printing the electronic mail item, thereby providing the physical mail item to the recipient. 2. System according to claim 1, wherein the sender side mail item production server (1) is programmed to provide an electronic mail item that meets a predefined standard mark-up language, preferably an XML following standard. 3. System as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the sender preferences are pre-stored in a sender database (25) and receiver preferences are pre-stored in a receiver database (28) and wherein the postformer server (22) is programmed to use the dedicated postforn format based on determine the aforementioned sender and / or receiver preferences. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, * * wherein the mail sending server (23) is programmed to determine the timing of sending the mail item based on said sender preferences stored in the sender database (25) and / or said in the Receiver database (28) Pre-stored receiver preferences. The system of any preceding claim, wherein the second network is a wired or wireless network with communication channels that are exclusively accessible by the mail server (20) and the printer (93). The system of claim 5, wherein the second network is a wireless telephone network, preferably a GSM network. 7. System as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the data representative of the physical address of the recipient 30 comprises the postcode and the house number of the recipient's residence. 1025307- The system of claim 7, wherein said data further comprises the name of the recipient or a predefined sequence number. 9. System as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, wherein the mail server is programmed to send first I identity data representative of the I identity of the intended recipient at the physical address of the recipient to the printer and in which the I printer provides is of input means for inputting second identity data from an actual receiver, the Printing Unit being programmed to check whether the first identity data corresponds to the second I identity data and to poorly print the mail item if the first and second identity data match. 10. System as claimed in claim 9, wherein the input means are formed by a keyboard or a fingerprint scanner. 11. System as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, comprising means for returning the sender status information which is representative of the I status of the arrived mail item. 12. System as claimed in claim 1, comprising storage means for storing a formatted mail item received at the printing unit I and a screen for indicating the arrival of a mail item. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said first network is a secure leased line or the public internet. 14. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the printing unit comprises a print control unit (91) for controlling the printing device and the I central mail server comprises an application-oriented print management server (31) for retrieving I 1025-3 07, s information data to and from the print control unit (91). The system of claim 14, wherein the application-oriented control server (31) processes the information data of the print control unit (91) to monitor and / or maintain the printing device (service). A central mail server in a system according to any one of the preceding claims. 17. Method of delivering physical r. mail items from a sender to one or more remote receivers, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing on the sender side an electronic mail item representative of the physical mail item; b) sending the electronic mail item and data representative of the recipient's physical address via a first network to a mail collection server (21) of the central mail server (20); C) storing the electronic mail item in an unformatted mail database (26) of the central mail server (20); d) formatting the electronic mail item in a dedicated electronic mail format; E) storing the formatted electronic mail in a formatted mail database (27) of the central mail server (20); f) retrieving the receiver's electronic address from a relationship (mapping) between physical addresses and corresponding electronic addresses of the receivers, the relationship being pre-stored in a subscriber database (28) of the central mail server (20); G) sending the formatted electronic mail item from a sending server (22) via a second network I to the electronic address of the receiver, the I electronic address being representative of a printing unit I 5 located in the residence of the recipient; H) receiving the formatted electronic mail from the printer; i) printing the received electronic mail item on the printing unit, thereby providing the physical mail item I 10 to the recipient. A method according to claim 17, wherein the step I (a) of providing an electronic mail item comprises producing an electronic mail item on a sender side mail item production server (1), wherein the electronic mail item meets a predetermined I standard mark-up language, preferably, an XML following I standard. Method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein in step (d) the application-oriented mail format is determined on the basis of sender preferences stored in advance in a sender database (25) and on the basis of receiver preferences stored in advance in a receiver database (28). 20. Method as claimed in any of the foregoing claims 17-19, wherein in step (g) the timing of sending the mail item is determined based on sender preferences stored in advance in an I sender database (25) and in advance in a receiver database ( 28) stored I receiver preferences. 21. Method according to any of the preceding claims 17-20, wherein step (b) additionally comprises sending further data about the addressee, for example time or time window of delivery, validity period, and layout information. I 1025307 A method according to any one of the preceding claims 17-21, wherein the second network is a wire network or a wireless network with communication channels exclusively accessible by the mail server (20) and the printer 5 (93). The method of claim 22, wherein the second network is a wireless telephone network, preferably a GSM network. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 17-23, wherein the data representative of the physical address of the recipient comprises the zip code and the house number of the recipient's residence. 25. Method as claimed in claim 24, wherein said data additionally comprises the name of the recipient or a predetermined series number. 26. Method as claimed in any of the foregoing claims 17-25, wherein step (b) additionally comprises the step of sending first identity data which are representative of the identity of the intended receiver at the physical address of the receiver and comprising in addition to step ( h) the additional steps of: hl) receiving at the printer unit the identity data of the intended receiver via the second network; H2) receiving second identity data from the actual receiver at the printer, the second identity data being entered into the printer by the actual recipient of the mail item; H3) checking whether the first identity data corresponds to the second identity data; h4) only if the first and second identity data match, continue with step i. 1025307-126 The method of claim 26, comprising skipping steps h2-h4 in the absence of first identity data or if the identity data indicates this. 28. Method as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, comprising the additional steps of: - sending back by the printer to the sender of information representative of the status of the arrived mail item, said information time and date of delivery of said physical mail item and / or time and date of actual printing of said physical mail item. 29. Method as claimed in any of the claims 17-28, I comprising the steps of storing a received mail item formatted on the printing unit and indicating on a I screen that a mail item I has arrived. 30. Method according to any of the preceding claims I 17-29, wherein said first network is a secure leased line or the public internet. I I 1025307