Post office adds new automatic postal center

New service means more efficiency for customers

MOSES LAKE — Long lines at the post office may soon become a rarity.

The Moses Lake post office recently installed a new Automated Postal Center (APC) in its lobby, and it is anticipated to cut down on the lines by making certain transactions easier for customers.

Post Master Mark Shaw said that the APC is touch-screen activated and accepts debit and credit cards, but not cash.

"I would most closely associate it with the ATM bank — same kind of an idea," Shaw explained.

Testing on the APC system, made by IBM, began in 1999; 2,500 machines will be in the busiest post offices across the country by the end of the year, Shaw said.

"To us, it's kind of an honor to put one in Moses Lake," he said, adding that the post office was probably selected because of its revenue and how many customers it sees per day. "It's good business sense to put it in a place where it's going to get used, and they considered Moses Lake as the type of an area where it would help be able to work well."

Features of the APC include allowing customers to purchase self-adhesive stamps individually or by booklet; weigh, calculate and purchase postage in any amount for items weighing up to 70 pounds; send items via Express Mail, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail and Parcel Post services or look up ZIP Codes and obtain Postal Service mailing information.

The APC accepts packages up to 12 inches high by 14 inches depth by 20 inches width.

The centers are handicapped accessible.

Lori Cole, post office window clerk and APC technician, said that the center has drawn some positive feedback from customers.

"A lot of people say it's really basic, really easy to understand how to do it," she said.

Shaw said an employee will be on hand in the lobby during regular business hours to answer questions and offer support.

Shaw said that the center is really exciting for the post office in terms of people in the area who sell items on the Web site eBay. He said several people come in continually with trays of items that they are mailing off.

"It's the middle of the evening and you want to get something off to somebody, but you don't have time to come to the post office — you're leaving at 5 a.m.," he theorized. "Twenty-four hours a day, it's going to be here. We're open 24 hours a day in our lobby, so this is always ready."

The only items that the APC can't process are registered or international mail, media mail rates or money orders.

"Of course, this Christmas, if people would take advantage of it, it's going to save (time)," Shaw said. "All lines get long. I would rather come in here on my way to work and mail my package to Mom than have to wait for the window to open and wait in line behind somebody that's got some special need that might be at the window for five minutes."

The APC allows post office employees to spend more time with those customers with special needs. Shaw said there's no cause for alarm that the automated center will replace post offices or postal workers.

"No post office has more people than they need," he said. "They have a lot of responsibilities besides selling the stamps."

Bottom line, the APC makes the post office's products easier for people to access, Shaw said.

"We're more than happy to staff our window so that we can help people, but we want people to have a convenient, easy experience when they come to the post office," he said. "If you can come in here and take care of something in a minute, and then — bang! — and you're gone at anytime during the day, then that's what we want."