METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY PAYING FOR A FRANKING SERVICE
First Claim
1. A method of automatically paying for a franking service in a self-service mail-handling machine, said method comprising the following steps:
- a user inputting the parameters of the requested franking service into the mail-handling machine;
the mail-handling machine generating a first item of encoded information relating to the requested franking service;
a handheld communications device of the user obtaining the first item of encoded information;
the handheld communications device automatically sending a payment request for paying for the requested franking service to a first server system;
the first server system receiving said request and verifying the use entitlements of the user;
if the use entitlements are valid, the first server system generating a second item of encoded information in response to the payment request for paying for the franking service;
the handheld communications device of the user obtaining said second item of encoded information;
transmitting the second item of encoded information obtained in this way by the handheld communications device to the mail-handling machine;
the mail-handling machine verifying the second item of encoded information transmitted in this way; and
if the received second item of encoded information is valid, activating the mail-handling machine so as to implement the requested franking service.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of automatically paying for a franking service in a self-service mail-handling machine, in which method the user inputs parameters of the requested franking service into the mail-handling machine which displays a first item of encoded information relating to the requested franking service, the user captures said first item of encoded information by means of a handheld communications device which automatically sends a payment request to a first server system which receives said request, verifies the entitlements of the user and, if said entitlements are valid, generates a second item of encoded information and sends it to the handheld communications device for display, and the user transmits said second item of encoded information to the mail-handling machine which verifies whether said second item of encoded information as received is valid, and, if it is valid, implements the requested franking service.
11 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method of automatically paying for a franking service in a self-service mail-handling machine, said method comprising the following steps:
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a user inputting the parameters of the requested franking service into the mail-handling machine;
the mail-handling machine generating a first item of encoded information relating to the requested franking service;
a handheld communications device of the user obtaining the first item of encoded information;
the handheld communications device automatically sending a payment request for paying for the requested franking service to a first server system;
the first server system receiving said request and verifying the use entitlements of the user;
if the use entitlements are valid, the first server system generating a second item of encoded information in response to the payment request for paying for the franking service;
the handheld communications device of the user obtaining said second item of encoded information;
transmitting the second item of encoded information obtained in this way by the handheld communications device to the mail-handling machine;
the mail-handling machine verifying the second item of encoded information transmitted in this way; and
if the received second item of encoded information is valid, activating the mail-handling machine so as to implement the requested franking service. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method according to claim 11 wherein the step of transmitting the second item of encoded information to the mail-handling machine comprises presenting a screen of the handheld communications device to a bar code reader of the mail-handling machine.
Specification