Postal system intranet and commerce processing for on-line value bearing system
First Claim
1. A method for generating meter refund indicia data, the method comprising:
- providing a secure network between a postage value administrator and a postal service provider;
authenticating a user at a user computer by a server on the secure network, wherein the server comprises a database and a cryptographic module;
accessing meter refund withdrawal software executing on a user computer and transmitting to the server a request for a meter refund using the meter refund withdrawal software;
processing the meter refund request via a meter refund application executing on the secure network at a support personnel computer;
contacting the cryptographic module by the meter refund application;
calculating the meter refund by the cryptographic module;
generating indicia data for the calculated meter refund by the cryptographic module by accessing meter refund information from the database;
transmitting the generated indicia data from a vault wherein the vault comprises the server; and
printing the indicia including the indicia data.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An on-line system for printing a value bearing item (VBI) that includes a client subsystem for interfacing with a user, a cryptographic device remote from the client subsystem for authenticating a plurality of users, and a server subsystem capable of communicating with the client subsystem and having code for providing customer support to a user, for administering a user VBI meter, for providing payment administration support to a user, providing accounts receivable support to a user, meter refund and withdrawal processing support to a user, providing misprint processing support to a user, and providing payment processing and billing functions. A method implementing these features is also provided.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for generating meter refund indicia data, the method comprising:
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providing a secure network between a postage value administrator and a postal service provider; authenticating a user at a user computer by a server on the secure network, wherein the server comprises a database and a cryptographic module; accessing meter refund withdrawal software executing on a user computer and transmitting to the server a request for a meter refund using the meter refund withdrawal software; processing the meter refund request via a meter refund application executing on the secure network at a support personnel computer; contacting the cryptographic module by the meter refund application; calculating the meter refund by the cryptographic module; generating indicia data for the calculated meter refund by the cryptographic module by accessing meter refund information from the database; transmitting the generated indicia data from a vault wherein the vault comprises the server; and printing the indicia including the indicia data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification