Ncr Awarded $88m Contract Extensions By Us Postal Service - Government Activity

EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, April 24, 2000

NCR Corp. announced that the US Postal Service (USPS) has awarded the company an $88 million Stage IIB Point-of-Service ONE (POS ONE) contract extension that will enable the Postal Service to continue rapidly expanding its customer services at its retail windows.

POS ONE is a major USPS initiative to replace outdated postal systems with a best in class retail point of sale postal solution. The program is focused on providing the Postal Service's customers with faster service and better information when visiting their local Post Office, as well as providing detailed data for the USPS to enable it to better manage its business.

This award is NCR's third contract on the POS ONE program. The total program includes 73,000 POS systems to be deployed in 20,000 post offices. To date, NCR has successfully deployed approximately 14,000 systems in nearly 2,000 Postal Service retail units.

The award includes 6,700 NCR POS ONE workstations that consist of:

* NCR 7452 retail workstations with DynaKey, a user interface that integrates an active-matrix color display with a numeric keypad, function keys and magnetic strip reader, for improved transaction speed, reduced training time, improved customer service, and increased productivity.

* Multi-functional graphical customer interface terminals, capable of capturing signatures electronically, displaying transaction information, processing electronic credit and debit payments, soliciting customer surveys, and displaying advertisements.

* Omni-directional presentation scanners for fast, accurate bar code scanning of postal products, services forms such as express mail and delivery confirmation, and hard to move bulky or heavy products.

* Dual Receipt/Slip Thermal printers for printing crisp, legible receipts, secure money orders, and mailing services forms.

* Third party products that include Sybase SQL Anywhere database, Weigh-Tronix Quartzell scales, Cash Bases cash drawers, and Cherry Corp. keyboards.

The award also includes a diverse range of professional, technical, and maintenance services consisting of application software development, system integration, human factors engineering, software certification, requirements consultation, program management, training and documentation, installation services, help desk services, software maintenance, and systems life cycle support.