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The USPS already scans all of its mail (link somewhere else). They have to do it to sort it: their machines automatically read the address and sort it. Any add
by 1024core 10y ago
The USPS already scans all of its mail (link somewhere else). They have to do it to sort it: their machines automatically read the address and sort it.
Any address that can't be machine-read (which is, like, 5%?) is sent via teh internet to some people sitting in a "cheap labor" place like WV where it is keyed in by a person.
Later, the typed results go back to the origin and a barcode is slapped on the letter. How do they find the right letter, you ask? Look for the florescent barcode at the back: that uniquely identifies the letter. So unreadable mail is scanned twice to get barcoded. After it's barcoded, the only human who looks at it is your delivery person.
- losteverything 10y ago<like WV It used to be in Barbados
- sbuttgereit 10y agoAnd once they had one in Utah (I know because in the early 90's I was one of those cheap labor workers doing the data entry ;-) )
- Animats 10y agoThe machine reading is now so good that there's only one center left, in Salt Lake City, where humans look at images of illegible addresses.[1] "We get the worst of the worst. It used to be that we’d get letters that were somewhat legible but the machines weren’t good enough to read them. Now we get letters and packages with the most awful handwriting you can imagine. Still, it’s our job to make sure it gets to where it’s supposed to go." [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/us/where-mail-with-illegible-addresses-goes-to-be-read.html http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/04/us/where-mail-with-illegib...
- arca_vorago 10y agoIt's not just for this purpose, there are more image scanners designed to be part of a mail surveillance network, but I haven't heard much about that since the pre-snowden echelon days.