Postage labels from machines

Press, 12 February 1986, Page 7

Postage labels from machines

PA Wellington The Post Office has been inundated with orders for a first-day cover comprising a label from a vending machine.

These franked and gummed stickers are about to find their way into thousands of collections.

Today, New Zealanders will join millions of people in Europe, Australia, Cuba, Zimbabwe and Kuwait as users of a new postage label vending machine.

While what it dispenses is unlikely to appeal to the purist, thousands of collectors have already ordered first-day covers from the Post Office.

Vending machines will be in operation at 23 Post Office outlets around the country today. Special posting boxes will be available for first-day covers.

Various types of machines were used throughout the country to dispense stamps until early 1982. The machines were withdrawn then because they could not handle changes in postal rates and were often inoperative owing to vandalism.

The Post Office spent three years searching overseas for a suitable replacement machine and finally settled on a Swissmade model which uses a mechanical-coin mechan-

ism similar to that of coin-operated telephones. It is operated with a pushbutton keypad. The machines provide a 24-hour, seven-day weekly service and can dispense labels for values from one cent to $99.99. They can produce 1250 labels from a roll of high-quality paper.

The paper features an over-all pattern in pale blue of a New Zealand map and the Post Office logo. The printed impressions, including the postage value, will be in red.

New Zealand coins of any denomination are accepted and, as the coins are inserted, the total value is shown on a digital display. The user “keys” in the postage value required on a numeric keypad. When the label is dispensed, any change owing is displayed and can be obtained in the form of an extra label. This is redeemable for cash if required.

' The new machine’s ability to produce labels in many denominations gives it flexibility lacking in earlier machines.

It is expected 23 machines will be in operation today. A delay in the second part of the order has meant another 22 will be installed as they become available while five will be used as spares. The vending machines cost $7OOO each.