ViaPost

ViaPost is a hybrid mail service. Users of the service can send physical post from their computers by downloading a print driver, uploading a letter to a website, or using a SOAP-based API.

History

ViaPost was founded by Ben Way in February 2007.

A basic version of the driver launched in summer 2008.

A more advanced version, which was able to handle mail merges, launched in October 2008.

The API was made publicly available in November 2008.

Product

Print Driver

The core product is a Windows-compatible print driver. The driver is distributed for free. After downloading and installing the driver, the user can print a document or batch of documents from their usual software and route the document into the ViaPost system by selecting the ViaPost "printer" from their print list. That launches an application on the user's computer where the user can check and review the letter before it is actually sent to the ViaPost server. This process includes validating the address against the PAF, so only correctly-formatted addresses can be sent. A requirement of downstream access (DSA) is that 90% of letters are correctly formatted, so this validation check ensures that ViaPost letters will meet DSA requirements.

If an address fails validation, the ViaPost application will reject it and mark it as failed in the queue. The user can manually amend the address in the application and try again.

Web Upload

There is also a web-based service where a user can upload a document and a corresponding mailing list. The document can be sent to everyone on the mailing list. The web service currently only handles bulk mailing (where every letter is identical apart from the address), not true mail merge (where every letter is customised for each Recipient).

API

ViaPost also offer a SOAP-based API to allow developers to integrate other software with the ViaPost service. For example, a company running their accounts and other business processes on SAP could use the API to route some or all post through the ViaPost system, rather than installing the driver on every user's workstation.

Once in the ViaPost system, letters are sorted electronically and printed at a regional print hub. From the hub, they are delivered by road to the Royal Mail Inbound Mail Centre nearest the delivery location.

People

CEO: Simon Campbell COO: Bruce Greig Chairman: David Bland

Other board members include Chris Moss (of 118118), Natalie Ayres (Microsoft UK) and Ben Way.