Whereas other companies will be presenting their De-Mail service for the first time at IFA 2012, Mentana-Claimsoft GmbH, a subsidiary of the listed company Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG, has already spent the past six months gathering extensive experience in this promising market. As the first accredited De-Mail provider, the company secured the relevant approvals at CeBIT in March 2012 and has been offering De-Mail delivery services to its customers ever since. Following a pilot phase, the FP Group started marketing the product and has already persuaded several medium-sized companies of the benefits of the legally compliant transmission of electronic letters.
Company health insurance provider mhplus from Ludwigsburg, Germany, is one example of a client from the insurance sector that will rely on the FP Group’s solution in future. Following its merger with Gemeinsame Betriebskrankenkasse Köln (GBK), mhplus now has over 560,000 customers. The company offers an extensive portfolio of products that covers all areas of healthcare. This includes statutory health insurance and nursing care insurance, the provision of cost-effective private supplementary insurance in conjunction with partners, quality-approved pension benefits both in Germany and abroad as well as information and support regarding all health matters.
Andreas Drechsler, CSO of Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG, explained: “There is a great deal of interest in De-Mail. The entry of additional providers into this promising market will help overcome any remaining concerns people may have and will increase acceptance levels among companies and private individuals.” The company believes it is well positioned to take on the emerging competition. “The FP Group offers a comprehensive range of services for analogue and digital mail communication – and De-Mail has a key role to play here. It enables our customers to process all their outgoing mail with a single service provider. And the fact that we ourselves operate as a medium-sized enterprise gives us an edge when it comes to gaining the trust of other medium-sized customers. That’s something we intend to capitalise on,” says Drechsler.
De-Mail gateway for companies and authorities
Mentana-Claimsoft can implement a De-Mail gateway for companies as well as authorities. The gateway is integrated as a software element in the customer’s existing IT infrastructure, with custom adaptations also a possibility. The cost of using the De-Mail gateway depends on the number of internal users the customer requires. For integration of up to 10 users, for example, the gateway costs EUR 99 (net) a month.
For private individuals and small businesses, the company offers its De-Mail portal. This is a web-based solution. Customers simply register and identify themselves once at www.fp-demail.de. They then receive their own De-Mail address and can send De-Mails straight away. The identification process is handled by TNT Post and this collaboration secures a nationwide network throughout Germany for the FP Group.
The cost of sending a De-Mail via the portal depends on the amount of data sent and starts at 28 cents (excluding VAT). This is the cost of sending a “De-Mail mini” message of up to 50 kB. A “De-Mail standard” message of up to 1 MB costs 33 cents (excluding VAT) – which is considerably cheaper than sending a normal standard letter by post. A number of extra options are also available at a surcharge, including confirmation of delivery or receipt.
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