The United States Postal Service (USPS) debuted the phrase for Informed Delivery with “If it’s in the mail, it’s in your email.”
USPS rolled out Informed Delivery, a free service, that sends a scanned image of the mail that will be delivered to you that day, in stages—postal workers first, the general public next.
Preview your mail and manage your packages using any devise. Sign up on your laptop, via Apple’s App Store or on Google Play. The option to schedule when packages will arrive is a part of the service.
“About a year and a half ago USPS sent out Informed Delivery to pilot with employees, to see how it worked,” said Terri J. Fincher, Alpine Postmaster, “Almost a year ago it opened up to the public to sign up for free.”
“It takes a digital picture of your envelope for no fee,” she said, “Even packages.” That image is emailed to you, excluding federal holidays and Sundays, via computer or cell phone.
“Sure, I would sign up for it,” said Josh Rupe, who was visiting Alpine recently.
“Absolutely, especially if I was waiting for a check,” Fincher said, who became the postmaster for the Alpine location in 2015. She uses the optional service herself. The email is supposed to arrive by 9 a.m.
The Alpine Post Office moved to its current location at 2127 Arnold Way in 1949 but has been around in Alpine since 1923.
“Two-years-ago we had 19 employees,” said Fincher, “Today we have 27. We deliver to an estimated 15,000 people.”
“Business bulk mail is not imaged,” she noted. Currently envelopes, but not “flats” as USPS refer to them are not. Business bulk mail is commonly referred to as “junk mail.
If your scan shows a letter that you did not receive in your mailbox, contact USPS. Mail theft is charged as a Federal offense.
Concerns have arisen about misuse of the feature by stalkers or other unauthorized individuals who sign up before the authorized user does. Additionally, concerns about hacking the site or images being stolen and posted on the dark web have also surfaced.
To intercept hackers USPS started issuing notices, sent in the mail, to inform the individuals living there that their address was added to Informed Delivery.
In an interview on MSN News a USPS spokesperson warns creating a fraudulent account is illegal. Customers have several options to report fraudulent Informed Delivery account activity by reporting it online www.usps.com or calling 1-800- 344-7779. Additionally, customers can request an address be blocked.
To sign-up for Informed Delivery visit: www. usps.com and look for the Informed Delivery icon located on the top bar.
