Saudi Post Adds Intelligence To Mailboxes

By Rhea Wessel, RFID Journal Magazine

After participating in the first phases of an ongoing project using active RFID tags to monitor the performance of Saudi Arabia's postal service, Saudi Post is rolling out RFID-based mailboxes for citizens across the kingdom. This rollout is part of an overall IT and service upgrade that includes an active RFID-based system to monitor quality at the nation's mail-sorting centers.

Each of the 10 million mailboxes that will be installed at homes in Saudi Arabia is fitted with a passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) EPC Gen 2 RFID tag that uniquely identifies it. Postal carriers employ Intermec handheld CN3 computers with built-in RFID IP30 interrogators to identify the mailboxes before slipping letters into them. After a letter is inserted into a mailbox, the tag is read once more so that Saudi Post's system can verify when mail was delivered to that particular home. The handhelds, containing GPS and wireless data communication modules, are used to provide real-time updates to managers regarding postal carriers' locations and activities.

Used with permission from RFID Journal, Inc.