Digital mail kiosks come to campus

The Radford University post office has installed a new, easy-to-use digital kiosk for the benefit of all students and faculty. This kiosk will make purchasing stamps and mailing packages and letters a snap and, for the first time, will allow customers to make purchases with debit or credit cards.

Universities such as James Madison, University of Virginia, Rutgers and Auburn have already installed these digital kiosks and enjoyed the benefits they bring, said RU Postal Services Manager Robert Duncan.

"I think that students will really like it," said Duncan, who has spent over a year researching ways to introduce a digital mailing solution at RU. "Over the years we’ve been having more and more students wanting to pay with debit or credit cards. Now we can just send them to the kiosk instead of making them go over to the Bonnie or upstairs to get cash."

Going the digital route also allows Postal Services to offer longer hours for customers.

"It is open after hours and on weekends and we have a large drop box that people can leave their package and letters in when we are closed," Duncan said.

The success of digital kiosks around the country has led to their adoption by universities, who host large bodies of potential customers that don’t necessarily run on a post office schedules.

"The kiosks have gone over really well with other universities," said Charles Yates, a representative from Pitney Bowes, the manufacturer of the machines. "Rutgers started with one now they have seven and Auburn has two but is adding three more."

The kiosks are one part of a modest green initiative that Postal Services is undertaking. Duncan and his staff would also like to cut down the use of paper flyers and start using the kiosk as a way to advertise school events and student organizations.

This fully automated kiosk is located in the post office in Dalton Hall right next to the package pick up window.