Franking machines

[enjay]

A hybrid between paper and technology, does anyone have any experience with franking machines or similar? Ours has gone end-of-life, but before we sign up for a newer version of the same thing (Quadient), I wanted to check there wasn't something better out there, including "just buy the postage online" options. Any advice on what you guys do in this area greatly appreciated.

[dhicks]

A hybrid between paper and technology, does anyone have any experience with franking machines or similar?

 

We had one for years, and at some point the question of renewals / upgrades came up and it turned out the admin office had stopped using it a while ago, so we didn't replace. I'm not sure what the procedure for postage now is, but I'm guessing simply buying stamps in bulk online as you suggest.

[Chris_Cook]

I'd try and get hold of a list of websites to add to your allow list. The web filter and firewall normally seems to be the problem with our Franking machines.

[enjay]

I'd try and get hold of a list of websites to add to your allow list. The web filter and firewall normally seems to be the problem with our Franking machines.

 

You misunderstand. It's working fine, but parts are no longer available if anything breaks so we want to replace it.

[enjay]

We had one for years, and at some point the question of renewals / upgrades came up and it turned out the admin office had stopped using it a while ago, so we didn't replace. I'm not sure what the procedure for postage now is, but I'm guessing simply buying stamps in bulk online as you suggest.

 

Ours is getting used, so this is a question of replacing it with another machine or a different system. I don't think we post much out, so maybe we should go simple as you have done and just get some letter scales and a big book of stamps.

[ColonelPanic]

We use a Quadient machine (I assume a newer model, as we've only been open 5 years).

 

The only problems I've had with it is punching a hole through Smoothwall. Knowing the admin code (09430) helped to find the IP/Port range it was trying to talk to.

[enjay]

We use a Quadient machine (I assume a newer model, as we've only been open 5 years).

 

The only problems I've had with it is punching a hole through Smoothwall. Knowing the admin code (09430) helped to find the IP/Port range it was trying to talk to.

 

We've just set the franking machine as a source exception on Smoothwall. My question is more "are franking machines still the right way to pay for postage?".

[ColonelPanic]

We've just set the franking machine as a source exception on Smoothwall. My question is more "are franking machines still the right way to pay for postage?".

It made more sense for us to have before we had a robust parent comms system set up. The feedback from our receptionist was "It works when we need to use it, but it's not humongously often". I guess a bag of stamps would suffice just as much.

[FN-GM]

Not what you asked, but thought it could be useful if you go down this route. Watch out for the cost of the ink. Some of them have a bizarre cartridge that costs of fortune. To the point it offset any savings of using the machine in the first place.