As digitalization continues to take over every aspect of our lives, the mailboxes in your city may become the latest addition to your technologically-rooted routines. Thailand Post has recently announced its plans to turn into a tech-savvy enterprise, by establishing “smart” mailboxes.
To manifest these objectives into reality, the company has stated that it is collaborating with the state-owned telecoms company CAT Telecom. The idea is to produce mailboxes that are integrated with the “Internet of Things” technology in order to identify at what time the parcels are deposited.
According to reports, sensors will be fixed in the mailboxes, which will facilitate the transmission of data to the closest post office, whenever a letter or a package is dropped into a box. Mr Korkit Danchaivichit, the president of Thailand Post, is optimistic that this technology will facilitate the effective management of collections.
He also explained that the employees of Thailand Post will be able to monitor the status of the mailboxes using their personal computers, smartphones, or tablets. Moreover, information pertaining to the number of items dropped into a specific mailbox along with their timestamps can be accessed via this platform. Consequently, the collection staff are equipped to schedule their time better. The outcome that is hoped through this switch is enhanced user confidence in the system as well as the mitigated risk of lost mail.
As of now, the postal service, according to Mr Korkit, handles over 1.6 billion items every year. This novel project will lead to the establishment of about 22,000 smart mailboxes across the country.
“We are planning to install 1,000 smart mailboxes in Bangkok and its perimeter areas before the end of 2020 to streamline the collection process. By the end of 2021, we aim to install up to 22,000 smart mailboxes nationwide to cover the increasing needs of customers, especially those in e-commerce and logistics industries.”
Mr Korkit also added that CAT Telecom is providing free high-speed internet to customers visiting all Thailand Post branches.
