Royal Mail is to invest 130 million in thousands of handheld devices in a bid to improve the delivery of letters and parcels.
The implementation is part of Royal Mail's wider IT transformation programme, a key objective of which is to offer customers more flexible delivery in when or where packages are deilvered if they're not home.
Some 76,000 devices will be handed out to delivery staff, starting next year, with the roll out is expected to complete by 2017 at the latest. The move should also result in improved management of information and enhanced tracking by adding barcodes to shipping labels; a practice widespread in the rest of the delivery industry.
Earlier this year, Royal Mail launched a new parcels shipping and tracking platform to enable e-retailers to improve integration between their IT systems and Royal Mail.
Royal Mail will work with BT to decide which hand-held devices to deploy. BT will also cover day-to-day management of the current and new devices and operating platform for a five-year period. BT provides Royal Mail's mobile connectivity under an existing, separate contract. Within the investment, Royal Mail expects to finalise a contract in the coming weeks for the supply of software applications for the devices.
"We are delighted to announce our investment of around 130 million in IT, which will better enable us to develop new services for parcels customers," said Nick Landon, managing director of Royal Mail Parcels.
"This is part of our ongoing programme to continue to respond to the needs of our customers and maintain our leading position in the UK parcels market."
Luis Alvarez, chief executive officer of BT Global Services, added: "We're passionate about helping leading organisations like Royal Mail blend the latest technologies with their people's skills and experience to get the best business results - something we call the art of connecting."
"The new hand-held devices, provided and managed by BT, will transform parcel tracking, helping Royal Mail create an even better connection with its customers."
