Australia Post spends $71m on new tracking service

Australia Post will roll out new tracking technology and 26,000 handheld scanners to provide real-time tracking for customers under a $71 million deal with Telstra.

Post’s national network of postman and couriers will all receive a scanner which will enable them to offer constant updates on parcel delivery status, as well as new features such as photographing a parcel to prove a delivery had been made when no-one was home. 

Customers will be able to track the progress of their parcel in the delivery chain in real-time via Post's existing parcel tracking website.

Small parcels will now also be delivered by postman on bikes, a service only previously offered by couriers.

The scanner hardware will be provided by Telstra subcontractor Motorola Solutions. The application running on the devices will be delivered by enterprise mobility solutions provider BlackBay, an existing Australia Post partner, which will integrate with Post's existing tracking system.

The machine-to-machine tracking technology will run on Telstra's network.

Australia Post's current tracking strategy involves a system of stickers - each parcel has three; one of which is entered with the sender, the second with the mail centre, and the third with the receiver. Each stage is recorded on Post's tracking system and can be viewed through its online tracking tool.

The system does not provide real-time tracking and can often mean customers are not given an accurate view as to where their parcel is located.

Telstra is also the hosting partner of Post's secure online delivery service Digital MailBox.

The implementation of the new tracking system is just one initiative of a number under the organisation's $2 billion, four-year Future Ready program, which aims to bring Post into the digital era.