Postal Employees Keep Pace with Technology
Inside the U.S. Postal Service we work with doohickeys like the Flat Sequencing System (FSS), Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS), Automated Package Processing System (APPS), Automated Airline Assignment (AAA) system, Delivery Bar Code Sorters (DBCS), and hand-held Scanners to minimize amount of time required to process mail and maximize our efficiency. Technology by my own definition is the difference between the equipment we used in days gone by and the processing mediums available now to perform the same tasks more effectively.
Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and other Electronic components are dictating the way populations remain in touch. Smartphones, eReaders, laptops, iPods, iPads, Tablets, and memory cards continually redefine “Going mobile.” Hotspots, Bluetooth, WI-FI, and USB modems are necessary venues to join a secured network.
Text messaging and mobile email keeps our inbox occupied. Pushbutton start and keyless entry provide instant access to the things with a big engine. Online streaming, cameras, video, Blu-ray, postal specific “apps” for that, and High Definition Multimedia Interface (HMDI) cables vividly bring audio and visuals to life. Becoming popular is our ability to immediately link to web pages of interest via Quick Response (QR) codes which are the latest two-dimensional barcodes.
Personal technology makes us feel safe, secure and always coupled in event of disaster, emergency, or convenience. I heard a woman talking about her car running down an embankment and flipping over. She said her electronic device saved her life because emergency services were quickly guided to her location. Another gentleman said he was lost while traveling out of town and his navigation apparatus got him to his destination without stopping to ask for directions.
The hi-tech reality in the minds of many is that almost nothing is private and making us sense there are barcodes stamped on our brains and hands. Check your driver’s license, credit card, or postal I.D. for a digital chip. Once identified with a personal access pass to services no human is exempted by race, religion, gender, or creed. I heard a podcast that said vendors in Australia can recognize your Bluetooth device once you walk into the mall. They will pick up your signal then automatically greet you with an invitation to stop by their kiosk for a free cup of coffee or special sale event.
All this new personal and business gadgetry provides an opportunity for continuous training and development. Those who say they have no use for digital age props will be digitally divided and won’t be able to participate in any kind of innovation to improve quality of life. Those that don’t believe in the digital-age hype are susceptible to missing out on advanced notification of all kinds of information. Public libraries provide an alternative option to do some work or surf the web with a computer. Shared desktop computer stations are replacing human interaction in many public locations to complete job applications, obtain quicker access to services, process memberships, access payroll, and apply for reassignment opportunities.
USPS is a more high-tech agency with paperless opportunities through internal and external domains for access to corporate social or shared resources. It’s probably a responsibility of all of us to find ways to assist and support our families, friends, and coworkers as needed that are unmotivated, have a handicap, or just too stubborn to change. Most of us find that once we are digitally connected and we momentarily lose that connection due to technical problems we begin to sweat-the-load in a manner that gives a whole new meaning to “Electronic leash.” A backup plan is always important to think about before communication goes down for whatever reason.
True! Email is much more impersonal than writing a letter. Both of those forms are also more remote than face-face communication with a sender and receiver better interpreting a message through tone, facial expressions, and body gestures a condition that is quickly becoming a lost art form. All these new fangled devices require a cost-to-be-the-boss. As any salesman will tell you “The funny thing about this item is it comes with a payment.” And don’t forget a cable, satellite, or network service provider.
Technology may appear to move fast and it’s probably because we are thinking too slowly. It’s a critical component of the 21st century way “We Deliver.” When we all try to keep up with the latest scientific advances the challenge becomes greater. By the time you get your contraption installed at the business or set up at home the new model will be phasing in with a better operating system. We must keep our business close, and our technology closer. Before we know it (and hopefully we don’t for the sake of our jobs) we might be able to send a physical package with the blink of an eye. That’s when it will be time to open up our communicators, send an instant message to the transporter room and tell Scotty to “Beam us up.”
Ronald Williams, Jr.
Written for PEN readers