At the recent pre-Drupa press conference in Dusseldorf, mailroom specialist Pitney Bowes gave a briefing to the assembled printing industry media about a new product that, err, is all about electronic delivery of bills and mailings instead of printing them.

The Volly system is a so-called 'digital mailbox' that promises secure digital delivery of documents such as bills and statements, along with clever integrated services such as bill payment and a seven-year archive.

It has sophisticated account setup options so consumers can choose which brands have permission to send to their Volly accounts, and how and when they receive alerts about important or non-urgent bills.  

In the USA it's been beta-tested since last summer by a raft of Pitney Bowes' own employees, carefully selected to represent a suitable range of consumer types. More than 5,000 brands such as banks and retailers have engaged with the service.

While it may seem wrong-headed to be pitching a product like this to the printing industry, it is of course precisely the sort of service that companies like Communisis, IOS, RR Donnelley, GI Solutions and others might well want to add to their offerings to clients as an alternative to printed bills.

Pitney Bowes has set up wholesale and retail pricing models for it so that service bureaux, such as print suppliers, can sell a Volly option to their end customers. "Print service providers can make money on Volly in the same way as they make money out of printed documents," says Volly president Charles Cordray.

Surely it's far better for printcos to be on the front foot with a non-print service like this, as part of an integrated offering that may well be about printing less, but printing smarter. Because if consumers decide they like it someone else sure as hell will be.