Perhaps even more than private companies, the United States Postal Service needs a reliable and sophisticated communications platform to manage the more than one million visitors to its website each day. Not to mention that it delivers 584 pieces of mail to more than 150 million addresses every day. Managing the communications needs of this service provider is a daunting task.

Verizon (News - Alert) has stepped up to the plate, and will be the prime contractor in the Postal Services Telecommunications Integrated Postal Services (TIPN) contract. The appointment involves a six-year agreement valued at $186 million that extends an already long-standing relationship between the Postal Service and Verizon.

Through the agreement, Verizon will continue to plan, design, install and manage a private, converged IP communications network that is based on multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). The network supports a number of aspects of the mail system in place today as well as providing a foundation for future technologies.

The MPLS network is used to help deliver mail efficiently and cost effectively. It is also effective in informing and managing more than 550,000 employees; storing and distributing data and documents; managing point of sale operations; staying current on internal developments; and augmenting customer service efforts at more than 31,000 Postal Service locations.

Through a contract awarded in 1997, Verizon has provided many network services through a Managed Network Services (MNS) contract with the Postal Service. This saw Verizon establishing one of the largest private networks in the world for the agency.

Verizon will continue to manage this network from its dedicated network operations center in Cary, N.C. Verizon also provides a number of additional services to the Postal Service, including satellite and telepresence services for high-definition videoconferencing. These services will be supported by the network infrastructure as set up under the new agreement.

“The Postal Service’s operations are among the most far-reaching and complex in the world, and Verizon is helping them keep the mailing public connected every step of the way,” said Susan Zeleniak, group president for Verizon Federal. “Whether it’s tracking Express Mail, selling stamps on usps.com or linking more than 31,000 postal facilities, we’re delivering the communications backbone that helps keep the mail on time in a modern world.”

Want to learn more about Managed Service Providers? Then be sure to attend MSPWorld, collocated with TMC’s ITEXPO East 2012 taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. Since its inception, MSPWorld has been the only event with a single, vendor-agnostic focus of supporting Managed Service providers and their respective ecosystems. MSPWorld in Miami will delve into the most pressing channel and end-user issues that MSPs and their customers confront every day. For more information on registering for MSPWorld click here.

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