Swiss Post is digitally transforming Switzerland’s postal services using LoRaWan technology by rolling out more than 100,000 smart pens, allowing an on-demand delivery service in villages throughout the whole country.

To connect them all, Swiss Post is using Swisscom’s nationwide LoRaWan, deployed and operated on French firm Actility’s ThingPark platform since 2015.

More competitors have come into the postal landscape during the past few years, obliging companies to up their game, having to offer the best service possible, including fast deliveries, lower prices and exceptional service. Also, the postal services act issued recently requires Swiss Post to ensure access to a basic universal postal service to citizens in all areas of the country, making the need for effective delivery in unpopulated areas crucial.

To solve these problems, Swiss Post created a four-year business strategy in which digital development was required.

Around 400,000 Swiss households now do their postal business at their doorstep with the home delivery service. Swiss Post has digitised this service and, in addition to an online offering, is also providing its customers with an order pen with a button that has it all.

Anyone who lives in a community with home service and has previously done their postal business with a clipboard will have two options in the future. Those with a digital affinity can place their orders using their smartphone, tablet or PC. Those who do not want digital services can use the order pen, or smart button, which is not connected to the internet.

Smart buttons are battery-operated LoRaWan-connected devices that incorporate Semtech’s LoRa transceivers and optical identification code. This lets people place orders for postal supplies and services through one click.

Swiss Post assembled a team that worked with Miromico, a Zurich-based technology services design company with more than 17 years of market experience designing hardware and creating tailor-made products for customers including IBM, Infineon, Roche and Coop Group and, after several tests, the devices have proved to be convenient, as they are easy to work by people who are not used to smartphones or ordering products online.

Users who want to send letters and parcels, order stamps, withdraw cash or pay bills can scan the right code with the pen and place the order. A postal worker receives a message straight away.

The order pen is basically suitable for all in a home service area who do not want to order home service with their smartphone, tablet or PC. In this way, they can carry out the desired postal transactions at the push of a button. Neither a login nor password is required.

The digital home service is sustainable because it eliminates the need for additional routes for the postal worker and CO₂ emissions are reduced. The postal worker receives the order message directly on the hand scanner and sees immediately whether the customer needs something. As a result, there are no more empty trips. Until now, the postal worker only saw this on the sign on the mailbox. And, thanks to accessibility, it is also available to people with disabilities.

Unlike order-on-demand offerings, the smart button reader does not need to be connected to a household’s wifi nor be configurated, allowing use without previous configuration. Smart buttons run on batteries that can last up to ten years, and don’t need any SIM cards. They can reach up to 10km, eliminating the options of using wifi or cellular. The order pen sends data via LoRaWan.

The order pen only sends when the button is pressed and every 72 hours for between 26ms and 1.4s, depending on the location. This is the only way to keep the order pen running for years with a battery.

After considering building its own LoRaWan, Swiss Post decided to collaborate with Swisscom, a national telecoms provider. Both companies agreed to develop a plan to ensure the expansion of LoRaWan coverage. Swisscom has deployed Switzerland’s only nationwide LoRaWan, powered by Actility, which covers 97% of the Swiss population.

Actility offers a network for Swisscom that includes the ThingPark wireless platform, base stations, central network controllers, and management platforms for low-power sensor provisioning and network monitoring.

This has not only been expanded beyond rural areas and been adopted by Swiss citizens but has also been introduced and used for new market opportunities. Other businesses are using smart buttons to order items of any kind. The on-demand use of the button is an alternative to time-consuming order processes and helps coordination with suppliers.

Swiss Post uses the LoRaWan for other services and is developing more applications, such as smart ordering in warehouse logistics, smart parcels or even the smart postbox.