Business & Technology Editors
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    TRUMBULL, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 27, 1999--

    1999 Pitney Bowes Fax Usage & Technology Study by Gallup
    Shows Prevailing Views on Appropriate Use of
    Fax, E-mail, Other Communications Tools

    If you're old enough to remember the pre-copier days when "cc" meant carbon copy, and the only proper way to correct a typing mistake was to retype a whole page, then you know that the etiquette of business communications has undergone vast changes in the last 20 years.

In 1896, Anna R. White, author of a book on etiquette, wrote, "Etiquette is...the beautiful frame which is placed around a valuable picture to prevent its being marred or defaced." In her chapter on correspondence, she noted, "Letters of business must partake of a ... formal character. For these there are certain forms which require to be observed."

Modern business etiquette, like the etiquette of days gone by, calls for using the appropriate means for delivering a message. New technology has led to new standards in business communications. Says career coach Laura Berman Fortgang, author of "Take Yourself to the Top," "Seven percent of an audience's impression of you is what you say; the rest is how you say it." So when is it acceptable to say it with e-mail, and when is a fax or a mailed letter more appropriate?

The 1999 Pitney Bowes Fax Usage and Technology Study (NYSE:PBI), conducted by The Gallup Organization, shows that business people today have definite opinions about the etiquette of message delivery. When asked what means of communications they use most often to send documents or messages to customers, more of the large and mid-sized company employees surveyed said they use fax than any other means of communication (e-mail, regular first-class mail, overnight courier service or overnight express mail). Forty-three percent of the large company employees and 51% of the mid-sized company employees surveyed chose fax. Regular mail was the next most popular way to send a document to a customer, chosen by 26% of large and 31% of mid-sized company employees. E-mail was cited by only 14% of large and 6% of mid-sized company employees. By contrast, the majority of those surveyed use e-mail to send messages internally to other employees.

Few of those surveyed (less than 10%) use e-mail to send messages or documents to vendors, however. Majorities in both large and mid-sized companies use fax for messages to vendors.

These attitudes reflect an entirely new code of correspondence etiquette that has arisen in recent years to deal with the communications technology revolution. Predictably, a host of authors and consultants now offer advice on when and how to incorporate new technology into business correspondence - and when not to.

Letters provide a more personal touch than e-mail, according to Tom Gorman, author of "The Complete Idiot's Almanac of Business Letters and Memos." Letters should always be used for thank-you notes, such as after a job interview. Gorman believes there is still an important place for internal memos on paper. He believes a memo is more official than an e-mail, and may be the most effective communications tool for presenting a plan or a new business strategy.

Jan Jager, Stamford, Connecticut author and business protocol consultant, notes that e-mail is best used for informal correspondence and scholarly or technical communications. She warns against using e-mail for official communications calling for a record of a statement, such as personnel actions, organization changes, contracts, and policy statements.

Monica Jacobson, a litigator and appellate attorney in New York law firm Alvy & Jacobson, adds, "More and more courts are accepting a signed fax as a valid document. But an e-mail is very difficult to authenticate."

Hilka Klinkenberg, founder and managing director of Etiquette International in New York City, advises at her web site (www.etiquetteintl.com), "Never, ever, send a resume by fax unless it was requested. The quality of the paper it is printed on and of the ink used are important in making a good first impression."

In her book, "Business Notes: Writing Personal Notes That Build Professional Relationships," Florence Isaacs extols the value of a handwritten or typed note instead of an e-mail in building a business relationship. Sending a note with an article you've read to say, "I saw this and thought of you," adds warmth and thoughtfulness to a business relationship.

"Your manners are always under examination, and by committees little suspected, awarding or denying you very high prizes when you least think it." These words of Ralph Waldo Emerson have never been more important than today, when digital technology can deliver documents almost instantly. In business, as in personal life, the time and attention paid to good manners in communicating - before pressing the "send" button - are the foundation for successful relationships.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes Office Systems offers high performance, leading-edge analog and digital copier/printers and facsimile for the corporate market through a coast-to-coast direct sales/service organization. Pitney Bowes Office Systems was the recipient of the 1998 "Copier Line of the Year" Award from Buyers Laboratory Inc., a leading independent office products testing center, for the second year in a row, for overall superiority of its entire line of analog and digital imaging equipment. Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) is a $4.22 billion premier provider of informed mail and messaging management. For more information about the company, please visit its web site at www.pitneybowes.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you are interested in obtaining further statistics from the Pitney Bowes Office Systems/Gallup study referred to in this release, please contact Jill Lewis (jlewis@lobsenzstevens.com) or Michael Anstendig (manstendig@lobsenzstevens.com), Tel: 212-684-6300, to receive a copy of the executive summary.

     --30--lp/ny*

     CONTACT: LobsenzStevens, New York
              Jill Lewis or Michael Anstendig
              212/684-6300

     KEYWORD: CONNECTICUT
     INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET
COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED TELECOMMUNICATIONS
     PRESENTATION: snr12