Microsoft’s solutions, including its customer  relationship management application.  Another example is a field known as business  geographics, where Group 1’s solutions pinpoint  the latitude and longitude of specific addresses and  provide detailed information about these locations, such as whether they lie in a flood plain or  within a municipality’s special taxing district. MapQuest, a leading provider of directions via the Internet, also uses Group 1 technology to help answer  millions of inquiries each day. ted electronically, shipping rates are calculated  automatically and evidence of payment is added to the shipping label. Pitney Bowes and Canada Post jointly launched this service in the fall of 2004 with a direct marketing and sales campaign targeted to our meter customers. Our partnership with Canada Post is also an example of the international opportunities we are pursuing. Another is the acquisition of Groupe MAG, which makes us the largest provider of high-volume mail handling solutions in France. We also opened direct operations in India and Brazil, the latter through a joint venture with Semco Participações Limitada. We anticipate double-digit growth in package  management. More and more large organizations  are deploying our Web-based, networked shipping  systems that allow individual users to select the best carrier and service based on required delivery time and cost, then create shipping labels right at the desktop. We also recently launched a shipping system that caters to small and midsize shipping customers . Package delivery is a growing and increasingly  important competitive category for postal administra- tions around the world. In that regard, we have forged an innovative partnership with Canada Post to develop an automated shipping solution. Using Pitney Bowes technology, shippers print labels with detailed shipping information, thereby gaining access to Canada Post’s robust tracking and reporting capa- bilities. Manifests are also transmit- In Pitney Bowes Management Services, we took a number of steps to strengthen our offerings. We upgraded our off-site document solution centers to support value-added services like short-run color printing and digital document conversion. These off- site capabilities complement the mail and document management services we provide on-site for more than 1,000 customer accounts. We began to see growth in Management Services in the fourth quarter that we expect to continue into 2005 and beyond. Finally, with the acquisition of Standard Register’s equipment service operation, we are creating a third-party equipment service business that we expect  to perform at double-digit rates. The increased reliability of our own products, as well as more remote support for customers, has decreased the number  of routine service calls our technicians must make,  freeing them for other, higher-value activities . 4 THE GROUP 1 ACQUISITION  POSITIONS US AS A LEADER IN CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT