STAMFORD, Conn., July 18 -- Pitney Bowes Inc. today announced it placed first in the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership (CQIA) Innovation Prize competition. The award recognizes Pitney Bowes' new Biohazard Isolation and Screening System (BISS), a new mail screening system, designed to sample incoming mail for the presence of biohazards while minimizing pathogen exposure to staff and facilities. BISS, which recently received Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology (QATT) Designation from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, provides a cost- effective, portable way to isolate and sample incoming mail for the presence of biohazard contaminants. "We are very proud to receive this honor from the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership," said Jon Love, president of Pitney Bowes Government Solutions. "Innovation is a hallmark of Pitney Bowes. We invest significant time and resources to deliver leading-edge mailstream solutions that help meet our customer's needs. When it comes to mailstream security, we take great pride in leading the way." The human and financial impact of a biohazard release in a facility can be catastrophic. In addition to the need for preventative treatment of building residents after exposure to anthrax or other biohazards, the clean-up time and costs resulting from pathogens being released in a building can be excessive. As such, the ability to do proactive screening and testing of mail for high-risk mail recipients or in times of increased terror alerts is a valuable capability. The Pitney Bowes Biohazard Isolation and Screening System is the result of four years of research in laboratories and customer sites. The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership's Innovation Prize is broadly based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence's three principles of approach, deployment and results, which are translated into CIP's criteria of Opportunity, Innovation and Numerical Results. The organization examined 97 applications representing manufacturing, high technology, service companies, hospitals, colleges, government and not-for-profits.