Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments \| segment			3
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	$ 869,541	$ 941,644	$ 2,641,113	$ 2,837,591
EBIT	221,740	233,439	682,803	693,889
Reconciling items:
Interest, net	(37,698)	(41,825)	(119,371)	(127,437)
Unallocated corporate expenses	(49,235)	(61,470)	(151,959)	(163,532)
Restructuring charges and asset impairments, net	(36)	(4,526)	(14,305)	(22,666)
Acquisition-related compensation expense	0	0	(10,483)	0
Other income (expense), net	1,781	15,919	94,916	(45,738)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	136,552	141,537	481,601	334,516
Small & Medium Business Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	457,774	495,576	1,403,222	1,554,326
EBIT	170,058	175,717	518,961	544,104
North America Mailing
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	353,159	363,285	1,071,824	1,115,507
EBIT	159,319	159,638	482,376	476,757
International Mailing
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	104,615	132,291	331,398	438,819
EBIT	10,739	16,079	36,585	67,347
Enterprise Business Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	217,558	224,931	650,245	669,674
EBIT	38,309	31,497	108,407	96,100
Production Mail
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	101,646	113,497	298,880	330,469
EBIT	12,401	9,570	31,461	27,865
Presort Services
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	115,912	111,434	351,365	339,205
EBIT	25,908	21,927	76,946	68,235
Digital Commerce Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	194,209	183,876	532,839	516,599
EBIT	13,373	18,245	44,866	39,720
Software Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	97,638	112,006	282,916	312,200
EBIT	14,613	18,921	34,904	30,620
Global Ecommerce
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	96,571	71,870	249,923	204,399
EBIT	(1,240)	(676)	9,962	9,100
Other
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenues	0	37,261	54,807	96,992
EBIT	$ 0	$ 7,980	$ 10,569	$ 13,965

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