Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue	$ 936,947	$ 869,541	$ 880,891	$ 890,681	$ 983,913	$ 941,644	$ 958,450	$ 937,497	$ 3,578,060	$ 3,821,504	$ 3,791,335
EBIT									929,221	964,070	905,382
Reconciling items:
Interest, net									(159,374)	(169,450)	(186,987)
Unallocated corporate expenses									(213,095)	(233,126)	(217,458)
Restructuring charges and asset impairments, net									(25,782)	(84,560)	(84,344)
Acquisition/disposition related expenses									(14,983)	0	0
Other income (expense), net									94,838	(45,738)	(32,639)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	129,224	$ 136,552	$ 209,453	$ 135,596	96,680	$ 141,537	$ 138,477	$ 54,502	610,825	431,196	383,954
Depreciation and amortization									173,312	198,088	211,243
Capital expenditures									166,329	180,556	137,512
Assets	6,141,462				6,499,702				6,141,462	6,499,702	6,777,436
Cash and cash equivalents	650,557				1,054,118				650,557	1,054,118	886,788	$ 901,843
Short-term investments	117,021				49,135				117,021	49,135	52,146
Identifiable long-lived assets:	510,750				485,471				510,750	485,471	471,317
United States
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									2,681,285	2,743,957	2,654,301
Reconciling items:
Identifiable long-lived assets:	437,704				391,311				437,704	391,311	351,772
Outside United States
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									896,775	1,077,547	1,137,034
Reconciling items:
Identifiable long-lived assets:	73,046				94,160				73,046	94,160	119,545
North America Mailing
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									1,435,140	1,491,927	1,555,585
EBIT									646,913	642,521	640,830
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									58,141	68,291	81,238
Capital expenditures									60,204	67,596	57,973
Assets	2,421,095				2,614,123				2,421,095	2,614,123	2,767,743
International Mailing
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									445,328	572,440	602,582
EBIT									51,070	88,710	71,516
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									23,262	30,629	29,515
Capital expenditures									11,196	13,966	25,386
Assets	594,540				687,233				594,540	687,233	856,073
Small & Medium Business Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									1,880,468	2,064,367	2,158,167
EBIT									697,983	731,231	712,346
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									81,403	98,920	110,753
Capital expenditures									71,400	81,562	83,359
Assets	3,015,635				3,301,356				3,015,635	3,301,356	3,623,816
Production Mail
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									421,178	462,199	511,544
EBIT									48,254	47,543	55,000
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									4,075	7,740	15,740
Capital expenditures									3,418	801	2,875
Assets	244,156				266,831				244,156	266,831	305,428
Presort Services
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									473,612	456,556	430,469
EBIT									104,655	98,230	83,259
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									27,305	28,462	29,999
Capital expenditures									17,096	17,457	12,512
Assets	374,647				346,850				374,647	346,850	343,206
Enterprise Business Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									894,790	918,755	942,013
EBIT									152,909	145,773	138,259
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									31,380	36,202	45,739
Capital expenditures									20,514	18,258	15,387
Assets	618,803				613,681				618,803	613,681	648,634
Software Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									385,908	428,662	395,038
EBIT									48,531	51,193	47,707
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									18,151	20,653	16,237
Capital expenditures									1,688	3,573	3,406
Assets	858,308				884,190				858,308	884,190	866,319
Global Ecommerce
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									362,087	281,643	169,908
EBIT									19,229	16,633	1,214
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									21,025	8,073	3,592
Capital expenditures									17,321	6,356	19,111
Assets	580,662				117,744				580,662	117,744	154,402
Digital Commerce Solutions
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									747,995	710,305	564,946
EBIT									67,760	67,826	48,921
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									39,176	28,726	19,829
Capital expenditures									19,009	9,929	22,517
Assets	1,438,970				1,001,934				1,438,970	1,001,934	1,020,721
Other
Segment reporting information profit (loss)
Revenue									54,807	128,077	126,209
EBIT									10,569	19,240	5,856
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									2,057	4,928	4,532
Capital expenditures									857	2,538	3,045
Assets	0				210,171				0	210,171	221,292
Total Segments
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									154,016	168,776	180,853
Capital expenditures									111,780	112,287	124,308
Assets	5,073,408				5,127,142				5,073,408	5,127,142	5,514,463
Unallocated amount
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									19,296	29,312	14,052
Capital expenditures									54,549	68,269	4,876
Other corporate assets	300,476				261,294				300,476	261,294	222,641
Discontinued operations
Reconciling items:
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	16,338
Capital expenditures									0	0	8,328
Assets	$ 0				$ 0				$ 0	$ 0	$ 101,398