Business Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Reconciliation of Segment Amounts to Consolidated Totals [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations before income taxes Total	$ 21,086	$ 99,845	$ 159,176	$ 134,174	$ 127,858	$ 142,944	$ 103,767	$ 160,008	$ 414,281	$ 534,577	$ 693,176
Depreciation and amortization									272,142	303,653	338,895
Consolidated capital expenditures									155,980	119,768	166,728
Consolidated assets	8,147,104				8,444,023				8,147,104	8,444,023
Unallocated Assets									321,960	329,627
Geographic Areas, Revenues from External Customers [Abstract]
Revenue, United States									3,588,321	3,804,489	3,979,493
Revenue, Outside United States									1,689,653	1,620,765	1,589,678
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Long Lived Assets, United States	2,749,101				2,939,467				2,749,101	2,939,467
Long Lived Assets, Outside United States	910,048				996,963				910,048	996,963
Total revenue	1,340,707	1,299,724	1,314,474	1,323,069	1,434,042	1,345,742	1,297,237	1,348,233	5,277,974	5,425,254	5,569,171
EBIT									1,087,868	1,116,951	1,137,532
Depreciation and amortization									257,486	287,038	319,183
Capital expenditures:									141,885	106,447	151,257
Identifiable assets	6,955,935				7,599,424				6,955,935	7,599,424
United States [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
EBIT									(197,266)	(201,324)	(203,906)
Outside United States [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
EBIT									(198,020)	(198,776)	(191,704)
Small And Medium Business Solutions [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Total revenue									2,668,614	2,775,436	2,909,200
EBIT									826,600	834,103	869,081
Depreciation and amortization									161,694	178,018	192,027
Capital expenditures:									79,694	76,447	103,728
Identifiable assets	4,139,794				4,451,295				4,139,794	4,451,295
North America Mailing [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Total revenue									1,961,198	2,100,677	2,211,060
EBIT									727,999	755,153	770,370
Depreciation and amortization									127,007	136,818	150,373
Capital expenditures:									61,063	70,672	93,030
Identifiable assets	3,350,457				3,488,322				3,350,457	3,488,322
International Mailing [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Total revenue									707,416	674,759	698,140
EBIT									98,601	78,950	98,711
Depreciation and amortization									34,687	41,200	41,654
Capital expenditures:									18,631	5,775	10,698
Identifiable assets	789,337				962,973				789,337	962,973
Enterprise Business Solutions [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Total revenue									2,609,360	2,649,818	2,659,971
EBIT									261,268	282,848	268,451
Depreciation and amortization									95,792	109,020	127,156
Capital expenditures:									62,191	30,000	47,529
Identifiable assets	2,816,141				3,148,129				2,816,141	3,148,129
Production Mail [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Total revenue									544,483	561,447	531,016
EBIT									32,562	60,896	51,682
Depreciation and amortization									3,658	5,257	7,079
Capital expenditures:									2,845	609	1,292
Identifiable assets	504,939				547,002				504,939	547,002
Marketing Services [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Total revenue									141,572	141,538	140,923
EBIT									26,184	26,133	22,938
Depreciation and amortization									3,693	5,479	8,876
Capital expenditures:									364	626	514
Identifiable assets	235,462				230,995				235,462	230,995
Software [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Total revenue									407,402	374,750	356,355
EBIT									38,182	40,046	33,839
Depreciation and amortization									34,389	36,962	35,321
Capital expenditures:									5,142	4,215	4,899
Identifiable assets	932,389				1,058,057				932,389	1,058,057
Management Services [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Total revenue									948,891	999,288	1,060,907
EBIT									76,321	92,671	72,307
Depreciation and amortization									27,416	33,398	44,809
Capital expenditures:									18,853	17,307	19,766
Identifiable assets	688,766				799,290				688,766	799,290
Mail Services [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Total revenue									567,012	572,795	570,770
EBIT									88,019	63,102	87,685
Depreciation and amortization									26,636	27,924	31,071
Capital expenditures:									34,987	7,243	21,058
Identifiable assets	454,585				512,785				454,585	512,785
Unallocated Amount to Segment [Member]
Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets [Abstract]
Capital expenditures:									$ 14,095	$ 13,321	$ 15,471