February 18, 2010

IMb™ Services Update

New Service Type Identifiers (STIDs) for Reply Mail: Based upon mailer requests, the Postal Service® has established a new Service Type Identifier (STID) to distinguish Courtesy Reply Mail from other First-Class Mail® pieces.

Currently, Service Type Identifier (STID) 700 is used for First-Class Mail Basic Service or non-automation mailings without CONFIRM®, as well as Courtesy Reply Mail™ (CRM), Permit Reply Mail (PRM), and Metered Reply Mail (MRM) without CONFIRM. The new STID for Courtesy Reply Mail is 703.

Usage of the new STID 703 for CRM is not mandatory and mailers who have previously used STID 700 to produce CRM may exhaust their inventory without penalty.

When CRM mailers replenish their stock, they may change the STID from 700 to 703 at that time. The Postal Service has also issued additional STIDs for Reply Mail. The updated STID table can be found in the Intelligent Mail Barcode Technical Resource Guide on RIBBS.

The Postal Service recognizes the business process cycle associated with generating mail stock, including software development. Mailers are encouraged to use the new STIDs in future planning. Mailers may continue using STID 700 for CRM, MRM, and PRM during the transition from STID 700 to new STID values for Reply Mail. The Postal Service will continue to process reply mailpieces encoded with the old STIDs.