Skip top navigation
USPS.com home. The profile of an eagle's head adjoining the words United States Postal Service are the two elements that are combined to form the corporate signature. Postal Explorer

Pricing & Classification DMM Advisory

Message board to keep postal customers informed of changes to mailing standards, services, and prices.
Return to Message board

September 4, 2009

Intelligent Mail Services Update

Guides & Specifications Updates: The Postal Service™ has updated the Guides and Specifications in preparation for PostalOne!® release 22 on November 15 to support the Intelligent Mail® Full-Service pricing incentives that will be effective on November 29, 2009. Release 22 will allow mailers to use Mail.XML® to provide improved solutions for copalletization, provide electronic documentation, and retrieve Mailer IDs, Customer Registration IDs, and Full-Service feedback. The following guides and specifications are posted on RIBBS™:

§ Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Postage Payment & Reporting

§ Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Appointment Scheduling (FAST)

§ Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Profiles & Full-Service Feedback

Centralized Postage Payment (CPP) Mailers: The eDoc Process: A Guide for CPP Customers is a comprehensive resource for Periodicals mailers who are engaged in the Centralized Postage Payment (CPP) program and now wish to participate in electronic documentation and payment option using Mail.dat 9-1 and the consolidated payment feature. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on the process for migrating from the current manual payment process via the PCSC in New York to utilizing Mail.dat and the electronic payment feature via the local mail presentment facility. We encourage all CPP mailers to work with their business partners to start migrating to paying for their publications using the electronic documentation and payment process outlined in the guide.

A CPP Mailer Goes Live: Publisher Condé Nast, a CPP mailer, has made great strides in migrating to Intelligent Mail. They began printing Intelligent Mail barcodes on their publication Golf World in February 2008 working closely with their printer Quad/Graphics, and their fulfillment company CDS Global. In May, Condé Nast began using the Intelligent Mail barcode to retrieve their address correction information through the OneCode ACS® service on their Golf World and The New Yorker publications. Last month, Condé Nast began using the electronic documentation and payment options for Golf World, migrating away from the manual CPP process of payment via the Pricing and Classification Service Center. On August 26, Condé Nast started using the Intelligent Mail Full-Service option for Golf World and delegated the receipt of the Full-Service ACS information to CDS Global. The Mailer ID on the mailpiece is being used to channel their Full-Service ACS data to CDS Global. Condé Nast plans to move The New Yorker and other publications to the Full-Service option in the near future.

Webinar: Full-Service Benefits: Full-Service ACS (September 4): The next Intelligent Mail Webinar on Full-Service Benefits: Full-Service ACS is scheduled for Friday, September 4, 2:00-4:00 PM EDT. We will cover the address correction information available under the Full-Service option. We will describe the contents of the address correction information, how it is provided, and the flexible data distribution options available. We will demonstrate how to optimize the use of Service Type Identifiers (STIDs) and Mailer IDs in the Intelligent Mail barcode and how to construct the electronic documentation to derive the greatest value from Full-Service ACS. We will describe how Full-Service ACS is different from the other address correction services and how mailers can use these in conjunction with Full-Service to ease the transition to Full-Service ACS. To join the Web conference, see our Intelligent Mail Services Latest News article on RIBBS.

The document United States Postal Service Intelligent Mail Vision, July 2009 is available on RIBBS.

Full-Service Intelligent Answers: We are conducting a series of telecons entitled Full-Service Intelligent Answers. The calls continue this Friday from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT. These calls are for customers who are testing file submission in the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) or for customers who have migrated to using Full-Service in production and have questions or are experiencing issues. Mailers can exchange information among themselves and postal experts will be available to answer questions. If you are currently testing in TEM or have successfully completed the TEM process, but have not received an invitation to the calls, please contact the PostalOne! Help Desk at 1-800-522-9085.

National Postal Forum: Save the date. The 2010 National Postal Forum is scheduled for April 11-14 in Nashville TN.

Assistance: Please call the PostalOne! Help Desk at 1-800-522-9085 if you have any questions or problems accessing the Business Customer Gateway, your accounts, or submitting electronic documentation. The PostalOne! Help Desk is accessible from Canada at no charge.