Intelligent Mail Services Update

PostalOne!^® and FAST^® Outage: PostalOne! Release 24.0 will be deployed on Saturday, March 13, 2010. The PostalOne! production system will not be available from 10:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 13 through Sunday, March 14, 2010, at 8:00 a.m. CT.

FAST Release 14.0 will be deployed on Sunday, March 14, 2010. FAST production will not be available from 4:00 a.m. CT through 8:00 a.m. CT on Sunday, March 14, 2010. During this period FAST Web Services, FAST online application, and the FAST Customer Supplier Agreement (CSA) module will be unavailable. 

PostalOne! Release 24.0 and FAST Release 14.0 will be deployed to the PostalOne! and FAST Test Environments for Mailers (TEM) respectively on Monday, March 15, 2010. The PostalOne! and FAST TEM environments will not be available from 4:00 a.m. through 12:00 p.m. CT during this deployment.

To learn about the changes in PostalOne!  Release 24.0, refer to the release notes posted on RIBBS® under Intelligent Mail® Services Latest News.

To learn about the changes in FAST Release 14.0, refer to the release notes posted on the FAST Website under Resources.

Guides Update: To support PostalOne! Release 24.0 on March 14, the following guides are updated and available on RIBBS under Intelligent Mail Guides & Technical Specifications:

• A Guide to Intelligent Mail for Letters and Flats
• Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) Checklist and Troubleshooting
• Postal Service Mail.dat® Technical Specification
• Postal Service Mail.XML® Technical Specification

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.

Plan Unveiled to Help Ensure a Viable Postal Service Future

“Ensuring a Viable Postal Service for America,” the Postal Service™ action plan for the next decade, describes a flexible, agile Postal Service that can adapt to America’s changing mailing habits and preferences. The Postal Service understands that to best serve the American people in 2020 and beyond, it must be leaner and more able to quickly respond to customer mailing and shipping needs. Earlier today Postmaster General John E. Potter addressed stakeholders to share plans and action steps to achieve that goal, including changes to delivery frequency, eliminating prepayment of retiree health benefits and expanding access to products and services.

This is a path to the future, a future where the Postal Service remains a vital driver of the American economy, an integral part of every American community and continues to deliver the greatest value of any comparable post in the world. If given the flexibility to respond to an evolving marketplace, the Postal Service will continue to be an integral part of the fabric of American life. For more information and to read the action plan please visit http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/futurepostalservice.htm.

Plant Verified Drop Shipment (PVSD) webinar

The Postal Service™ continues to look at all areas of its business with an eye to becoming more efficient and cost effective. At the same time, our commitment to customer service remains a top priority.

With this commitment in mind, we invite customers to attend Plant Verified Drop Shipment (PVDS) webinars. These webinars, which have been offered over the past few weeks, touch on key steps in accepting drop-ship mailings.

If you have not yet attended a PVDS webinar, we offer the chance to take part in one this Thursday, March 4, beginning at 2:00 p.m. (EST). Join Pritha Mehra, vice president, Business Mail Entry and Payment Technologies, and Vincent DeVito, vice president, Controller, for a discussion on drop-ship mailing processes followed by a question and answer session.

Here’s how to attend the 90-minute webinar:

Audio only: Dial 1-877-512-0764, meeting ID: 7989790

Web conference with audio:

• Go to  http://meetingplace5.usps.gov/join.asp?7989790
• After the MeetingPlace window opens, click the phone icon (under the participant list or in the upper right-hand corner).
• Click connect me and validate your phone number, or update your phone number and click connect me again.
• When the MeetingPlace system calls you on your phone, press #1 to join the webinar.

Contact Pete Allen, manager, Business Customer Relations, at 202-268-2165 or e-mail william.a.allenjr@usps.gov if you have any questions.

Deflection Update

The Federal Register final rule on deflection standards will be effective June 7, 2010 (see our DMM Advisory on February 17, 2010). However, the implementation of postage consequences will be deferred until October 3, 2010.

A revised Federal Register final rule notice will be available on Postal Explorer on Monday, February 22, 2010.

Intelligent Mail Services Update

New Presentations: Three new educational presentations will be posted next week on RIBBS>Intelligent Mail Services>Education:

• IMb™ Basic Option
• How to Work with Your Mail Preparer
• Intelligent Mail: Initial Steps for Mailers

Beginner’s Overview: The updated Beginner’s Overview guide is being reviewed and will be posted next week at: RIBBS>Intelligent Mail Services>Guides & Specs.

PostalOne!® Release 24.0: The release notes for PostalOne! Release 24.0, scheduled for deployment March 14, 2010, are posted at: RIBBS>Intelligent Mail Services>Latest News>Important Links>PostalOne! Release Notes.

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

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