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.

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.

DMM Advisory – February

Postal Explorer (pe.usps.com) is your source for up-to-date mailing standards. The Domestic Mail Manual is fully searchable on Postal Explorer and features fly-out menus, cross-reference links, and an extensive subject index. We updated our mailing standards to capture the following changes:

Priority Mail Commercial Plus Cubic Prices
We revised 401.1.3, 401.2.2.1, 402.2.3, 423.3.1, 424.1.1, and 425.2.4 to clarify standards for Priority Mail commercial plus cubic prices that went into effect on January 4, 2010

Move Update Assessment Charges for Automation and Presort First-Class Mail and All Standard Mail Mailings
We revised 233.3.5, 243.3.9, 333.3.5, 343.3.9, 433.3.5, and 443.3.9 to describe the changes and procedures for how Move Update assessment charges are handled.

Treatment of Undeliverable Books and Sound Recordings
We revised 507.1.9 to update the standards for the disposal or treatment of books and sound recordings that are undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) in their original packaging.

Advertisements for Animals and Sharp Instruments for Use in Animal Fighting Ventures are Nonmailable
We revised 601.9.3.1, 601.11.20, and 601.12.5.7 to align our standards with section 26 (7 U.S.C. 2156) of the Animal Welfare Act as amended by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.

Labeling List Changes
We revised Labeling List(s) L001, L002, L005, L007, L009, L011, L201, and L606 to reflect changes in mail processing operations.

Our next scheduled DMM update is March 14.

PostalOne Outage

The PostalOne!® system has been down since 5:50 pm ET Friday February 5 and is projected to be back up late evening on Tuesday February 9. During this outage mailers cannot access mailing reports, balance, fees and transaction information. Mailers cannot submit electronic mailing information or receive Full Service feedback such as address correction information. Although the FAST^® system is operational only the online FAST application is available to schedule appointments.

USPS acceptance facilities are operating under contingency procedures.

We are conducting webinars on Monday Feb. 8 as follows, to advise mailers of our contingency procedures and respond to questions/concerns:

10:00 ET: Webinar on PostalOne! outage and Contingency Procedures

Phone Number: 877-512-0764  Meeting ID: 4353222

Or log on to: http://meetingplace5.usps.gov/join.asp?4353222

2:00 ET: Webinar on PostalOne! outage and Contingency Procedures

Phone Number(s): 877-512-0764 Meeting ID: 6917773

Or log on to: http://meetingplace5.usps.gov/join.asp?6917773

Following is a summary of the procedures to be followed for business mailings during this outage:

• Mailers submitting hard copy postage statements should continue as usual.
• Mailers submitting electronic documentation via Postal Wizard will be required to submit hard copy postage statements.
• Mailers using Mail.dat or Mail.XML to submit mailing information must submit hardcopy postage statements and a qualification summary report for each of their mailings.  A mailer may provide a mailing log and other supporting documentation in hardcopy or via access to electronic viewer if available for Postal clerks. Acceptance employees will only request documentation that is necessary for verification or other required function.
• USPS Acceptance employees will enter hard copy postage statements into the system or finalize eDoc statements when the system is restored.

Special Postage Payment Systems

• Mailers that have special postage payment system agreements (SPPS) in place will follow the contingency plans identified in the SPPS agreement.
• Mailers who have an authorized DSMS agreement may provide a mailing log by day in lieu of hardcopy postage statements.  This log must include at a minimum the elements:  Job ID#, permit number, total pieces, and total postage.  The clerk needs to annotate the date of mailing for each line item on the log.

Feel free to contact your local Business Mail acceptance personnel or the PostalOne! Helpdesk at 800-522-9085 with your questions/concerns.

We apologize for the inconvenience. We are committed to restoring PostalOne! as soon as possible and will advise you once the system is restored so you can resume your normal mailing procedures with the Postal Service.

DMM Advisory

Working in collaboration with the mailing industry, the Postal Service™ conducted a three-year study of non-enveloped letter-style mailpieces processed on automated letter sorting equipment. The study included mailpieces designed to test specifications and also included examples of folded self-mailers produced by the mailing industry. A thorough analysis of the data collected during testing is currently under review. 

Based on findings of the analysis, changes to the characteristics of folded self-mailers mailed at automation or machinable letter prices may be developed. We will publish any proposed new standards in the Federal Register and encourage mail owners, mail preparers, and other interested parties to provide feedback during the comment period that will follow. 

After comments on the proposal are received and evaluated, a final rule will be published in the Federal Register and subsequently in the Postal Bulletin. An effective date that provides time for production planning will be included in the final rule. Until the final rule is published, the current folded self-mailer requirements apply as described in DMM 201.3.14. Stay tuned for further information on the self-mailer study and possible proposed requirements.