IMb Services Update
5 Oct 2011 | No Comments | posted by admin | in DMM Advisory
Business Customer Gateway — Customers accessing the Business Customer Gateway may experience intermittent service disruption during the maintenance window on Sunday, October 2, 2011, 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. CDT
PostalOne!® and FAST® Deployment — PostalOne!® Release 27.0.3 and Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST) Release 17.2 will be deployed during the scheduled maintenance window on Sunday, October 2, 2011, from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. CDT. PostalOne!® will not be available from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. CDT and FAST will not be available from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. CDT.
PostalOne!® 27.0.3 Release Notes are posted on the RIBBS® website.
FAST 17.2 Release Notes and User Guides will be posted on the FAST website (Resources/Reference Documents section) and on RIBBS on Sunday, October 2. Please direct any questions to the FAST Help Desk (FAST@usps.gov or 1-877-569-6614).
PostalOne!® Release 27.0.3 and FAST Release 17.2 will deploy to the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) on Monday, October 3, 2011; FAST TEM will not be available from 8 a.m. to 12 noon CDT.
PostalOne!® Maintenance — PostalOne!® users should note that the scheduled maintenance windows on Sunday, October 9, 2011 and Sunday, October 16, 2011, from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. CDT, may be used for critical back end system changes to prepare for Release 28.0. Exact start and end times of any planned outages in those maintenance windows will be provided.
IMb Services Update
21 Mar 2011 | No Comments | posted by admin | in DMM Advisory, Service Update
PostalOne! Release 26.0.1.4 will be deployed to the production environment on Sunday, March 20, 2011, during the scheduled maintenance window from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. CDT and to the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) on Monday, March 21, 2011, from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. CDT. Users may experience intermittent outages during these periods. The PostalOne!® .XML applications (including FAST OPS web services) will be unavailable during each period for database maintenance.
PostalOne! Full-Service and Mail Quality reports will be unavailable to mailers from 5 p.m. CDT Thursday, March 24, 2011, to 6 a.m. CDT Monday, March 28, 2011, while the USPS™ MicroStrategy reporting servers are upgraded from MicroStrategy Version 8.x to MicroStrategy Version 9.x.
Flats Sequencing System Presort Level ID Codes — As more mailers begin to adopt the optional Flats Sequencing System (FSS) bundle preparation standards, the Intelligent Mail® barcode system needs a way to indicate that level of presort. Barcode ID 20, currently used for optional endorsement line (OEL) 5-digit and 5-digit scheme presorts, has been extended for use on flats prepared under the rules for optional FSS bundle preparation.
The barcode ID tables have been updated in the Barcode ID table and Technical Resource Guide on RIBBS®. Clarifying the use of Barcode ID 20 for FSS OEL will not affect systems using Barcode ID information, but rather enable the Intelligent Mail barcode system to reflect bundles prepared under the FSS optional preparation.
Local Training Seminars on Intelligent Mail Barcode
14 Mar 2011 | No Comments | posted by admin | in Event
To support the transition from the POSTNET barcode to the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb), the USPS will conduct training seminars for mailers titled “Migrating to IMb”. If you prepare your own mailings or are interested in learning more about the IMb, including how to download fonts to print the IMb, this seminar is for you.
The central PA District will conduct training seminars at the locations below. All seminars are from 10:00 am till 12:00 noon. Please email the BME Supervisor at the location where you wish to attend in order to reserve a seat and receive parking and entrance instructions.
March 29, 2011
Harrisburg Post Office
Theresa.D.Kepp@usps.gov
April 19, 2011
Lancaster Post Office
Michael.L.Connor@usps.gov
May 11, 2011
Lehigh Valley Post Office
Judy.A.Killo@usps.gov
May 18, 2011
Scranton Post Office
KarenJ.McCool-Lamendol@usps.gov
If your business is limited to Reply Mail you do not need to attend. The Postal Service will provide you with artwork containing an IMB so that your barcode is in compliance for your next printing of reply mail. Please use the following contacts to update your reply mail:
3-digit Zip Codes 180-188 — Judy Killo,
3-digit Zip Codes 169-172, 177, 178 — Terri Kepp,
3-digit Zip Codes 173-176, 195, 196, 179 — Michael Connor
The migration to the Intelligent Mail barcode does not require bulk mailers to use barcodes. If you currently do not claim automation discounts on bulk business mail and do not intend to, you need not attend.