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.

New Mail.dat^® Client for Reply Rides Free Program: The new Mail.dat Client will be available as part of Release 26.0 to support the Reply Rides Free incentive program. Mailers must download the new Mail.dat Client prior to the February 15, 2011, expiration of the previous versions.

The Seamless Acceptance and Service Performance (SASP) Release 3.1.06 will deploy on August 22, 2010, to address several issues with eDoc Mail Data Quality reports.    

The release notes for PostalOne! Release 24.1.2 and SASP Release 3.1.06 are posted on RIBBS^®  under Release Notes.

PostalOne ! Server Patching: The PostalOne ! production and TEM database servers will have a database software patch applied during the scheduled 4 a.m. – 8 a.m. (CDT) maintenance window on Sunday, August 22, 2010. The PostalOne ! system (including FAST OPS web services) will be unavailable for internal and external users during this period.

PostalOne! Release 24.0.1 and FAST Release 14.1 will be deployed to the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) environment on Monday, March 29, 2010. The PostalOne! and FAST Test Environment for Mailers systems will not be available from 4:00 a.m. through 8:00 a.m. (CST) Monday, March 29, 2010.

Final Release Notes are posted on RIBBS^® for PostalOne! Release 24.0, which includes information for Patch Releases 24.0.0.1 and 24.0.0.2.

PostalOne! Release 24.0 Issues:

• Mail.dat^® 08-2 files submitted using the legacy Mail.dat application cannot be updated with the USPS^® Mail.dat client. In order to allow mailers to complete these jobs without resubmitting, we are making a one-time exception to temporarily activate the legacy Mail.dat application. Mailers should not submit any new jobs using the legacy Mail.dat application as this support will be permanently discontinued on April 16, 2010.  
• A change in Release 24.0 to a Mail.dat validation enforcing the Component ID field in the CPT record of the Mail.dat file to be left filled with leading zeros. We are temporarily reverting this validation so that leading zeros are not required until an approach for implementing the validation change is identified and reviewed with the mailing industry.
• Mailers using the USPS Mail.dat client software in batch mode could not process files once they upgraded to release 24.0. Mailers will need to re-enter their user-name and password credentials before being able to run the Release 24.0 USPS Mail.dat client in batch mode. This is a one-time only configuration activity.

 Additional information on these issues can be found on RIBBS under Latest News.

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.

• 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.

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.

Today the Federal Register published our proposed rule, Streamlining Hard-copy Postage Statement Processing.

This proposed rule reflects changes in the processing of hard copy postage statements that accompany commercial and permit imprint mailings at Postal One!® facilities.

Mailers are encouraged to mail or hand-deliver written comments to the U.S. Postal Service® Headquarters in Washington DC no later than February 25, 2010. Mailers may also email their comments concerning the proposed rule, containing the name and address of the commenter to: MailingStandards@usps.gov, with a subject line of “Postage Statement Processing.”

Read the entire proposed rule on the Postal Explorer® website at pe.usps.com by clicking on Federal Register Notices in the left frame.

Reminder – PostalOne! Release 23.0.0 was implemented on Sunday, January 3, 2010 and supports the Shipping Services price change. With this update, only the January 4, 2010 version postage statements will be accepted.

PostalOne! Release 24.0: The pre-release notes for PostalOne! release 24.0 are posted on RIBBS^®>Intelligent Mail Services>Latest News>PostalOne! Release Notes.

RIBBS New Features: Two tools have recently been added to enhance the RIBBS Website. Check them out:

• Email subscription will provide you with automatic email notifications when pages posted on RIBBS are updated. This will allow you to have the most current information with an update reminder sent to you. Subscribe to one or more page notifications and stay up-to-date.

• Search allows you to locate words or phrases within the RIBBS website.

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

Assistance: Contact the PostalOne! Help Desk at postalonehelpdesk@usps.com or call 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.

For the January 4, 2010 Shipping Services price change, postage statements for mailings with a mailing date on or after January 4th must not be submitted until January 4, 2010. (This includes PS Form 3541 Periodicals, PS Form 3600 First-Class, PS Form 3602 Standard Mail, and PS Form 3605 Package Services.) Postage Statements submitted for mailings with a mailing date prior to January 4th must be finalized in the PostalOne! ® system before January 4th.

For any postage statement submission method in the PostalOne! System (Mail.dat, Mail.XML, Postal Wizard or hard copy submission) the following three dates must be all before January 4th or all after January 4th:

1. The submission date to the PostalOne! system.

2. The mailing date.

3. The certification date (when the postage statement is finalized.)