DMM Advisory – January 19, 2010

Mail.dat Client: On March 14, 2010, the Mail.dat^® Client used to upload Mail.dat version 08-2 files to the PostalOne!^® system will no longer be available. A new Mail.dat Client for uploading Mail.dat versions 08-2 and 09-1 files became available on November 15, 2009.

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.

DMM Advisory

Price Change Postage Statement Processing

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.)

Intelligent Mail Service Update

The PostalOne!^® system processes 99.49% Full-Service mailings in less than two hours: With nearly 5,000 Full-Service electronic files submitted between November 15 and November 20, 90% were processed by PostalOne! in less than 10 minutes, and 99.49% were processed in less than two hours. The remaining 0.51% that took longer than 2 hours to process was large volume mailings that are complex in nature and submitted by a limited number of mailers. The Postal Service™ continues to work with this group of mailers to improve performance issues.

Hand-Held Scanning Devices used in Full-Service Verifications: The use of hand-held scanning devices (FS-IMD) has been introduced to assist in Full-Service verifications. Based on feedback from the industry via the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC), the Postal Service has simplified verifications to limit disqualifications of Full-Service mailings to:

• No electronic documentation
• No Intelligent Mail® barcode on containers -OR- Intelligent Mail container placards are placed inside (under) shrink wrap
• No Intelligent Mail barcode on handling units
• No Intelligent Mail barcode on mailpieces

Other error types will be documented and supplied to the mailer to help improve mailing quality and assessments for these will be deferred until March 2010. A description of the verification and acceptance procedures can be found in Changes to Acceptance Processes in Support of Full-Service Mailing on RIBBS™ under Intelligent Mail Latest News .

Millions of Mailpieces Processed with Intelligent Mail Full-Service: The Postal Service has processed over 900 million mailpieces with Intelligent Mail Full-Service. Since implementation in May 2009, Intelligent Mail Full-Service customers have submitted 10,000 electronic postage statements.

Streamlining the Process for Postage Statements

In an ongoing effort to streamline and improve the submission of postage statements, we encourage customers to save time and money by using an electronic postage statement every time they present a mailing.  

Beginning in March, 2010, we request that mailings being presented at acceptance use the PostalOne! system to:

• submit electronic postage statements
• obtain receipts in lieu of the currently-used round stamp
• view their mailing activities
• retrieve processed postage statements

Acceptance at non-PostalOne! sites will continue to process hard-copy postage statements as they do today, completing the USPS section of the form and round-stamping the statement.

DMM Advisory – Intelligent Mail Services Update

Submitting Postage Statements between November 15 and November 29, 2009:  On November 15, the Postal Service will deploy software to support Full-Service prices.  These new prices will apply starting November 29.  Postage statements have been modified to support Full-Service and other changes. Starting November 15, the Postage Statements generated from Full-Service Electronic Mailing Information using Mail.dat, Mail.XML, or the Postal Wizard will include a line for the number of pieces claiming the Full-Service prices.  The price cell will be set to zero (0) between November 15 through November 28.

The Full-Service Intelligent Mail prices will be available on Sunday, November 29, 2009.  At this time Postage Statements generated from Full-Service Electronic Mailing Information using Mail.dat, Mail.XML, or the Postal Wizard will include the Full-Service prices for the pieces claimed using Full-Service.

Non-Full-Service mailings may be submitted using the November 2009 Postage Statements on November 15 or using the current postage statements as follows:

PS Forms 3602-R and 3602-N:  The July 19, 2009 versions may be used until January 4, 2010 when the November 29, 2009 versions must be used.

For all other postage statements, the May 11, 2009 versions may be used until January 4, 2010 when the November 29, 2009 versions must be used.

Authorized Manifest Mailing System mailers will follow the same schedule.

Plant-Verified Drop Shipment (PVDS) Mailings between November 15 and November 29, 2009:  Mailers submitting Full-Service PVDS mailings on or after November 29 can submit the electronic documentation for those mailings after November 15 in non-ready to pay status.  Mailers can only send electronic ready to pay status for Full-Service PVDS mailings on or after November 29.

November 2009  postage statements can be accessed at usps.com.  Scroll down the page to Related Links and click on Postage Statements.

Publications Update:  The following publications have been posted on RIBBS as ‘drafts’ for industry review.  Recommendations sent to imb@usps.gov and received by 5:00 PM EST on November 10 will be considered.

Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) Checklist & Troubleshooting – This document will help prepare customers to use electronic documentation to submit qualification reports and postage statements through Mail.dat and Mail.XML (commonly called eDoc) by guiding them to a test process in the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM).  Though prepared primarily for customers who wish to participate in the Intelligent Mail Full-Service option, this document also covers the preparatory steps for eDoc participation.  This document replaces the Full-Service and Electronic Documentation Checklist.

Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Postage Payment and Reporting (eDoc) – The specification was updated to correspond with Mail.XML version 7.0C.  The error codes were update and elaborations were added.

Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Appointment Scheduling (FAST^®) – This volume was updated to correct error codes and some business rules.

Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Profiles and Full Service Feedback – This document was updated to elaborate on ACS functionality.

PostalOne! Release 22.0 (November 15):  The release notes for PostalOne! Release 22.0 are posted on RIBBS>Intelligent Mail Services>Latest News>Important Links.  This release will address functionality to support the prices for Full-Service and enhanced Mail.XML^® capabilities.

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.

The Domestic Mail Manual (DMM^®) is available on Postal Explorer (pe.usps.com). To subscribe to the DMM Advisory, send an e-mail to dmmadvisory@usps.com. Simply indicate “subscribe” in the subject line.