As always, we wish to make the transition as easy as possible. We will conduct weekly webinars titled Migrating to IMb during September 2010. The schedule is posted on our RIBBS^® Website at http://ribbs.usps.gov/, under Latest News, Important Links.

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.

With this in mind, over the past few weeks the Postal Service has invited customers to attend Plant Verified Drop Shipment (PVDS) webinars that touch on key steps in accepting drop-ship mailings.

If you have not yet attended a PVDS webinar, we are offering the chance to take part in one this Friday, February 19, beginning at 12:30 p.m. (EST). Join Steve Kearney, senior vice president, Customer Relations; Vincent DeVito, vice president, Controller; and Pritha Mehra, vice president, Business Mail Entry and Payment Technologies, 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: 2979650 .

Web conference with audio:

• Go to http://meetingplace5.usps.gov/join.asp?2979650.
• 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.

Webinar:  Submitting Postage Statements between November 15 and November 29 (November 4, 2:00-4:00 PM EDT): PostalOne! release 22 will deploy on November 15 in support of the Full Service discount effective November 29. Postage Statements have been modified in support of the Full Service discounts and other changes. This webinar will explain how Postage Statements will be handled in the timeframe between November 15 and November 29, especially in support of Full Service. It will address the timeframe when the new Postage Statements can be used. It will explain the process for submitting Full Service postage statements on or prior to November 29 for Plant Verified Drop shipment (PVDS) mailings that will not be entered in the mail system until after November 30.  The link, phone number, and meeting ID for this presentation will be posted on RIBBS under Intelligent Mail Latest News. .

Webinar: Full-Service ACS™ Update (November 6, 2:00-4:00 PM EST): This webinar will describe the different address correction services such as ACS®, OneCode ACS®, and Full-Service ACS . It will describe how the Postal Service processes Change of Address and Nixie records. It will address the typical issues being experienced by Full Service mailers such as multiple notices and anomalies in receipt of address correction records. Mailers can express concerns and ask questions at this webinar. The link, phone number, and meeting ID for this presentation will be posted on RIBBS under Intelligent Mail Latest News

Full Service Intelligent Answers: We conduct weekly telecons entitled Full-Service Intelligent Answers on Fridays from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT. These calls are for customers who are testing the Full-Service option and are experiencing issues in the transition. Mailers who are testing in the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) or who have migrated to using Full-Service in production and have questions or are experiencing issues are encouraged to participate. Mailers can exchange information among themselves, and postal experts are available to answer questions. Answers are provided in meeting minutes for questions not answered during the call.

During these calls we provide an update on the current list of software anomalies that are noted in the system, impacts, schedules for resolution, and workarounds if available. The issues are captured in the “PostalOne! ® Critical Issues List” posted on RIBBS ™ under the Intelligent Mail®Latest News link. To keep this list up to date, the Postal Service conducts biweekly reviews of unresolved issues recorded with the PostalOne! Help Desk that require software upgrades and includes these items on the list. Mailers are encouraged to review this list, ensure that their critical items are included, and participate in the calls to highlight issues that are not listed. As a reminder, mailers should report all issues with the PostalOne! Help Desk. Please contact the PostalOne! Help Desk at 1-800-522-9085 if you wish to join these calls.

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

** 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: 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.

* * Webinar Update: Please note revised schedule. * *

Full-Service Changes in November, October 30: The November PostalOne! Release 22.0 software upgrade for Full-Service will address functionality to support the discounts for Full-Service and enhanced Mail.XML^® capabilities.  This webinar will explain the new functionality and enhanced Mail.XML capabilities

The links, phone numbers, and meeting IDs for these two webinars are posted on RIBBS under Intelligent Mail Latest News.

Guides and Specifications: The Postal Service Mail.dat® Technical Specifications, Version 7.2 has been updated and is posted on RIBBS™.   Section 2.2.6.1 of this version includes an additional By/For verification and Appendix D has a more comprehensive list of error messages.  The specification’s Change History enumerates the revisions.

PostalOne! Release 22, November 15: On November 15, we will implement PostalOne! Release 22.  Among other things, this release will prepare the PostalOne! system to process discounts claimed by Intelligent Mail Full-Service option mailers and allow mailers to submit Mail.XML files for electronic documentation.  Full details are available at RIBBS>Intelligent Mail Services>Latest News>PostalOne! Release Notes>PostalOne! Pre-release Notes 22.0 Implementation Date: 11-15-2009.

The PostalOne! system be down on November 15 from 1:00 AM to 10:00 AM CST to incorporate Release 22.  This timeframe is based on our current timing estimate.  We will provide you with an update if we believe the time will change.

Full-Service Intelligent Answers: We conduct weekly telecons entitled Full-Service Intelligent Answers.  The calls continue this Friday from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT.  These calls are for customers who are testing file submission in the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) or for customers who have migrated to using Full-Service in production and have questions or are experiencing issues.  Mailers can exchange information among themselves and postal experts are available to answer questions.  If you are currently testing in TEM or have successfully completed the TEM process, but have not received an invitation to the calls, please contact the PostalOne! Help Desk at 1-800-522-9085.

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

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.

TO ATTEND THE WEB CONFERENCE AND JOIN WITH AUDIO (No earlier than 15 minutes prior to the start):

IMPORTANT NOTE: Ports (seats) are limited. Please connect through the following link, then click on the telephone icon in the upper right of the screen to have the system call you back. This method will use only one port. Please do not use the link and dial in separately. That uses two ports.

1)      Browse to: http://meetingplace3.usps.gov/a/e874c0ac95df660e165a1def7b8decbb

2)      After the MeetingPlace window is open, click the Phone icon (under the Participant List or in the upper right-hand corner).

3)      Click Connect Me, validate or update your phone number and click Connect Me again.

4)      When the system calls you press 1 to join.

To attend with audio only: 
Phone Number: 866-567-8049
Meeting ID: 8993961
Date/Time: September 4, 2009 at 02:00 PM America/New_York

For MeetingPlace problems or issues, please contact the MeetingPlace Help Desk at 1-800-343-1796.

The Postal Service Mail.dat Technical Specification and Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specifications are posted on RIBBS™ for mailers to review. For ease of use, the Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification is separated based on subject matter into the following three volumes:

•  Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Postage Payment and Reporting (eDoc)
• Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Appointment Scheduling (FAST)
• Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Profiles and Full-Service Feedback

These guides are posted on RIBBS as drafts and we want your feedback. Send your comments to imb@usps.gov no later than August 21. 

Intelligent Mail^® Full-Service Option – Where We Are:  More than seventy mailers have begun testing Full-Service job submissions using Mail.dat^® 9-1 in the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM). Twenty-two have been approved for production and account for over 44 million Full-Service mailpieces being mailed.  

Mailers have begun taking advantage of the Full-Service benefits including Full-Service ACS™.  The Postal Service™ offers flexible options for the distribution of the Full-Service ACS information. Mail owners can view the Full-Service ACS Change-of-Address (COA) and Nixie Detail Records on-line. They can download them in comma delimited (CSV) or Excel format, or they can receive the data electronically via Mail.XML^®.  

Mail owners have the option to delegate access to the Full-Service ACS information. They can use the Mailer ID delegation tool to re-direct the data to their mail preparer or a third party. Mailers who are ready to use Full-Service but are not ready to receive the Full-Service ACS can still receive their COA and nixie records by utilizing traditional ACS^® or manual address changes, allowing for a smooth transition. The valuable address correction information offered via Full-Service can be used to update aged addresses to help mailers keep their address lists up to date and increase the ROI of their mailings. Call the PostalOne!^® Help Desk at 1-800-522-9085 if you are ready to test Full-Service and take advantage of the address correction options.

Full-Service Intelligent Answers:  We are conducting a series of telecons entitled Full-Service Intelligent Answers. The calls continue this Friday from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT. These calls are for customers who are testing in the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) or for customers who have migrated to using Full-Service in production and have questions or are experiencing issues. Mailers can exchange information among themselves and postal experts will be available to answer questions. If you are currently testing in TEM or have successfully completed the TEM process, but have not received an invitation to the calls, please contact the PostalOne! Help Desk at 1-800-522-9085.  

Webinar:  Full-Service Benefits:  Full-Service ACS (August 21):  The first in a series of Intelligent Mail Webinars is scheduled for Friday, August 21 from 2:00-4:00 PM EDT. The topic will be Full-Service Benefits:  Full-Service ACS. It will describe the address correction information available under the Full-Service option. We will describe the contents of the address correction information, how it is provisioned, and the flexible data distribution options available. It will demonstrate how to optimize the use of Service Type Identifiers (STIDs) and Mailer IDs (MIDs) in the Intelligent Mail barcode and how to construct the electronic documentation to derive the greatest value from Full-Service ACS. It will describe how Full-Service ACS is different from the other address correction services and how mailers can use these in conjunction with Full-Service to ease the transition to Full-Service ACS.

TO ATTEND THE WEB CONFERENCE AND JOIN WITH AUDIO (No earlier than 15 minutes prior to the start):

IMPORTANT NOTE: Ports (seats) are limited.  Please connect through the following link, then click on the telephone icon in the upper right of the screen to have the system call you back. This method will use only one port. Please do not use the link and dial in separately. That uses two ports.

1)      Browse to: http://meetingplace3.usps.gov/a/f0374f80e6d17ebaf20f9e05d419a371

2)      After the MeetingPlace window is open, click the Phone icon (under the Participant List or in the upper right-hand corner).

3)      Click Connect Me, validate or update your phone number and click Connect Me again.

4)      When the system calls you press 1 to join.

To attend with audio only: 

Phone Number:  866-567-8049

Meeting ID:        7383102

Date/Time:        August 21, 2009 at 02:00 PM America/New_York

For MeetingPlace problems or issues, please contact the MeetingPlace Help Desk at 1-800-343-1796.

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.

How to Plan and Organize a Direct Mail Campaign
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
1:00 PM – 2:00PM EDT

Customizing Your Mail Pieces
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
1:00 PM – 2:00PM EDT