Does your current software solution provide unique serial numbers? Most likely, yes. Many software solutions have starting sequence numbers that can be reset manually or automatically to ensure 45-day uniqueness by mailer identification. Moreover, some solution providers also offer tracking services either directly or with partners to provide piece and container-level visibility. the second significant requirement for Full service IMb is electronic documentation. the driver behind this requirement is for the usPs to reduce labor costs during mail acceptance by eliminating paper postage statements. It also provides the ability for the usPs to determine what is known as the “byfor relationship.” the “by-for relationship” identifies the mail owner, mail preparer, and postage payer. Electronic documentation involves submitting a data file into PostalOne! or manually entering postage statement information into the usPs Postage statement Wizard. there are currently three different ways software solutions support electronic documentation today. the first is simply facilitating the use of the usPs Postage statement Wizard. the software generates the postage statement and the user simply keys the information into the Postage Wizard page. For mailings of 10,000 pieces or fewer, this is likely the easiest and most cost-effective way to comply with this required component of Full service IMb.
lishing fields, has developed and actively supports both the Mail.dat and the Mail.XMl file formats to upload postage documentation into PostalOne! Of the two formats, Mail.dat is the most readily available, and indeed dozens of software solution providers have been actively supporting and providing Mail.dat (often at no charge) for decades. Even if your current solution does not have Mail.dat enabled, you may be surprised at the modest investment to do so considering the tremendous time savings it provides in facilitating mail acceptance and payment. Moreover, Mail.dat has numerous other uses in transportation planning and co-mingling. the final required components for Full service IMb, such as support for Customer supplier agreements, Intelligent Mail package barcode, and Intelligent Mail container barcodes, are also becoming readily available as standard components in presort software solutions. Check with your current solution provider and you might be surprised to find that support for Full service IMb is already in there today, well in advance of january 2014. a Christopher lien is Vice President, software Marketing, Bell and Howell.
For mailings larger than 10,000 pieces, the IDEalliance association, a not-for-profit organization in the information technology and pub-
ARE YOU STAYING ONE MOVE AHEAD OF THE USPS®? » » » » » »
IMb™ barcode generation – Check! IMb container barcode generation – Check! Unique piece and container numbers – Check! Mail.dat generation and update capabilities – Check! Test Environment for mailers compliant – Check! Customer supplier agreement support – Checkmate!
We are, and we can help you stay one move ahead too. With BCC Mail Manager™ you get the most comprehensive Intelligent Mail® barcode presort solution on the market. Try it yourself free for 30 days at bellhowell.net/MST or call us at (800) 397.9069
Limited time offer. Bell and Howell, the Bell and Howell logo, and BCC Mail Manager are trademarks or registered trademarks of Bell and Howell, LLC. Intelligent Mail, IMb, and USPS are trademarks of the United States Postal Service. © 2012 Bell and Howell, LLC. All rights reserved. www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com a july - august 2012
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