IMb Services Initial Steps for Mailers Agenda

IMb™ Services Initial Steps for Mailers

Agenda • Vision • Direction • Make It Happen • Resources • Questions 2

IMb™ Vision Mail - a Key Communication Medium • Identifiable & Verifiable • Traceable & Accountable • Efficient & Predictable • Valuable & Responsive 3

IMb™ Options • Basic – IMb on mailpieces • Full-Service – – – Unique Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) on mailpieces Unique Intelligent Mail barcode (IMtb) on trays, sacks Unique Intelligent Mail barcode (IMcb) on containers Electronic mailing documentation (Postal. One!®) Scheduled appointments (FAST®) Services/benefits included with Full-Service: • Full-Service ACS™ • Start-the-Clock 4

IMb™- Business Customer Gateway Electronic Documentation (Postal. One!®) and Transportation Management System (TMS) Advance Notification (FAST®) Automated Payment Automated Advance Payment Notification Business Customer Gateway Tracking (Confirm® & Postal. One!) Start-The-Clock (Postal. One!) Verification and Postage Payment (Postal. One!) 5

IMb™- Nesting of Data Intelligent Mail barcode Pieces Tray Pallet Intelligent Mail tray barcode Pieces Intelligent Mail container barcode Tray Example Data for e. Doc 6

IMb™ Timeline • Ongoing – Intelligent Mail barcode, One. Code ACS® & One. Code Confirm® – Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) • Testing submission of electronic documentation (Mail. dat® 8 -2 & 9 -1) – Migrate to Full-Service in production • Enable Mail. dat and Postal Wizard tools for electronic documentation • Receive Start-the-Clock and Full-Service ACS™ • November 2009 Onward – Discounts for Full-Service – Enable Mail. XML® tool for electronic documentation – USPS® ended support of Mail. dat 8 -1 7

Getting Started • • Acquire knowledge Determine mail presentation practices Interact with the Postal Service® Interact with software and/or service providers Construct implementation plan Acquire software, fonts and aids Initiate implementation plan Test and validate 8

Acquire Knowledge • Postal Service®, Service Providers & Vendors – What is this Intelligent Mail®? – What’s its value to me? – What existing & new services can each support and when? • Customers & Internal Departments & Resources – Document current practices and equipment – Document future vision, expectations & constraints • Training – Review Postal Service™ & industry Intelligent Mail information opportunities 9

Determine Mail Presentation Practices • Do I the “mail owner” present all, some or none of my mail to the Postal Service®? • If a service provider presents some or all of my mail, determine Mailer ID, mailpiece uniqueness and extra service options. • If a service provider acquires some or all of my tracking and/or address data from the USPS®, determine data acquisition options. • How will your current practices change with IMb™? 10

Interact with the Postal Service® • Familiarize yourself with the Business Customer Gateway – Establish logon for interaction – Use the Gateway to: • Set up your MID • Determine services needed • Determine electronic data exchange needs • Highly recommended: Have your mailpiece, tray, and container barcodes tested by your local Mailpiece Design Analyst (MDA) 11

Business Customer Gateway • The Business Customer Gateway gives you a single, unified landing point to access certain online business offerings from the Postal Service®. • These channels include the services that support the IMb™ Full-Service option. • These include Postal. One!®, FAST®, CLDS (Customer Label Distribution System), and Mailer IDs (MIDs). • https: //gateway. usps. com/bcg/login. htm 12

Interact with Software and/or Service Providers • Base discussions on data from acquired knowledge activities – Current state of functions, features, interfaces, and services – Available new functions, features, interfaces and services – Desired state factoring expectations and constraints • Determine custom software requirements 13

Construct a Plan • Incorporate findings, expectations & constraints • Target timeline • Internal and external resource and funding allocation • Procedural, operations, hardware and technical changes and opportunities • Test criteria to ensure content and print quality • Implementation sequence through applications and customers • Testing and validation 14

Software, Fonts & Aids Intelligent Mail® Data Encoder software Converts Intelligent Mail data into printing instructions Font software Converts printing instructions into barcode 15

Software, Fonts & Aids To download software and font files visit the RIBBS® website at https: //ribbs. usps. gov/index. cfm? page=intellmailpieces 16

Fonts Check out the new shorter-height fonts (close to the minimum 0. 125") IMb™ Technical Resource Guide Appendix C. Encoding Software Packages and Fonts Available on RIBBS ® 17

Fonts - Barcode Placement • Same placement as POSTNET™ barcode • Letters – Address block OR – Barcode clear zone • Flats – On address side AND – At least 1/8 inch from any edge of the piece 18

Fonts - Clearance and Voids 0. 010 Maximum dot matrix spacing must not exceed 0. 010 inch. • A minimum clear zone of 0. 125 inch between the left and right edges of the barcode is required. • A minimum clear zone of 0. 028 inch above and below the barcode is required. 19

Font – Barcode Tilt • Same as POSTNET™ except you look at the centerline not a baseline! Barcode Skew Bar Rotation 20

IMb™ Aids • Manual tools for visual inspection – Plastic templates – Optical comparator • Online encoder/decoder • Scanners and verifiers 21

Initiate the Plan • Some BIG things: – Software and databases: • Data structures and management, • Interfaces to existing systems, • Electronic distribution and acquisition of IMb™ and mailing data, – Production hardware, workflow and practices – Business Customer Gateway – (Postal. One!®) as the electronic data exchange portal 22

Initiate the Plan • Some NEW outputs: – – Mailpieces with the IMb™: ALWAYS 65 bars Barcodes on tray labels, IMtb Barcodes on container labels, IMcb Electronic documentation (e. Doc) & data exchange (Mail. dat® / Mail. XML®) 23

Test & Validate…Repeat, Physical Output • Ensure the test plan has pre-established results – Know the CORRECT results and use available tools to ensure outcomes match them • Validate input – Ensure all data elements for barcode content match either yours or your customer’s specifications • Validate output – Print samples from each piece of equipment that could be used in actual production – Provide samples to USPS™ MDA / service providers 24

Test & Validate…Repeat, Electronic Output • Participate in the USPS™ Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) • Ensure the test plan has pre-established results – Know the CORRECT data content & structures, transmission protocols and reporting schemes – Use available systemic tools to ensure outcomes match and transmission acknowledgements are processed • Validate e. Doc – Ensure all data elements for the record structures meet defined specifications – change control for updates is properly defined and executed • Validate downloadable reports – Establish Mail. XML® practices – Validate receipt and internal practices 25

IMb™ Key Takeaways – Major project for mailers – USPS™ MDA, service providers, and vendors are valuable resources – Mailer ID, encoders and fonts are free – IT involvement is required to: • Integrate the encoder into existing software, • Manage uniqueness, • Generate e. Documentation • Change font and spacing in documents, – IMb is just another font to your printer 26

IMb™ Key Resources • IMb Services Update, DMM® Advisory • RIBBS® Webside: www. ribbs. usps. gov – Intelligent Mail® Services • Latest News • Benefits Calculator • Guides & Specifications • Tools • Services • Guidelines • USPS® publications • USPS & industry training: National Postal Forum, Postal Customer Council (PCC) Seminars, and other vendor conferences and various association meetings • Local USPS Mailpiece Design Analyst 27

IMb™ Getting Started Additional information about all of the topics covered in this presentation can be found on RIBBS®. Click on Intelligent Mail® Services and then click on “Guides & Specs” as shown here. All of the supporting documentation references are shown under “Important Links”. 28

Intelligent Mail® Education • National Postal Forum sessions • Additional Presentations – – – MIDS/CRIDS Working with Your Mail Preparer IMb™ and ACS® IMb Service Type Identifiers Mail. dat® and Postal. One!® Start-the-Clock 29