USPS online portal helps businesses with direct mailings
Seamless Acceptance. As the name for the United States Postal Service's project indicates, the government institution is looking to streamline processes for people and companies that utilize direct mail. Stemming from the PostalOne platform the USPS developed to help enterprises organize mailings, Intelligent Mail Full Service is the next step in creating a business community equipped with the tools to handle high-volume processes as well as demonstrates the need for address verification.
Building off of existing platforms
Beginning with PostalOne, the Postal Service provided business clients with tools for increased automation in direct mail. The USPS highlighted the Manage Mailing Activity service as one of the most beneficial functions of the software. Users can manage their balance and fees, create mailing reports, test their mailers for Mail.dat, Mail.XML and use Postal Wizard.
The service, which is open to high-volume mailers and package consolidators, allows companies to keep track of packages and pay postage using electronic files that are collected via the Internet using a USPS database. This helps senders measure the accuracy of their mailings. Similarly, the Parcel Return Service helps retailers collect returned merchandise from customers, increasing satisfaction and cutting costs. This service also highlights the way in which address verification is essential for high-volume mailers to reach customers.
Barcodes create a unique mailing experience
The success of Intelligent Mail hinges upon the use of barcodes. According to USPS, barcodes hold all the information pertaining to routing and sorting, giving each piece of mail a unique identity in the postal system and expanding space on pieces for marketing messages. The barcodes allow customers to more accurately track packages, improve customer service with reduced instances of undeliverable mail and lessen direct mail's environmental impact through the use of electronic postage statements and payments.
Jeffery Peoples, contributor to the direct mail news and resource website Presort, wrote that use of the barcodes and electronic documentation submitted to the USPS via PostalOne can help businesses with mailings before they leave the office. Additionally, the Intelligent Mail system improves address accuracy, increases efficiency in mail preparation and ensures postage values are correct. Peoples also indicated that there are significant cost savings for businesses that utilize these services. In fact, companies that don't adhere to the standards put forth by the Seamless Acceptance campaign may be subjected to higher postage fees beginning in 2014.
Address verification is integral for businesses. Customers who don't receive mailings are ultimately not receiving the message a company is trying to send, which benefits no one.