How will you prove that your mailing went out with the new Intelligent Mail eDocs initiative?

Feb 13
12:41

2009

Jeffery Peoples

Jeffery Peoples

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The Red Round Stamp you've become accustomed to as "proof of mailing" to your clients will soon become a thing of the past. With the induction of USPS eDocumentation for sending your mailing info in an electronic format to the USPS, how will you obtain that "proof of mailing"? Make sure your system will let you use PostalOne! to send electronic docs AND have an electronic round stamp generated on those verified statements.

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The infamous Red Round Stamp you've become so accustomed to as "proof of mailing" to your clients will soon become a thing of the past. With the induction of USPS eDocumentation (e-Docs) for sending your mailing information in an electronic format to the USPS,How will you prove that your mailing went out with the new Intelligent Mail eDocs initiative? Articles how will you easily obtain that "proof of mailing" and give it to your clients?

In the near future, mailers will be required to transmit Postage Statements electronically via PostalOne! to participate in Intelligent Mail Full Service. What does this mean to you? It means you will no longer be submitting hard copies of Postage Statements and getting a physical Red Round Stamp marked on your documents as verification from the Postal Service.

The industry realizes that it is crucial for mailers to be able to continue to receive a Round Stamp on their Postage Statement as receipts when using eDocs. The final Postage Statements are used in-house and also sent to their clients - providing critical mailing information including Date of Mailing, Postage amounts, and number of pieces mailed. This Postage Statement being used as a receipt is one of the ways a mailer can prove to their clients that the mailing was accepted by the Postal Service and postage funds were deducted. In addition, these Postage Statements can be used as back up information to prove their mailing activities in the event of an audit.

When the postal world goes electronic and no longer needs to produce a paper document that the Postal Service stamps as proof of acceptance, mailers need an alternative that works with their current systems.

Would you like to provide your clients with a PDF or hard copy postage statement displaying an Electronic Round Stamp detailing the PostalOne! assigned Mailing Group ID# and PS# that corresponds to their final verified mailing? Do you think your clients would welcome and appreciate this data when they login to PostalOne! and can find that corresponding mailing instantly?

Mailers must investigate their current mailing system and make sure their software will allow them to use PostalOne! to transmit electronic mailing documents to qualify for Intelligent Mail Full Service AND have an electronic round stamp generated on those verified statements that they can print out in paper for clients and audit protection. An ideal system should support both Mail.XML and Mail.dat files for transmitting mailing data to PostalOne!. It should be able to maintain a database of all mailing activities by client, job and permit to ensure a complete backup of data exists to what has been submitted to PostalOne!