May 3, 2017

Informed Delivery

This was a hot topic at the April Mailers Technical Advisory Committee session. In case you haven’t heard, Informed Delivery is an opt-in feature to receive e-mail images of the mail pieces to be received in your mail box. The automation sorting equipment captures the image and each morning these images are provided to the recipient. The national rollout of this service was April 14. As of April 25, there were 1,081,432 registered users. USPS noted that since rollout, 5,000 – 10,000 new users register each day.  There is additional testing with USPS and mailers to further enhance the offerings of Informed Delivery.

One pilot program is to replace the standard gray-scale images with colored images of the mail piece. This image replacement will make the piece stand out more to the recipient to increase engagement with the mail piece.

Another option for testing is to provide a URL link attached to the mail piece. This provides the recipient a direct link to your webpage or additional offers as soon as the image is received in the email.

These enhancements provide interesting options to further integrate print and digital communications. If interested in this pilot testing, contact your Mail Service Provider or one of the MTAC representatives. We can point you in the right direction.

In case you are interested in signing up for Informed Delivery yourself, follow these instructions:

1. Go to informeddelivery.usps.com.
2. Click on “View My Mail.”
3. If you already have a personal usps.com® account, sign in. If not, create an account.
4. Once signed in, go to My Preferences. Under Account Management, you will see a box for Informed Delivery. Click “Manage Your Mail.”
5. Opt in to Informed Delivery by selecting the check box, and confirm your address.
6. Complete the identity verification process (if you have not already done so).
7. Click the blue “Informed Delivery” button to continue to your dashboard.

Informed Visibility – Good News for Nonprofit Mailers with Timed Campaigns

Informed Visibility provides tracking of Letter and Flats containers, trays, tubs, sacks and mailpieces that contain the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb). The limitation is sometimes the mailpiece to be tracked must be IMb compliant. Visibility may still be available for non-Full Service pieces if they are RESIDUAL or Reply Mail. Release 1.0 (Pilot) begins in May 2017 with release 3.0 expected during June 2017, depending on the initial Pilot results.

IMb Planning Tool – Moving to Near Real Time Reporting

On May 05, 2017, mail owners can access the IMb Planning Tool (https://ribbs.usps.gov/imb_planning_tool) to see how mail is moving through postal facilities to make informed decisions on mail entry and post-mailing activity. It helps with drop-shipment planning and facility collaboration.

Business Customer Gateway – Updating for Small to Mid-Size Customers

The USPS is working with format changes to better reflect how small users engage with the Business Service Gateway (BCG).  The following previews are DRAFTS and not the final position or content, but provide an idea of improvements to make the Gateway the Go-To site on USPS financial transactions and reporting.

Alliance MTAC Reps:

Trista Niswander  tniswander@osv.org

Steve Smith  base60consulting@gmail.com

Deborah Damore  ddamore@fairrington.com