Postal Affairs Blog

In our ongoing efforts to educate mailers and the postal industry as a whole about critical changes happening with the USPS, we are publishing an informative, 29-page white paper titled, “Intelligent Mail Full-Service: Critical Steps to Understanding and Implementing”.

The Postal Team here at Window Book believes that in this white paper you’ll discover:

• What’s going on in the Postal industry
• The differences between the Full-Service and Basic options
• What Full-Service will do for you (It’s not just about the discounts!)
• The 3 ways to participate in the USPS PostalOne! System  
• What steps you need to take, and in which order, to get going with IM Full-Service
• And much, much more!

Click here to download your free copy of Intelligent Mail Full-Service: Critical Steps to Understanding and Implementing.

Wallace Vingelis

Director, Postal Industry Practice

Window Book, Inc.                

Phone:  (617) 395-4569

email:    wvingelis@windowbook.com

This group was formed by the Mailers Technical Advisory Group (MTAC) to discuss and work through any FAST-related issues that were tabled and passed to it by MTAC 122 – as well as new issues that have come up since the announcement of this group forming.  The first meeting was held this past week on Wednesday afternoon.  If you are interested in joing this User Group, please contact the Industry Co-Chair Michelle Billman of ALG Worldwide Logistics at mbillman@algworldwide.com. 

Here are a few highlights from that initial meeting:

There is a “patch release” (14.3.0) coming out on August 15 (FAST is trying to follow the overall PostalOne! release schedule.)  Here is some helpful info from the latest DMM Advisory:

*** FAST Release 14.3.0 and Scheduled Outages (August 15-16, 2010): FAST^® Release 14.3.0 will deploy to the production environment on Sunday, August 15, 2010. Updated release notes for FAST 14.3.0 are available on RIBBS>Site Index A-Z>FAST/Surface Visibility>Important Links>FAST Release Notes. The FAST production system will not be available from 4 a.m. through 8 a.m. (CDT) on Sunday, August 15, 2010.

FAST Release 14.3.0 will deploy to the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) on Monday, August 16, 2010. The FAST TEM system will not be available from 8 a.m. through 12 Noon (CDT) on Monday, August 16, 2010. ***

The pre-release notes available on RIBBS were updated to include information about the new Help Desk set up for FAST.  The industry seems a bit hesitant (I’m being nice here) about how helpful this will be.  They are concerned that if they have a truck full of mail at the dock that is not being accepted, they will more than likely still have to go through their current escalation routine to get the mail accepted as opposed to just calling the Help Desk for resolution.  The USPS says those calls will route to a Manager on Duty at that facility.  The problem there is that the normal escalation process inside the facility already includes contacting that manager, so that Help Desk routing could end up with a mailer saying “Hello Manager John – I need to complain about Manager John I was just talking to.”  (Could be a touchy situation!)

Last discussion item was about the open issues handed off from MTAC 122 and how to open new issues moving forward.  It was decided to table that until next meeting when Ed Wanta (USPS) would be on the call.

Are you trying to work with eDocs, PostalOne!, Mail.dat or Mail.XML files, Do you need to improve your method of accounting of permits, postage and and meters? Are you needing educational information on USPS TEM, Electronic Mail Acceptance and Entry? Have you ever tried using Priority Mail Open Distribute (PMOD) to make an “In-Home-Date” and reduce postage costs? Did you know you don’t have to pay up front postage for Return Merchandise Labels, you can use a permit! Did you know there is International Commercial USPS Rates – Pricing available. Are you considering switching from optional procedures to Manifest Mailing? PUB 401? Are you trying to work with eDocs, PostalOne!, Mail.dat or Mail.XML files? Do you need to improve your method of accounting of permits,  Would you like to know how to shave hours of your day with self populating mailing and financial reports?

Window Book is hosting a ‘Software User Seminar’ on August 4-5, 2009 where you can meet our staff in person and get expert tips on how to better use your program.

Please join us to discover all the new features available for your Window Book software.

Sending eDocs via PostalOne! Mail.dat or Mail.XML
FAST Web Services and Mail.XML for drop shipping
Generating reports to track postage, permits, clients & jobs
Electronic Round Date Grp. ID Stamp (Fall 2009)
How to optimize Freight Planning and Drop Shipping
Priority Mail Open and Distribute Cost/Savings Analysis

Register for your ‘Software User Seminar’ hosted by Window Book, Inc.
Learn all the updated and new software functionalities
Work towards your certificate as a program user
Learn about new service offerings: Postal Concierge & Mailing Services
Day One Everything and anything new – improved – underutilized with DAT-MAIL^TM, PPP^TM and other software
Day Two Advanced users and One-on-one breakouts

When: Tuesday, August 4th, 2009, 8am-5pm
           Wednesday, August 5th, 2009, 9am-1pm
Where: Holiday Inn Willowbrook, Chicago, IL
Registration fee: $60.00 per person / Discounted rate of $50 per person for 3 or more attendees same company
Register now

Hotel Information:
Holiday Inn Chicago-Willowbrook-Hinsdale
7800 South Kingery Hwy, Willowbrook, IL 60527
ph: 630-325-6400 | Fax: 630-325-2362
Rates: $98.00 SIG/$109.00 DBL
Group Code: WindowBook
Deadline for Registration: Thu, 7/30/09

Note:
1. You will receive an Attendance Certificate for your participation. Hour(s) will be credited towards becoming a Certified WBI Software User. 2. Registration Fee is non-refundable but may be applied towards future seminars. This is your great opportunity to sharpen your skills and identify your specific needs for your company! Please email us at mailto:postalspecialist@windowbook.com?subject=Join%20Us%20at%20the%20Window%20Book%20Software%20User%20Seminar if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

J. Jeffery Peoples
CEO & Founder
Window Book, Inc.

Summary:

Window Book releases its mailing software, DAT-MAIL, Post Master, Complete Postal Library, and Postal Business Companion, with the new July 19^th 2009 USPS High Density Standard Mail Flats prices.

 ————————————————

Window Book’s DAT-MAIL is updated with new USPS High Density Standard Mail Flats Prices

Window Book releases its mailing software, DAT-MAIL, Post Master, Complete Postal Library, and Postal Business Companion, with the new July 19^th 2009 USPS High Density Standard Mail Flats prices.

Effective July 19 pricing for Standard Mail (Regular and Nonprofit) Commercial Flats will be decreased by 0.1¢ per-piece.  For Flats weighing less than 3.3 oz, the per-piece rates are slightly lower.  For Flats greater than 3.3 oz, the per-piece rates are higher, but the per-pound rates are lower. 

This new incentive will allow High Density Flats mailers save on their mailing expenses especially during this tough economy.  For example, a mailing job of 1,000 pieces of flats which weigh .4lb/piece will now only cost $336.60 instead of $345.60.  For high volume mailers, the reduced rates will definitely yield a significant sum of savings.

“Window Book has built a set of technologies that enables mailers to update their software in advance of any postal rate change and allow them to see the difference in rates just by changing the date of mailing in the software. This enables companies to be prepared in advance and know exactly what is coming. Users can then tell their customers in advance. We are pleased to be able to offer efficient and fast rate-updates in advance of the actual effective dates for our clients,” said Jeffery Peoples, Window Book’s CEO.