Mailing Systems Technology - July/August 2008 - (Page 25)

of outdated and undeliverable addresses reaches the intended recipient quickly and at the lowest possible rates. Keeping Lists Clean The USPS and other vendor address change solutions currently oﬀer technology advancements that tackle the UAA challenge. They recognize the need to provide a variety of approved address update processing tools that can manage your address list and keep it clean. Because most of these tools are fee-based, many large business mailers — from publishers to utility companies — choose to outsource their print and mail processes to companies that specialize in creating and preparing mail to take advantage of these tools and control costs. Outsourcers can spread the cost of this technology over their customer base, so no one mailer has to carry the burden alone. Let’s take a look at some USPS-approved solutions:  National Change of Address (NCOALINK) — You can update lists with change of address information before you mail. The NCOALINK service searches lists for individuals, families and businesses that have moved and ﬁled a change of address with the USPS in the last 18 to 48 months. NCOALINK reduces the amount of mail that is undeliverable, returned or delayed — and speeds mail delivery by directing it to the right address. It also saves money by reducing costs for printing, mail processing, postage and address correction changes. Additionally, it helps meet USPS requirements for First-Class documents and assures that letters reach the right audience. With NCOALINK, addresses will be standardized with ZIP+4, carrier route and delivery point barcode.  Address Not Known (ANKLINK) — Attempted Not Known and Forwarding Order Expired mail accounts for 30% of UAA mail. An optional enhancement to NCOALINK , ANKLINK lets mailers detect whether there was a “probable move,” allowing mailers to make more informed decisions. If data indicates a target has moved, the mailer may choose to remove the person from the list or process ﬂagged records through NCOALINK to get the correct address. By helping reduce the production of UAA mail, ANKLINK helps lower costs for preparation and postage. Additionally, there are many other tools mailers can use to help enhance the quality of your address lists. These include:  Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) pieces that do not match up to valid addresses — To ensure conﬁdence in your mailing stand to lose automated discount rates. list data, the USPS oﬀers the CASS system, which measures the accuracy of commercially More Beneﬁts available address-matching software pack- Beyond providing the technologies mentioned ages. Anyone using CASS can improve the above, the USPS is also committed to ensuring accuracy of their address-matching software that mail can be tracked as it goes through the programs in three areas: (1) ZIP+4 delivery system. Termed “Digital Intelligent Mail or point coding, (2) carrier route coding and (3) I-Mail,” the goal here is that each mailpiece is ﬁve-digit coding. uniquely marked to identify critical elements,  Address Element Correction (AEC) and AEC such as the sender, recipient, postal product II — When CASS address-matching soft- used, payment received and other identiware cannot match an address to the ZIP+4 ﬁers. The USPS also oﬀers a way for mailers product, the address becomes a candidate for to track the mail through the system with AEC, a service that corrects and standardizes Conﬁrm — a solution that provides real-time address features, including misspellings, non- tracking information about First-Class mail. standard abbreviations, incorrectly joined and Coupled with advanced barcoding, it is posimproperly ordered elements, address lines sible to encode data directly on the envelope containing data other than the actual address and provide machine–readable information and other missing components. With accu- on each mailpiece. As soon as the mail hits the rate address lists, AEC allows mailers to take mail stream, it is scanned for the information full advantage of automation discounts. it contains and tracked through the system to  Delivery Force Knowledge — Taking AEC the point of delivery. Advance knowledge of to the next level, the Address Element Cor- the status of each piece, especially if the check rection II (AEC II) system uses Delivery Force Knowledge software to The cost for processing correct address errors UAA mail is more than $1 BILLION that can’t be ﬁxed with PER YEAR. To combat these costs, existing programs. Delivery Force Knowledge the USPS has been focusing on uses information about reducing UAA mail to cut this amount bad addresses submitted by local delivery unit emin half by 2012. ployees.  Delivery Point Validation (DPV) — According to the USPS, there are is in the mail, business mailers can coordinate 145 million conﬁrmed mail delivery points in phone calls or TV and radio ads to coincide the United States today. Delivery Point Vali- with promotional mailings. dation (DPV) takes the CASS system one step further by comparing your mailing list to By understanding these address update techthe USPS’s own list of known addresses and niques and mail tracking services, you will know verifying whether or not a CASS-certiﬁed what solutions to employ to make your mailing ZIP+4 address is one of these conﬁrmed de- programs — for marketing, invoicing, colleclivery points. It’s a great service for identifying tions — more productive and reduce your total non-existent delivery points — for example, operating costs. When looking for automated when a single building occupies a whole city solutions to update and correct addresses block but has only one valid address, or when — whether you do it in-house or partner with 102 Main Street is only the parking lot for a professional mail service provider — make 100 Main Street. While DPV can’t correct sure you utilize the latest address pre-processing an invalid address, by identifying these ad- and “super scrubbing” technologies for the best dresses, you can eliminate them. Reducing the results. What you want is the beneﬁt of lower amount of UAA pieces also saves the waste rates and quick and accurate delivery, without that results from sending printed materials the hassle of delays and possible penalties. to non-existent addresses. Prior to August 2007, DPV was only a helpful option. Now, Harry Stephens is President/CEO and founder however, it’s become a mandatory function of of DATAMATX. For more information, visit CASS-certiﬁed software programs, and mail- www.datamatx.com. | JULY-AUGUST 2008 WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM 25 http://www.datamatx.com http://www.mailingsystemstechnology.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Mailing Systems Technology - July/August 2008

Mailing Systems Technology - July/August 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Peer to Peer The Economics of Inkjet Addressing Virtual Mailstream Management Guarding Your Internal Documents Top It Off With Training Implementing Digital Mail Saving You Money Kate’s Slate Products & Services Advertiser Index Sho Time Who’s Who Company Profiles BCC Software BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Collins Ink Corporation Datatech SmartSoft Endicia Hasler, Inc. Kern, Inc. Kirk-Rudy Mail Quip, Inc. MCS, Inc. Melissa Data MidSouth Technologies, a NPI Company Neopost NPI Parascript Pitney Bowes Inc. Rena Systems Satori Software, Inc.

Mailing Systems Technology - July/August 2008

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