The Year Paper Postage Statements Begin to Disappear
Most mailers and mail owners do not realize that there is a quiet revolution taking place that promises to eliminate the need for paper postage statements within a very short period of time, and Window Book's DAT-MAIL and Post Master clients are poised to reap the amazing rewards!
For some time, large mailers who use PostalOne!® have been able to do electronic postage payment for Standard Mail without paper postage statements. Starting in late February of 2004, however, it will be possible for almost ANY mailer to create electronic postage statements instead of paper ones. In 2004, the best presort and postage statement generation software will distinguish themselves from the rest by their ability to transmit this data to the USPS electronically. Those mailers who do not have software that supports this new payment system will need to go to the USPS website and use the Postage Statement Wizard to complete and submit electronic statements.
Window Book, which has committed to supporting the Wizard Web Services system from its onset, has hundreds of clients who use DAT-MAIL and Post Master currently to generate paper postage statements and who will reap significant rewards from this electronic revolution. The change to electronic postage payment will be very easy and yield many benefits to both the mailer and mail owner," according to company President, Jeff Peoples.
To the delight of mailers, mail owners, and the USPS, alike, the new PostalOne! Wizard Web Services (WWS) system will replace the aging Permit System, which is used to record mailings of indicia mail. The aging Permit System, which is used to record mailings of indicia mail, will be replaced by WWS. As a result, postal clerks will no longer have to key in postage data since it would be received electronically from the mailer. This system has the potential to save the USPS millions of dollars per year or more in labor savings and improved accuracy. This will benefit mailers too by speeding up the acceptance and verification process and by removing the burden of supplying paper statement copies to customers who elect to get their data electronically.
Mail Owners-those who use outside mailers to do their mailings-will be able to view round stamped statements on-line as soon as the postal clerk verifies them and will be able to download their statement data, which can be imported into postage accounting applications. At present, mail owners who want to do postage analysis and budgeting often have one or more employees dedicated to keying the postage data into databases or spreadsheets. Instead, Mail owners will receive their postage data directly from the PostalOne! web site and in a format they can readily import into their accounting systems for postage reconciliation and budget planning. This is far superior to the current practice of receiving copies of statements from mailers because it will be much faster and more accurate. Plus, the data will be coming right from the source, the USPS.
Lettershops that use a house permit to pay the postage for multiple clients will enjoy the same benefits as a mail owner would in terms of greater accuracy, faster acceptance and verification time, and a flow of verified postage data that can feed internal accounting applications.
How does PostalOne! electronic postage payment work?
First of all, most BMEU's and DMU's have been receiving new computers to replace the aging terminals now used for Permit System access. Starting in late February 2004, if a mailer submits a statement electronically, the clerk at a BMEU or DMU will be able to retrieve the statement then go through the process of verifying it online. The clerk can change piece weights and do other verifications functions.
The process of transmitting the data uses Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) conventions and passes XML statement data in an extremely secure manner to the WWS server. The WWS server instantly issues a receipt number when the statement data is verified electronically as correct. There is no guesswork regarding whether or not the USPS has received the data correctly. Another advantage of SOAP data transmission is that it can penetrate many firewalls, so the problems mailers often have with FTP transmission of data may be avoided.
The Window Book interface to WWS involves using a special communication program that can sit outside a company's firewall and do two-way communications with the USPS while communicating with Window Book's DAT-MAIL and Post Master programs. This way, the mailer does not need to allow Internet access on any of the workstations using these programs but can still perform real-time communications with the USPS!
The WWS is being operated by PostalOne!, which also runs another program that uses Mail.dat® files to do electronic acceptance, verification and postage payment. Statements generated by that program end up on the same server and would be included in the statements viewed or downloaded. The Mail.dat version of PostalOne! is geared towards larger mailers, while WWS is geared for mid-size or smaller mailers. DAT-MAIL also supports the Mail.dat version of PostalOne!
2004 will be a year of great change when it comes to postage payment. Those that embrace these changes early will have a big head-start in terms of improving operational efficiency and accuracy and providing top notch service to clients.