A Look Ahead to 2016
December 30, 2015   Karen Bartram

A Look Ahead to 2016

What’s cooking at USPS

As the year comes to a close, we thought we’d take a look ahead at the coming year, and see what the Postal Service has up its sleeve. No speculation on exigent rate rollbacks or anything like that here – just looking at the Intelligent Mail program. So join with us, as we stroll into the land of MTAC and users groups – Hey! Wake up! IMb Tracing gives way to Informed Visibility The Postal Service likes to rename things every now and again, just to make sure we’re paying attention.  The mail tracking program used to be called CONFIRM, and that name was changed to IMb tracing a few years ago.  In 2016 a new name will emerge:  Informed Visibility, better known by its unfortunate initials, IV.  Yes, in 2016 the Postal Service is going on IV.  We can’t make this stuff up – we just report on it. More than a mere name change, IV will include:
  • Continued gathering and provisioning of the data currently managed under IMb tracing;
  • Distribution of Handling Unit (HU) scan data – “handling units” are generally trays and sacks – and container scan data. “Containers” are generally pallets of mail;
  • Logical Delivery Events (LDE) which will be calculated delivery based on scan data and carrier movements, or something like that;
  • Massive confusion (Mc) as the Postal Service again tries to represent that it is providing tracking services, which it really isn’t, at least not in a usable format.
A few of these developments are interesting. Certainly the distribution of HU and container scan data have potential, although so far this data is often incomplete.  Not all facilities have active scanning equipment, so we’re not sure how valuable this data will be out of the gate, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on this at SnailWorks to see if it may add value to our tracking services. The concept of a Logical Delivery Event is a bit muddled, but apparently the Postal Service will know when a carrier has a given piece of mail in his or her mail bag, and when said carrier enters the ZIP+4 the piece is destined for, this will become an LDE.  So this way we will sort of know what time mail is put in someone’s mail box.  We’re not sure that matters, or how accurate it will be, but we will be reviewing it for possible inclusion in future reports. On the confusion front, the Postal Service can sometimes get a bit overstimulated by new developments and represent that they now offer free mail tracking, which they do in a sense, and in fact have offered since the PLANET code program – well, more accurately, they offer mail tracking data, and under IV they will offer more of it, but it will still need translation into human-ese, which is why our team of data translating humans will remain an essential asset to you.  

Informed Delivery (ID?) Moves into a Bigger Pilot Program

The Postal Services’ Real Mail Notifications was renamed My USPS Mail and was again renamed Informed Delivery because they just love naming things!  Anyhoo, Informed Delivery sends an email notification to regular folk and gives them a picture of what is waiting for them in their physical mailbox at home.  Pretty cool.  Better still, there is an opportunity for mailers to replace the picture of their mail piece with a clickable ad in that email.  Super cool.  This really creates a new channel that can be inherently linked to a direct mail piece.  We are huge fans of this concept. The program is currently in its second pilot program in New York City, and the subject of an MTAC workgroup.  It is expected that USPS will develop a mobile app specific to this product.  Essentially, you may get an automatic notification on your mobile device when your mail for the day is available to view. Clearly there are a lot of technical, regulatory, and pricing considerations to be worked through.  Certainly privacy is a concern, as well as the mechanics of creating, uploading, and monitoring digital ads.  Still, this represents an exciting new opportunity for direct mail marketers.  Expect SnailWorks to be at the vanguard as this exciting new technology develops! With an increasing presence in the parcel delivery business, major postage issues and likely postal reform legislation on the table for 2016, it looks to be an eventful year for the USPS.  Trust SnailWorks to help you make the best of it!

Home