April 24, 2009

Intelligent Mail^® Services Weekly Update

PostalOne! and FAST Outages – We are preparing PostalOne! release 20 to support the price change on May 11 and the test environment for the Intelligent Mail Full-Service option on May 18. A system-wide outage for PostalOne! and FAST is needed from 10 p.m. on April 25 to 10 p.m. (CDT) on April 26. We are also planning a 12-hour outage over May 9 and May 10. We will provide exact times in an upcoming update. During these outages mailers cannot access PostalOne! or submit electronic mailing documentation. Mailers should review their file submission processes and make arrangements for these outages.

The outage does not affect FAST online scheduling, but mailers will not be able to schedule appointments electronically using Mail.XML or Wizard Web Services. During the outage, mailers who wish to schedule appointments online must log directly into FAST through https://fast.usps.com. Mailers scheduling electronically for the April 25th and 26th outage should do so by 8:00 p.m. (CDT) on April 25. Use the online application to schedule appointments with less notice. Please call the PostalOne! help desk at 1-800-522-9085 or your local FAST facility coordinator if you have questions.

PostalOne! Release 20 Testing Update

First-Class Mail Containers (Mail.dat) – In the last weekly update, we reported that the optional First-Class pallets are not supported in the May 2009 release. We are working to deploy the fix for the First-Class origin pallet support either in the May 2009 release or soon after. This date will be published shortly.   

Parent/Child Container Weight Validation (Mail.dat) – When a Mail.dat file 9-1 is used to send a qualification report and pay for postage, the PostalOne! system is validating that the weight based upon the sum of the CSM container weights matches the parent CSM container weight. In testing we have determined that sometimes mailers use an alternative weight match calculation such that the Mail.dat file fails this validation. We are proposing additional tolerance in the weight match validation for a patch after the May release. This date will be published shortly.  

Standard Mail multiple copies in a single mail piece and Periodicals Mail firm bundles – The PostalOne! system validates that the Mail.dat piece detail records or Mail.dat piece range records include Intelligent Mail (IM) barcodes for the pieces  and does not allow IM barcodes at the copy level. We understand that in some scenarios mailers elect to apply IM barcodes at the copy level. The Postal Service is evaluating a solution for a patch release after May to allow bundles to have an IM barcode at the piece level and at the copy level and allowing for a mailing to have a mixture of these bundles.  

Customer access to PostalOne! and FAST – Beginning May 11 PostalOne! and FAST customers will have a new interface to access their accounts. All external customers will access their accounts via the new Business Customer Gateway. To support this change, we are implementing a process to migrate active PostalOne! and FAST customer accounts to the Gateway. Most users will be able to access PostalOne! and FAST with their current username and password. Some users may be required to change their passwords when they log in.

Mailer IDs – In preparation for the new Business Customer Gateway and the new online process for acquiring Mailer IDs, we will not issue Mailer IDs from May 1 through May 10. This includes Mailer IDs for OneCode ACS, OneCode Confirm, Package Services, and for Intelligent Mail barcodes.  Mailers can use the new online tool to acquire Mailer IDs starting May 11. We explain the new online process in the updated User Access to Electronic Mailing Information and Reports. Mailers should continue to access the Confirm and ACS help desks to attain Mailer IDs as necessary.

Updated Guides – The following guides were updated on RIBBS on April 21: Resource Map; Guide to Intelligent Mail for Letters and Flats; Intelligent Mail and Electronic Documentation: Ready, Set, Go; Postal Service Mail.dat Technical Specification; Postal Service Mail.XML  Technical Specification; and User Access to Electronic Mailing Information and Reports.