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Full Service™ ACS™ and Intelligent Mail® Barcoding

Lisa West, USPS April 13, 2010

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In the beginning, there was ACS™

Early-1980s, ACS™ designed and deployed Provided enhanced address correction process Address corrections generated and distributed in

an electronic format Reduced USPS cost for address correction

collection and delivery Reduced mailer costs partially automating mailing

list updates

Full Service ACS™

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Traditional ACS™ Mailer completes a profile, selecting various

treatment options USPS® assigns a Participant ID -- 7 alpha characters Mailer prints Participant ID and optional keyline at the

top of the address block on each mailpiece requesting service

Mailer send samples to (National Customer Support Center) NCSC for review and approval

Mailer prints ancillary service endorsement on each piece where required

Records pulled by mailer from RIBBS, or mailed on CD

Full Service ACS™

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OneCode ACS™ In 2006, OneCode ACS™ introduced

Designed as part of the Intelligent Mail ® barcode Required same setup, class and endorsement

assignments Record format same as Traditional, with an added

field Records pulled by mailer from RIBBS Scanners added to Computerized Forwarding

System (CFS) Postal Automated Redirection Service (PARS)

could either read and interpret text, or read the barcode

Full Service ACS™

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Full Service ACS™

In May of 2009, Full Service ACS™ was introduced New setup process Provided new data format Delivered in new ways – records viewed/pulled

from Gateway, pulled from site, or pushed from USPS

Free for First-Class Mail® participants Limited no charge records for other classes

Full Service ACS™

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Generation of Records

Depends on several conditions

Readable barcode Mailer ID set up for records from barcode

Mailer ID set up for records from traditional

Service Type ID requesting service Ancillary Service Endorsement printed where

required

Full Service ACS™

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Unreadable or Invalid Barcodes

Unreadable Intelligent Mail® barcodes disqualify the IMb™ services requested, i.e.

OneCode Confirm®

OneCode ACS®

Full-Service ACS™ Services indicated on the mailpiece would be

applicable at their regular costs Traditional ACS™

Ancillary Service Endorsements

Full Service ACS™

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Common Barcode Print Issues

Inkjet on piece less successful than paper labels

Reported barcode inadequacies: Printing is very light, or light and dark in sections Voids in the bars Waviness or curvature in the bars All or some bars smeared

Full Service ACS™

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Barcode Production Issues

Barcode placement too close to address info or to edge of white space

Entire address block skewed off the white space Barcode is not entirely on paper label or in address

white space Glue attaching label to piece oozes over barcode or

makes it lumpy

Full Service ACS™

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MID Mailer ID Assigned to a company One MID can only have one Customer Registration

ID (CRID) One CRID can have one or more MIDs 6 Digit or 9 Digit designed for IMb™ focus on

customer identification authorization of electronic transactions required for third party data distribution in eDocs

and in MID profiles

Full Service ACS™

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Service Type ID (STID) Intelligent Mail® service level

Full-Service, Basic, or non-auto Class of Mail*

First-Class Mail®, Periodicals, Standard Mail®, Bound Printed Matter

Additional services requested For example, OneCode Confirm® or OneCode

ACS®

* While the STID does have a class identity, in Undeliverable-as-Addressed (UAA) processing, the actual class of mail is determined by the postage field of interest or other elements on the piece that indicate class.

Full Service ACS™

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Choosing a STID

Data Feedback Address corrections – Yes or No? OneCode Confirm®

Mailpiece disposition Costs Use “The Guide To Intelligent Mail Letters and Flats”,

Appendix A, for making these decisions and assessing business risk

Full Service ACS™

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Full Service ACS™

Class of Mail Address Correction Option

Basic option1 or Non-auto2 w/o Confirm

Basic option1 or Non-auto2

w/ Confirm

Full- Service w/o

Confirm1

Full- Service w/

Confirm1

First-Class Mail®

No Address Corrections 300 310 260 270

Manual Corrections * 700 040 036 041

Traditional ACS – ASR * 080 140 081 141

Traditional ACS – ASR Opt 2 * 080 140 081 141

Traditional ACS – CSR * 082 240 083 241

Traditional ACS – CSR Opt 2 * 082 240 083 241

OneCode ACS – ASR 080 140    

OneCode ACS – ASR Option 2 080 140    

OneCode ACS – CSR 082 240    

OneCode ACS – CSR Option 2 082 240    

Full-Service ACS – ASR     081 141

Full-Service ACS – ASR Opt 2     081 141

Full-Service ACS – CSR     083 241

Full-Service ACS – CSR Opt 2     083 241

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Full Service ACS™

Service Type ID 081

Class of Mail First-Class Mail®

ID IMb™ Service Option Full-Service

ACS® Detail Record Provided to Mailer

Y

Confirm® Service None

Mailpiece Disposition Forwardable mail forwarded with separate notice of new address provided. All other UAA returned with reason for non-delivery affixed.

Requires an On-Piece, Text Printed ASE

N

Recommended ASE Printed on Piece

Electronic Service Requested (A)

Allowable Ancillary Service Endorsement Printed on Piece

Address Service Requested (B)

Type Address Change Service (ACS™) Option

Option 1 (see Constraints)

Fees OneCode ACS® pricing unless disqualified for Full-Service

Provides data that can be used to meet the Move Update Requirement

Y

Constraints Once Mailer ID established as Address Service Requested Option 1, the same Mailer ID cannot be used for ASR Option 2 or CSR Option 2

Notes Separate address correction provided for forwarded pieces only.

Action taken if barcode is unavailable

(A) If ESR, no separate ACS or hard copy notice provided, mail forwarded and returned as appropriate. (B) If ASR, hard copy, manual correction to be provided at manual correction fee on forwarded pieces only.

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Common STID Issues

May never be all zeros, all nines or blank Must match the STIDs in the ACS™ Guide Some presort software will change the Service Type

Identifiers for the non-auto portion if desired When extra services are requested other steps may

be needed to use specific Service Type IDs Common invalid STIDs:

234 (Where entire barcode appears to be 0123456789012345678901234567890

345 (Where entire barcode appears to be 1234567890123456789012345678901

Full Service ACS™

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Full Service STID on Basic/Non-Auto

No free Full-Service ACS™ data for the Basic and non-automation portions will be provided

Postal Service™ cannot commit to a specific time when ACS™ data, and the appropriate charges, might be available  

Full Service ACS™

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After Records are Generated PARS and CFS generate ACS™ records (Traditional

or OneCode) Records transmitted to NCSC NCSC performs several edits and deduping

processes on COA-related records to validate the record for delivery

NCSC fulfills and bills for Traditional and OneCode ACS® records

All OneCode records bearing a Service Type ID indicating Full-Service are sent to Full-Service for verification

Full Service ACS™

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Full Service Record Matching

USPS provides ACS Feedback to Data Recipient CRID attached to

the Piece/Piece Range record

USPS associates ACS COA, NIXIE

records with Piece/Piece Range records

USPS® receives ACS® COA, and

NIXIE records

Was Association Successful?

Y

USPS attempt associating again on the following day up

through 45 days

N

Start End

Full Service ACS™

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STID in the Documentation

As part of the total IMb™ Piece Detail Record (.pdr) Manifest Individual Record (.mir) If it's not in one of those two records, it's not in the

Mail.dat

Full Service ACS™

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Full Service Data Distribution

Mail Owner and Mail Preparer must be identified in the By/For section of the Full-Service electronic documentation

Full Service ACS™ is distributed to One Entity: Mail Owner or Delegate

Full Service ACS™

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Full Service Feedback Submit eDoc with the Mail Owner and Mail Preparer

identified CRID PERMIT Number (not Publication Number) Mailer ID

If the Intended recipient wishes to retrieve the data you can use one of the three options above to identify the Mail Owner/ Mail Preparer

If the intended recipient wishes to delegate the data to a Third Party they should use the Mailer ID in the By/For in the eDoc

Full Service ACS™

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CRID

Customer Registration ID Assigned to a company at a unique location Every Location has a unique CRID A Permit should only have one CRID You can have multiple Permits for one CRID CRID is used for company identification and

authorization of electronic transactions CRID is the master ID

Full Service ACS™

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Managing Full Service ACS™ Data

Who gets Full-Service ACS™ Mail Owners Mail Owners can Delegate to One Party

A MID can be delegated to an affiliate (Business Entity). The new delegate would then control the data

distribution.

Full Service ACS™

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Full-Service ACS™ Free Records First-Class Mail®

All COA and Nixie address correction records without additional charge for subsequent notices

Must meet Move Update requirements Standard Mail®

The first unique COA/Nixie notice at no additional charge

Subsequent notice at no additional charge for 30 days

Must meet Move Update requirements Periodicals

The first unique COA/Nixie notice at no additional charge

Subsequent notice at no additional charge for 60 days

Full Service ACS™

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Record Contents

COA: Original IMb™, the Move Effective Date, move type (Family, Individual, Business), parsed name from the COA -not the mailpiece, parsed old and new address

Nixie: Original IMb, the Mailer ID, serial number, old address (if it can be derived from the ZIP data in the barcode), and non-delivery reason code.

Temporarily Away: Original IMb, parsed name from the COA, and “Temporarily Away” message

Full Service ACS™

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Sample COA Report

Full Service ACS™

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Sample Nixie Report

Full Service ACS™

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Record Delivery Methods Browser based download: Online web page allows

downloading of compressed files over HTTPS protocol

Mail.XML Pull: Customer sends Request message invoking USPS Web Services to pull data in XML format

Mail.XML Push: USPS invokes a customer’s Web Service method/URL and pushes XML data to the customer Web Service Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification

(RIBBS) User Access to Mailing Information and Reports

(RIBBS)

Full Service ACS™

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Browser Based Download Select the “Address Correction Service (ACS™)” link

from the Full Service Reports page to access the Address Correction Service (ACS™) Reports page

The Download Full Service ACS™ COA report allows the user to search ACS™ records, display sample data, and download the result set in a CSV or excel format

The Nixie Details Report screen allows the user to search Nixie Detail records, display sample data, and download the result set in a CSV or Excel format.

Full Service ACS™

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Mail.XML Pull ACS™ Reports Submit eDoc with the Mail Owner identified (both

By/For is required, ACS™ goes only to owner or designee)

Sign up at the Customer Gateway Get a Username and Password Get your CRID for your mailing location Manage Mailing Activity for access to Electronic

Data Exchange (access to XML specs, software tools and TEM)

Mail Owner can assign a designee through MID profiles

Full Service ACS™

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Mail.XML Push ACS™ Reports

Set Up Mailer ID Push Subscription Profile

Mailer’s Web Services URL A username and a password that the USPS

can use to connect to Mailer’s computer Subscription types: Notification Or Delivery

Full-Service ACS™ Full-Service Nixie

Full Service ACS™

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Mail.XML Push Data Setup Submit eDoc with the Mail Owner identified Sign up to the Customer Gateway

Get a Username and Password Get your CRID for your mailing location Manage Mailing Activity for access to

Electronic Data Exchange (access to XML specs, software tools and TEM)

Set up a Subscription Profile by service data in the USPS Customer gateway

Full Service ACS™

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Full Service ACS™ Fulfillment There are many reasons that a mailing could be

disqualified as Full-Service

If any of the requirements are not met, the mailing does not qualify

If the mailing does not qualify, the record-matching process will not occur

ACS® records will not be provided for non-qualifying mailings or pieces

Full Service ACS™

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Description Impact Steps to ResolveThe Intelligent Mail® barcode on mailpieces was encoded incorrectly

Invalid mailpiece barcodes will impact generation of Full-Service ACSTM and Nixie feedback and may trigger in-depth verification.

Mailers must include an IMbTM on each mailpiece that accurately encodes the barcode ID, Service Type ID, Mailer ID, serial number, and DP routing code.

Reference: Intelligent Mail Barcode Technical Resource Guide

Invalid IMb™ on mailpiece

Full Service ACS™

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Description Impact Steps to ResolveThe Intelligent Mail® barcode on mailpieces that were sampled did not match those included in the Mail.dat Container Summary, Piece Detail record or Intelligent Mail Record.

Non-matching container, tray, or mailpiece barcodes will impact generation of Full-Service container visibility, ACS ®, and Nixie feedback and may trigger in-depth verification during the sampling process.

Mailers must include an IMb™ on containers, trays, and mailpieces that match those submitted in the Container Summary, Piece Detail record or Intelligent Mail Record.

Reference: Intelligent Mail Barcode Specification

Mailpiece data conflicts with Mail.dat®

Full Service ACS™

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Description Impact Steps to ResolveService Type Identifiers (STID) within the scan data are not consistent with data in Mail.dat file.

Impacts Full-Service feedback and requested additional or special services, including ACS®.

Valid STID must be printed in the IMb™ on the mailpiece and must match those included in the Piece Detail record. Note: that the Intelligent Mail Range record does not include the STID, but a valid STIDs should still be printed in the IMb on the mailpiece.

Reference: A Guide to Intelligent Mail for Letters and FlatsSection - 2.5 Service Type Identifiers (STIDs)

Service Type Codes within the data inconsistent with Mail.dat®

Full Service ACS™

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Description Impact Steps to ResolveThe Intelligent Mail® container, tray, and piece barcodes must remain unique across mailings for 45 calendar days from the date of the Postage Statement Mailing Date in the Container Summary file.

Non-unique barcodes will impact distribution of Full-Service ACSTM data distribution

Ensure Serial Numbers within a mail class are not duplicated. Barcode uniqueness at the container, tray, and piece level must be maintained for 45 days. On a mailpiece, the barcode’s uniqueness is determined by the six- or nine-digit Mailer ID and nine- or six-digit Serial Number, along with the mailpiece class in the Service Type Identifier.

Reference: A Guide to Intelligent Mail for Letters and FlatsSection - 2.4.2 Unique Intelligent Mail Barcodes on Full-Service Option Trays/Sacks and Containers

Barcodes not unique across mailings

Full Service ACS™

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Description Impact Steps to ResolveThe Intelligent Mail® container, tray, and piece barcodes must be unique within a mailing.

Non-unique barcodes will impact distribution of Full-Service ACS TM and Nixie feedback.

Ensure that Serial Numbers within a mail class are not duplicated. Barcodes at the container, tray, and piece level must be unique within a mailing. On a mailpiece, the barcode’s uniqueness is determined by the six or nine digit Mailer ID, and nine or six digit Serial Number, along with the mailpiece class in the Service Type Identifier. Full-Service uniqueness for trays and containers is based on the entire 24-digit (trays/sacks) or 21-digit (container) barcode.

Reference: A Guide to Intelligent Mail for Letters and Flats Section - 2.4.2 Unique Intelligent Mail Barcodes on Full-Service Option Trays/Sacks and Containers

Barcodes not unique within the mailing

Full Service ACS™

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Description Impact Steps to ResolveThe Mailer ID printed on the piece barcode is invalid.

Invalid MIDs in mailpiece barcodes will impact generation of Full-Service ACS TM and Nixie feedback and may trigger in-depth verification during the sampling process.

A valid Mailer ID is required in all IMb TM mailpiece barcodes and is used to send Full-Service feedback to the company associated with the Mailer ID. In the IMb, the Mailer ID field is the third field following the Barcode ID and Service Type Indicator.

Reference: A Guide to Intelligent Mail for Letters and FlatsSection - 2. 3 Mailer ID

Invalid MID - piece barcode

Full Service ACS™

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Description Impact Steps to Resolve

Mailer identified self as both the mail owner and mail preparer in the Mail Owner and Mail Preparer fields in the Mail.dat® Mail Postage Account file or Component file or Intelligent Mail ® Range file

Impacts distribution of all Full-Service feedback; all feedback generated will be distributed to the CRID ACS® data goes to Mail Owner or CRID associated to the MID if the Mail Owner has delegated receipt of data to a third party. If the Mail Owner and Preparer are identified with the same MID and/or CRID, feedback will only be distributed to the party that is specified in the Mail.dat as the Mail Owner. Start-the-clock and container visibility is intended to be distributed to both Mail Owner and Preparer.

Both the Mail Owner and Mail Preparer must be identified for all Full-Service mailings (with limited MLOCR exceptions). Mail Preparers should populate the Mail Owner field in the Mail.dat MPA or CPT with the appropriate MID and/or CRID of the Mail Owner.

Reference: A Guide to Intelligent Mail for Letters and FlatsSection - 3.15 Mail Owner and Mail Preparer Identification in Electronic Documentation

Preparer same MID as Mail Owner

Full Service ACS™

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Description

Impact Steps to Resolve

Mailer provided an invalid Service Type Identifier (STID) in the Piece Detail Record IMb TM.

Impacts Full-Service feedback and requested additional or special services, including ACS™.

Valid STID must be printed in the IMb on the mailpiece and included in the Piece Detail record.

Note: that the Intelligent Mail Range record does not include the STID, but a valid STIDs should still be printed in the IMb on the mailpiece.

A list of valid Service Type Identifiers is available in the Guide to Intelligent Mail for Letters and Flats

Reference: A Guide to Intelligent Mail for Letters and FlatsSection - 2.5 Service Type Identifiers (STIDS)

Invalid STID in Mail.dat® PDR

Full Service ACS™

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Summary

Full Service is complex, but constructed of well-defined and documented requirements

Mailers participate by acquiring a Mailer ID, associate it with a Customer Registration ID, manage their accounts in the Business Customer Gateway, and prepare the mail according to the guides and technical specifications

All guides and specifications are located on RIBBS at http://ribbs.usps.gov under Intelligent Mail Services.

Full Service ACS™

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Questions

To receive Full Service benefits, the mail must have a Full Service Mailer ID in the barcode.

The principal document to use to prepare for Full Service ACS is the “Guide to Intelligent Mail Letters and Flats”.

Only the mail owner can receive Full Service ACS records.

Full Service ACS™