The 1-2-3 of Electronic Postage Documentation

1. The 1-2-3 of Electronic Postage Documentation Postage Statement WizardMail.datWeb Services

2. Table of Contents • Introduction • Chapter 1. Getting Access • Chapter 2. Customer Support • Chapter 3. Methods of Electronic Submission • a. Postage Statement Wizard® b. Web Services c. Mail.dat® Chapter 4. Electronic Submission Process a. Postage Statement Wizard® b. Web Services c. Mail.dat®

3. Introduction The United States Postal Service® is using the newest technology to modernize and improve its overall efficiency in mail processing and delivery. The PostalOne!® system that manages business mailing transactions is designed to use the Internet to streamline the mail acceptance process by facilitating the electronic exchange of mailing information between you and the Postal Service™.

4. Introduction Audience: This presentation is for those using Bulk Business Mail or providing mailing services to people performing business mailings to reach their customers Prerequisite: Hold a business mailing account at an acceptance unit; And/Or prepare and present business mailings to an acceptance unit; And/Or provide bulk business mailing services to their own customers Assumptions: Computer with Internet connection BMEU Clerk Mail Preparer

5. Introduction Manual Completion and Hard Copy Submission of Mailing Information . Cartoon

6. Introduction Manual Completion and Hard Copy Submission of Mailing Information When you present your mailing and documents to mail acceptance personnel, they manually key your postage statement information into the PostalOne! system and provide you with a hard copy receipt.

7. Introduction Electronic Submission of Mailing Information Using the PostalOne! system over the Internet eliminates the need to print and provide a hard copy postage statement with your mailing. You simply send your mailing information electronically to the acceptance unit where it is available when you bring in your mailing. Once you arrive, acceptance personnel verify and accept your mail and you’re done. You can view your mailing transaction online any time. Having online access to your mailing account also enables you to check your available funds to ensure you have enough for your mailing. You can also view past transactions to track your mailing and cost trends. Avoid lines Electronically submit

8. Chapter 1 – Getting Access In order to submit your mailing information electronically you must first obtain a PostalOne! account. To apply for a PostalOne! Account, contact your local Business Mail Entry (BME) office and make an appointment to preview Postage Statement Wizard. At the BME, you can complete and submit the application. Upon receipt of the required documents, the Postage Statement Wizard Application Coordinator for your District will send you an email message that will include your user ID and password. You’re ready to log into PostalOne! – www.uspspostalone.com/postal1.

9. Chapter 1 – Getting Access • Contact your local Business Mail Entry Unit or post office • They will provide you with the forms that constitute the PostalOne! application: a. Data Exchange Agreement b. Site Administrator Designation Form c. PS Form 1357-C – Customer Request for Computer Access d. PostalOne! Online Access Application • On PS Form 1357-C, Section B, Line 2 – enter the following information: a. PostalOne! as the “Application” b. enter MAIL OWNER or MAIL PREPARER c. enter your permit number and permit type d. enter the finance number of the BMEU or post office to which you will be electronically submitting postage statements

10. Chapter 1 – Getting Access • BMEU or post office personnel will mail the completed application to the district Postage Statement Wizard Application coordinator • Applicant will receive PostalOne! log on user ID and password via email

11. PostalOne! Online Access Application

12. Chapter 2 – Customer Support • Contact your local Business Mail Entry Office or contact the PostalOne! Help Desk at 800.522.9085 • Reference Documents can be obtained at the following sites: • Additional information on Mail.dat is available at: http://www.usps.com/postalone/guides.htm • Additional information on Web Services is available at: http://www.usps.com/postalone/guides.htm • Additional information on the Postage Statement Wizard is be available at: http://www.usps.com/postalone/guides.htm • Additional information on IDEAlliance is available at: http://www.idealliance.org

13. Chapter 3 -- Methods of Electronic Submission There are three methods that allow you to submit postage statements electronically: • Postage Statement Wizard® • Web Services • Mail.dat® Desktop PC

14. Chapter 3 – Methods of Electronic Submission What You Get With Online Access As a Mail Owner (permit holder), you will be able to view: • Balances and Fees for permits PostalOne! Business Customer Gateway HOME page Business Customer Gateway Balance & Fees page

15. Chapter 3 – Methods of Electronic Submission What You Get With Online Access As a Mail Owner (permit holder), you will be able to view: • Postage transactions • Electronic statements submitted online, that have not been processed • Mail quality reports Business Customer Gateway Reports page

16. Chapter 3 – Methods of Electronic Submission What You Get With Online Access As a Mail Owner (permit holder), you will be able to view: • Postage transactions and detailed postage statements • Download finalized postage statements • Print your own postage statements & receipts Business Customer Gateway Transactions page View when user clicks DOWNLOAD

17. Chapter 3 – Methods of Electronic Submission What You Get With Online Access As a Mail Owner (permit holder), you will be able to view a listing of: • Pending Postage Statement Wizard® statements • The pending transactions are not available to view Pending Postage Statements Report view

18. Chapter 3 – Methods of Electronic Submission What You Get With Online Access As a Mail Service Provider (agent/preparer), you will be able to view: • Mailing information for the customer mailings you are preparing, including • postage statements, supporting documentation, and other mail status reports PostalOne! Dashboard

19. Chapter 3a -- Postage Statement Wizard® The Postage Statement Wizard (PSW) is a tool that provides you a secure way to submit a postage statement online, through your PostalOne! account. Submit from your computer at work or home

20. Chapter 3a -- Postage Statement Wizard® User Profile The typical user of the Postage Statement Wizard falls into one or more of the following categories: • Mailer who typically writes or types postage statements • Mailer who does not use software to generate mailing information • Mailer who typically mails less than $7000 annually Submit from your computer at work or home

21. Chapter 3a -- Postage Statement Wizard® All domestic postage statements can be typed into the PSW tool and electronically submitted. • First-Class Mail® & Priority Mail® – PS Form 3600 • Periodicals - PS Form 3541 • Standard Mail® - PS Form 3602 • Package Services - PS Form 3605 • PS Form 3700 Part A – First-Class Mail International No supporting documentation can be typed into PSW. You still need to provide hardcopy supporting documentation when presenting your mail. PSW Submit a Form page

22. Chapter 3a -- Postage Statement Wizard® Benefits • Eliminates hard copy postage statements • Saves preparation time • Rate calculations done by PSW • Online verification of information reduces errors • Reduces wait times at acceptance units since Postal Service employees do not have to manually type in postage statements • 24/7 online access to financial information & reports • View & print statements as well as receipts Submit from your computer at work or home

23. Chapter 3b -- Web Services Web Services provides you another secure way to electronically transmit postage statements and supporting documentation. Computer to Computer file transfer

24. Chapter 3b -- Web Services – User Profile Typical mailer: • Uses presort software programs • Mails medium to large volumes • Mails frequently (daily/weekly) However, you must have presort software that has PostalOne! Web Services capabilities or has technology to produce XML outputs. Submit from your computer

25. Chapter 3b -- Web Services Postage statements that can be submitted using Web Services: • First-Class Mail & Priority Mail - PS Form 3600 • Periodicals - PS Form 3541 • Standard Mail - PS Form 3602 • Package Services - PS Form 3605 Supporting documentation that will be generated: • Qualification Report Postage Statements

26. Chapter 3b -- Web Services - Benefits • Eliminates hard copy postage statements andsupporting documents • Saves preparation time • 24/7 online access to financial information & reports • Reduces wait times at acceptance units since Postal Service employees do not have to manually type in postage statements • Enables mailer to develop own browser “look & feel” • Enables software vendors to provide additional value-added customer software offerings • Postal Service controlled specification that requires no fee for use

27. Chapter 3c -- Mail.dat® Mail.dat® is a tool that allows you to electronically submit files that contain your mailing information straight from your computer to the PostalOne! system. Unlike the Postage Statement Wizard, you do not have to perform data entry of postage statements through your PostalOne! account. http://www.idealliance.org/

28. Chapter 3c -- Mail.dat® – User Profile Typical user of Mail.dat® falls into one or more of the following categories: • Use software programs to prepare and produce mailings • Performs transportation planning & drop-shipping • Mails large volumes and complex presorts Computer to Computer file transfer

29. Chapter 3c -- Mail.dat® Postage statements that can be submitted using Mail.dat®: • First-Class & Priority Mail - PS Form 3600 • Periodicals - PS Form 3541 • Standard Mail - PS Form 3602 • Package Services - PS Form 3605 Supporting documentation that will be generated: • Qualification Report • Version Summary Report • Customer Mail Report * • Summary ZIP Destination Report* • Postage Summary Report* Data Entry Clerk

30. Chapter 3c -- Mail.dat® - Benefits • Streamlines every aspect of high volume mail preparation • Eliminates hard copy postage statements and supporting documents • Reduces administrative costs for printing & storage • Provides dashboard access to all mailing activity for multiple accounts • Electronically inspects mail files for formatting and field requirements Mail.dat Home page

31. Chapter 4 – Electronic Submission Process • Postage Statement Wizard® • Web Services • Mail.dat®

32. Chapter 4a -- Postage Statement Wizard® Process Log on to PostalOne! Select a Form • Enter • Permit • User Information • Mailing Characteristics Go to the Appropriate Section Complete Sections & Review Submit Online Mailer Presents Mail to USPS Submit from your computer USPS Accesses Information in PostalOne! USPS Accepts and Verifies USPS Deducts Postage Step-by-Step Electronic Submission Process

33. Chapter 4a – Postage Statement Wizard Process • Logon to PostalOne! • Click Submit a Form • Select Form you wish to complete • Enter permit number & type • Enter piece weight, number of pieces, total weight of mailing • PostalOne! guides you to appropriate sections to complete

34. Chapter 4a – Postage Statement Wizard Process • Review data entered • Read “warning messages” if any appear on Review page • Click Submit • Make note of confirmation number (also called Mailing Group ID) PSW Confirmation Page

35. Chapter 4b -- Web Services - Process Send Web Services File PostalOne!® Customer Mailer Presents Mail to USPS Data Available to Mailer for Online Viewing USPS Accesses Information in PostalOne! USPS Accepts and Verifies USPS Deducts Postage Step-by-Step Electronic Submission Process

36. Chapter 4b – Web Services Process • Mail owners or mail preparers who wish to submit postage statement data via Web Services should review the technical specs located at: http://www.usps.com/postalone/guides.htm • Testing with the PostalOne! Help Desk will be necessary prior to being able to submit ‘live’ files.

37. PostalOne!® Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - Process Send Mail.dat® file Customer Data Available to Mailer for Online Viewing Mailer Presents Mail to USPS USPS Accesses Information in PostalOne! USPS Accepts and Verifies USPS Deducts Postage Step-by-Step Electronic Submission Process

38. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer About File Transfer The File Transfer tool lets mail preparers quickly transmit Mail.dat files to the PostalOne! system for later verification by the Postal Service. This reduces, and ultimately eliminates, paper documentation that is required by the Postal Service, which results in savings for both the Postal Service and its customers.

39. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer Before Transferring Files… • Before transferring your jobs to the PostalOne! system, it is recommended that you first validate your files. This increases the likelihood that your jobs will transfer successfully. • VERY IMPORTANT: Ensure that your computer has sufficient memory, according to the chart below. Job Megabytes vs. Computer Memory

40. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer Before Transferring Files… • Make sure that your computer has the proper Java software (known as the JVM). • NOTE: Some of the latest versions of Microsoft Windows® (such as XP) do not support the needed Java software that the File Validator uses. This is evident if you do not see the “All folders” and “File Contents of” panes on the File Validator page. For more information, see the section on technical/operational prerequisites specifically for software in the Mail.dat Technical Guide available on the PostalOne! website. Because newer Microsoft operating systems (such as Windows® XP) no longer support some Java software, users with new installations of Microsoft operating systems must now install Sun Microsystems Java Virtual Machine 1.4.2 or greater on their browsers. If you do not do this, the PostalOne! functions for file validation and manual file transfer will not work. The Batch Processor has a different requirement.

41. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer To Transfer Mail.dat Job Files 1. On the left menu bar, click File Transfer. You may see a File Transfer Disclaimer stating that the information you are about to submit is true and can be monitored. To proceed, click I Accept. The File Transfer page displays the "All Folders" and "File Contents of" panes. (If you click I Do Not Accept, you cannot transfer files to the PostalOne! system.) File Transfer Certification

42. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer To Transfer Mail.dat Job Files (cont.) 2. The "All Folders" pane displays your computer's local hard drives (usually A, C, and D). Click the plus sign (+) next to the drive on which your jobs are saved. 3. In the "All Folders" pane, scroll up or down to locate the folder in which your job is saved. File Transfer

43. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer To Transfer Mail.dat Job Files (cont.) 4. Select the proper folder by clicking the folder name. The "File Contents of" pane displays the job header files. NOTE: If the folder containing your job is in a subfolder, click the plus sign (+) next to the main folder to display the subfolders. From the subfolders, locate and select the appropriate folder. 5. In the “File Contents of” pane, select the header file of the job you want to transfer. NOTE: All files associated with a mailing job are transferred as a result of selecting the header file. To transfer multiple jobs simultaneously, hold down the CTRL key and click the header files of the jobs one at a time to select them. 6. Once you have selected the job header file(s), you can determine the location and name of the log file, just as you did when using the File Validator. To do this, click Validation Log File. By default, the File Validator writes the results to C:\VALIDATION.log.

44. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer To Transfer Mail.dat Job Files (cont.) 7. Click Transfer file(s) to begin the transfer. A File Transfer Certification page opens. 8. To proceed, click I Accept. While the file is transferring, you see a blue status bar beneath the “File Contents of” pane indicating transfer progress. 9. After your job has transferred, a message indicating the transfer status appears. Click OK to close the message and continue working. If you are transferring multiple jobs, the transfer message appears after each job is transferred. NOTE: If you do not click OK to close the message, the remaining jobs will continue to transfer in the background. 10. To check the status of your transferred jobs, click Transfer Summary.

45. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer Checking Job and File Upload Status • • After you have transferred your Mail.dat jobs, use the Transfer Summary tool to track the status of the mailings. It lists information about the status of all jobs and files you have transferred, including when they were transferred. It also lists detailed error messages for files that failed to transfer. Using this tool gives you detailed insight into the status of your mailings, enabling you as a preparer to more effectively communicate job status with your customers. • • To check job and file upload status: On the File Transfer page, click Transfer Summary. The Job Status page opens. Initially, recently transferred jobs may not appear. To update the Jobscolumn, click Refresh. In the Job Status column, jobs will either be reported as “successful,” “In progress,” or “failed.” If your job is reported as “failed,” see the Mail.dat Technical Guide

46. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer Checking Job and File Upload Status (cont.) 2. By default, the Job Status page displays the first eight jobs. To view the next eight jobs, click Next 8 at the bottom of the page. NOTE: To change the number of jobs displayed per page, select a number from the Show records list. 3. To check file upload status, click a Job ID in the Jobs column or enter a Job ID in the Search Job ID box, then click Search. (The Job Detail page displays all files associated with the selected job, file upload date and time, and upload status appears. The Completed Job column will either list the date and time at which a file was successfully uploaded, or report the file upload as “Failed” or “In progress.”)

47. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer Checking Job and File Upload Status (cont.) • 4. To view the status of a file's progress, click the file name in the File (Click for Errors) column. A message box displays error details. For an explanation of error messages, check the Mail.dat Technical Guide. • 5. To continue working, click Close.

48. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Transfer Alternate Access to File Transfer Application • If you are unable to access the File Validator or Transfer tools, e-mail a Mail.dat job or a manifest file as a compressed WinZip file to: postalone@email.usps.gov. The subject field of the e-mail should include either “validation” or “insertion” to indicate whether the files should be validated or inserted in the PostalOne! database. • The PostalOne! Help Desk makes every effort to process files within 48 hours of receipt. A confirmation e-mail will be sent once the files have been processed and will include the result. For submissions that contain validation errors, the validation log will be included as an attachment to the confirmation e-mail.

49. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Validator About File Validator The File Validator checks your Mail.dat® files to ensure that all required fields are populated and contain the correct character format. It also checks optional fields for correct character formatting. Now you will learn how to use the File Validator feature, which improves the likelihood that your Mail.dat jobs are successful.

50. Chapter 4c -- Mail.dat® - File Validator Before Validating Files… • You may wish to change the validation.log file location and file name by clicking Validation Log File. The default name and location are C:\VALIDATION.log. • VERY IMPORTANT: Ensure that your computer has enough memory for the size of the file you are validating according to the chart below. Job Megabytes vs Computer Memory