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Postal News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 6, 2002
Contact: (202) 268-2155
Release No. 02-058
Postal Service's CONFIRM® Tracking Service To Offer Innnovative Market-Based Pricing Options
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Postal Service today announced the availability of market-based pricing for its CONFIRM® tracking service. CONFIRM®'s technology provides customers with information about where their letters or flats are as they travel through the mail stream, and provides the Postal Service with important operations data. Customers can access their data electronically through the Internet, or have it downloaded directly to their computer systems. CONFIRM® utilizes technology to add value to the mail, and offers prices to meet specific customer needs.
Beginning Sept. 22, 2002, a three-tiered flexible pricing structure for flat- and letter-mail tracking will enable senders or recipients to follow mail as it passes through the automated mail stream.
During its monthly meeting here today, Vice President for Product Development, Nicholas Barranca announced that the Board of Governors had accepted the Postal Rate Commission's recommendation regarding a recent mail classification and flexible pricing proposal for CONFIRM®.
"CONFIRM® not only responds to customer demand, but it is an important element of our Transformation Plan to secure the future of affordable mail service to every American," he explained. "CONFIRM®'s innovative new pricing structure -- subscription service rather than per-use charges -- represents real value for the Postal Service and real value for mailers."
Mailers participate in CONFIRM® by affixing special barcodes above the address on the mail piece. During the normal course of mail processing, these barcodes are read, linked with time and location information, and stored in a database for 15 days. Mailers can access this information to determine where their pieces are in the mail stream, and the status of their processing.
For outgoing mail, Destination CONFIRM adds considerable value and benefit to mass mailers, such as:
- Providing information on when customers receive important mailings, including bills, credit cards, and other significant mail pieces that would allow mailers to then plan subsequent business activities.
- Providing mailers the opportunity to synchronize telemarketing with the delivery of their solicitation to enhance response rates and/or sales.
- Augmenting direct mail pieces with other advertising media.
- Helping identify transport, processing and delivery trends.
- Providing information that enables mailers to match staffing to workload at payment processing and order fulfillment centers.
- Providing utility companies advanced notice of incoming late payments to avoid shutting-off services. This increases customer satisfaction and saves money.
- Providing information for managing cash flow and accounts receivable more effectively.
- Providing opportunities for quickly evaluating the success of ad campaigns.
- Providing advanced notice so that mail orders are processed more quickly to increase customer satisfaction.
| CONFIRM® Subscription Fees | ||||
| Term1 | ID Codes2 | Scans3 | Subscription Price | |
| Silver | 3 Months | 1 | 15 Million | $2,000 |
| Gold | 1 Year | 1 | 50 Million | $4,500 |
| Platinum | 1 Year | 1 | unlimited | $10,000 |
| Additional Service Enhancements4 | ||||
| Additional Scans | Price | Additional ID Codes | Price | |
| Silver | 2 Million | $500 | 1 ID | $500 / 3-months |
| Gold | 6 Million | $750 | 1 ID | $500 / 3-months |
| Platinum | N.A. | N.A. | 1 ID | $500 / 3-months |
1 The "term" is the duration of the subscription.
2 An "ID Code" is a specific marker within the barcode that isolates data for that particular mailer. Additional codes allow for additional segmentation of the data.
3 A "scan" occurs each time one of the mail pieces passes through automated sorting equipment. That information is batched and provided to the subscriber electronically.
4 Additional increments can be purchased for use during the term of the subscription.
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Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that makes deliveries to 137 million addresses every day and is the only service provider to deliver to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of more than $65 billion, it is the world's leading provider of mail and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 43 percent of the world's mail volume - some 207 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year - and serves 7 million customers each day at its 38,000 retail locations nationwide.
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