Here's our more detailed look at Intelligent Mail barcoding. Our SmartBars 12 font is free with Postage $aver Pro and is installed automatically with the software, or you can purchase it separately to use with other barcoding software. Postage $aver can also save the barcodes into your mailing list file so you can print them as part of a mail merge or variable data printing job.Īlong with the software, you'll need an Intelligent Mail barcode font to actually print the barcodes. Our Postage $aver Pro software prints addresses with barcodes in sorted order directly onto your mail pieces, or onto address labels with your choice of several popular label formats. You'll also need software that creates and prints the barcode for each address. And if you already are having your list checked against the National Change of Address (NCOA) system, your list gets CASS-certified for no extra charge as part of that process. That typically costs only about $2 per thousand addresses. While there are benefits for barcoding, there are some small costs to create the barcodes.įirst, as explained above, you'll need to CASS-certify your mailing list so that you'll have the zip+4 and "delivery point" code necessary for each barcode. The process works its way up through the USPS distribution system, until you're left with just odds and ends in a "mixed" tray. That's called a "5-digit scheme".)īut, if you have just a few letter-sized pieces going to a zip or scheme, but 150 or more that all will be handled by the same sorting center, you'll put those together in a tray that travels directly to the sorting center. (Sometimes, more than one zip code that are handled by the same sorting machine must be combined together to meet the 150-piece minimum. So, for example, if you have at least 150 letter-sized pieces going to the same zip code, USPS requires you put them in their own tray, which then travels directly to the facility where that mail is handled without needing to be sorted anywhere else. The sorting requirements are designed to get your mail to its destination with as little handling by USPS as possible, so in most cases you are required to combine various zip codes to fit the USPS sorting and transportation system. This is NOT simply sorting your mail in zip code order. Flat-sized pieces, some parcels, and letter-sized pieces with unusual shapes must also first be rubber-banded together into specific "bundles" before being placed into their containers. To get bulk mail postage discounts, your mail must be sorted and placed into USPS containers (trays or sacks) according to USPS rules. Likewise if some of your addresses fail the CASS certification process, you may want to correct them before mailing. Otherwise, it will have done you no good to have the list checked and you won't be in compliance for USPS.Īnd, if the Move Update process tells you that some of your recipients have moved out of your target area, you may want to remove them from your list before you prepare your mailing, depending on the purpose of the mailing. You must do any required address verification before you sort your mailing list and print your addresses, and you must use the new address information provided (not your original list). If you need to do one or both, we have pages that explain Move Update and CASS certification in detail and include links to vendors that our customers frequently use. To start out, check out our Move Update & Cass checklist to figure out whether you need Move Update, CASS certification, both or neither. There are now companies that offer these services at very low cost and without minimum charges, so they are cost-effective for even the smallest lists. For small to medium volume mailers, that's usually done by uploading your list to an online service that makes any necessary corrections and sends the list back to you. One or both of these verifications may be required before you prepare your mailing. Is the address valid? ("CASS" certification).Has the recipient moved? ("Move Update" or "NCOA" checking). So they have two different kinds of accuracy checking that you may be required to do for your mailing list: USPS does not want to handle mis-addressed bulk mail because it increases their costs.
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