By Monica Lundquist, Window Book

In Part 2 of this series, we told you about the efficiencies mail.dat can facilitate.  In this article, we will explore more of the flexibility of Mail.dat, including sharing postage data with clients.

Mail.dat gives you more flexibility and allows you to match your postage statement to the actual mail, rather than try to match the initial statement generated by your presort system.  The presort is the initial plan, but plans change.  Utilizing Mail.dat is the most efficient way to update and edit the information about your presort that reflects the realities of what you are actually mailing. This will prevent you from having to pay for spoilage or mailpieces that did not get mailed, and even let you get your job done in shorter time.  Mail.dat enables you to advance to the next level in the mailing industry where you benefit from easier, faster, and more efficient postal operations. 

Utilizing Mail.dat files enables you to:

§  Easily edit and make last minute changes after presort:  make last-minute changes on piece weights, counts, and mailing dates.

§  Process partial mailings:  select just the part of the job that is ready to mail, and generate forms that match these partial mailings.

§  Merge mailings from multiple jobs:  combine Mail.dat files from various sources to improve work flow or take advantage of postage discounts, and generate accurate statements reflecting the merged mailings.

§  Reduce postage expenses by eliminating spoiled pieces: eliminate spoilage from your final statements, and pay only for pieces that actually mail.

§  Faster mail verification and acceptance:  exchange electronic postal documents with the USPS in advance for speedier induction and processing.

§  Save on printing expenses with electronic files:  transmit Mail.dat files on-line to the mailing facility and reduce paperwork.

§  Improve postal data maintenance:  store electronic Mail.dat files and statements for enhanced postage data management and reporting.

Share your postage data with your clients

Have you ever wondered what your clients do with those round-stamped postage statements that you send them as proof-of-mailing?  Mail owners who want to do postage analysis and budgeting often have one or more employees dedicated to keying the postage data into databases or spreadsheets.  Now with Mail.dat, you can automatically supply your clients with their postage data in a format they can easily import into their accounting systems for postage reconciliation and budget planning.

Mailers and list houses have been providing transportation companies with Mail.dat files for a long time, but if mailers were to receive Mail.dat files back from their transportation companies instead of a spreadsheet, mailers could use this file to create all the final documentation without having to do any data entry!  They could even print reports to help with production based on final entry plans and trailer numbers. 

Increasingly, mail owners want more than a round-stamp assurance from the lettershop that their piece was mailed.  Mail owners want to know where their direct mail pieces are in the process and when they will be delivered in order to coordinate all of their marketing efforts—such as radio, print, and TV—to coincide with the delivery.  Two-way Mail.dat data exchange between transportation companies and mailers will grow in importance as mailers begin to require accurate induction scheduling information from the transportation companies.  This is needed to meet new Advance Shipment Notification requirements for participation in the Postal Service’s Confirm^® and FAST^® (Facility Access and Shipment Tracking) for drop shipping.  These USPS programs provide mailers with the tracking information they now require.

Mail.dat and Post-presort software

In Part 4 of this series, we will discuss the difference between Presort and Post-Presort software.

Click Here for Parts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7

Monica Lundquist is Postal Affairs Manager for Window Book, Inc.  She can be reached at mlundquist@windowbook.com.  Window Book has been helping clients manage their operations more profitably since 1989, and is the leader in mailing and shipping software for Lettershops, Corporate Mailers, Service Bureaus, and Mail Owners.  Window Book’s best-in-class postal solutions include: Intelligent Mail Full-Service, PostalOne!, eDocs, Mail.dat, Mail.XML, FAST, Bound Printed Matter, post-presort data management, entry planning, drop shipping, postage accounting, postal documentation & statements, meter and stamp management, Express Mail^® and Priority Mail Open and Distribute, New Commercial Plus rates, eVS, Delivery Confirmation™, and manifesting shipping system.