PostalOne! System Restored

The PostalOne! System, which has been down since 5:50 p,m. EST, Friday, February 5, is now up and running. Mailers can now submit electronic mailing information, and both mailers and acceptance sites are able to access mailing reports, balance, fees and transaction information. Mailers also will start receiving Full-Service feedback, such as address correction information.

Upon restoration of the PostalOne! System, acceptance sites are following the procedures below to process postage statements:

§         For mailers who normally submit hardcopy postage statements, acceptance employees will enter the hardcopy statements presented during the outage.

§         For mailers who normally submit postage statements via Postal Wizard, acceptance employees will compare the hardcopy postage statements submitted during the outage to the Postal Wizard statements that appear on the dashboard to finalize those that do appear. If a hardcopy statement was submitted during the outage and does not appear on the dashboard, acceptance employees will enter the hardcopy statement that was provided.

§         Mailers who intended to send mailing information electronically (using Mail.dat or Mail.XML) during the outage, should submit their electronic mailing information upon system restoration for the mailings presented during the outage period. Acceptance employees will compare the hardcopy statements that were provided during the outage to the electronic statements appearing on the dashboard to ensure all mailings are presented and will finalize the electronic statements. Mailers are encouraged to work with USPS acceptance employees to verify that all jobs submitted for the outage period ?? Friday, February 5 through Tuesday, February 9 ?? appear correctly on the PostalOne! dashboard.

§         The Mailing Date will reflect the actual date of mailing and will not be changed to the date the mailing was processed in the PostalOne! system.

CAPS - The CAPs website is now available. CAPS Debit Account customers, need to verify with their bank whether or not they have a filter on their bank account and if the debit filter threshold is sufficient to cover mailings presented through the outage period. There is a possibility that mailing transactions or Business Reply Mail (BRM ) invoice postings may exceed the bank threshold once acceptance sites start entering postage statements and/or invoices. The debit threshold filter could cause the debit to be returned (i.e. debit bounce).

CAPS Trust Account customers need to ensure that their CAPS accounts have sufficient funds on deposit for all postage statements presented and all hard-copy BRM or Postage Due invoices they have received during this outage.

Local Trust Accounts – All deposits made through retail units to local trust accounts should now display in the PostalOne! System.  Customers are encouraged to verify their account balance in PostalOne! reflects deposits made during the outage.

FAST Update – FAST Web Services functionality has been restored. FAST Mailer Rating was temporarily deactivated, as of 5 p.m. EST Friday, February 5, through 11:59 p.m. EST, Wednesday, February 10, to accommodate the outage.  Mailer rating will resume on Thursday, February 11. 

eVS Update – eVS manifests received via the Product Tracking System during the outage are now being loaded into the PostalOne! System for payment and reconciliation. 

For questions or concerns, feel free to contact your local Business Mail acceptance personnel or the PostalOne! Helpdesk at: 800-522-9085.

DMM Advisory
Pricing — keeping you informed about the prices and mailing standards of the United States Postal Service

January DMM Update

Postal Explorer (pe.usps.com) is your source for up-to-date mailing standards. The Domestic Mail Manual is fully searchable on Postal Explorer and features fly-out menus, cross-reference links, and an extensive subject index. Today we updated our mailing standards to capture the following changes:

Pricing and Mailing Standards Changes for Shipping Services
We revised mailing standards and prices throughout the DMM to support the pricing change recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission and approved by the Governors of the United States Postal Service. The new prices and standards are effective January 4, 2010 and are for the following Shipping Services; Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select, and Parcel Return Service.

Permit Imprint with Extra Services
We revised 604.5.3.7 and 604.5.3.8 to clarify the permit imprint class markings for Standard Mail and Package Services mail items, and to allow abbreviated phrasing when using permit imprint postage with extra services.

Products Mailable at Nonprofit Standard Mail Prices
We revised 703.1.6.11 to meet Internal Revenue Code restrictions for products that are mailed at the Nonprofit Standard Mail prices that meet at least one of three exceptions.

Expanded Option for Hardcopy and Electronic Return Receipt
We revised 503.6.2.1 to allow a combined purchase of hardcopy and electronic return receipt service.

Priority Mail Commercial Base and Commercial Plus Prices Expanded to Merchandise Return Service Priority Mail Items
We revised 402.2.1a., 423.1.0, 424.1.1, 425.2.2, and 507.11.1.5, to allow Priority Mail commercial base and commercial plus prices for permit holders who use Priority Mail service for Merchandise Return Service (MRS) mailpieces.

Stamped Mail over 13 Ounces Must be Presented at a Retail Service Counter
We revised 116.1.0, 126.1.0, 156.1.0, 176.1.0, 186.1.0, 426.1.0, 507.6.0, 601.11.0, and 703.2.0 to require all mailpieces weighing more than 13 ounces bearing only postage stamps be presented to a Postal Service employee at a retail service counter in a Post Office.

Permit Imprint Postage Payment Allowed for Express Mail Using the Electronic Verification System (eVS)
We revised 413.1.0 and 414.1.0 to clarify that Express Mail commercial base and commercial plus prices are available to permit imprint customers using the Electronic Verification System (eVS) program to document and pay postage.