Are you familiar with the USPS' Informed Visibility initiatives? Do you know what it is doing with the Full Service Intelligent Mail information being collected? And should you care?
Yes, you should care and you should be educated and informed - about USPS Informed Visibility! The key benefit is, of course, knowing where your mail is as it travels through the USPS processing systems and on out to delivery. The Postal Service has long offered piece tracking services, but it is also enhancing IMb Tracing (formerly known as Confirm) by adding scan events captured at different times throughout the process.
Phase One of Informed Visibility was completed earlier this year, and allows for the tracking of Full Service Intelligent Mail trays, sacks, and pallets. This further closes the gap that had been between Mail acceptance, and that first piece scan when tracking mailpieces. As the USPS continues to improve on their scanning processes, the higher scan rates are evident. Internally, the Postal Service is now able to take advantage of the increased visibility, using the IMb Service Performance Diagnostics tool. The Diagnostics Tool is accessible internally at the USPS by the Business Services Network and Plant Managers, who for the first time can actually see the flows, identify issues, and react more quickly when needed. This improves USPS delivery for everyone.
Future plans for Informed Visibility include the possibility of geo-fencing, using USPS delivery vehicles equipped with scanning equipment. This would add even more precise data, as mailpieces can be associated to a scan event as the mail carrier passes through that street or neighborhood, in effect giving a delivery time without having the carrier to have to take the time to scan each individual mail piece.
Postcom hosted a great webinar titled: "USPS End-to-End Visibility: Using Data to Drive Performance and Network Optimization", which is accessible at this link (along with their other publicly-accessible educational webinars, a great resource!)
Don't get left behind and in the dark - Informed Visibility is critical to mailing success.
Yes, you should care and you should be educated and informed - about USPS Informed Visibility! The key benefit is, of course, knowing where your mail is as it travels through the USPS processing systems and on out to delivery. The Postal Service has long offered piece tracking services, but it is also enhancing IMb Tracing (formerly known as Confirm) by adding scan events captured at different times throughout the process.
Phase One of Informed Visibility was completed earlier this year, and allows for the tracking of Full Service Intelligent Mail trays, sacks, and pallets. This further closes the gap that had been between Mail acceptance, and that first piece scan when tracking mailpieces. As the USPS continues to improve on their scanning processes, the higher scan rates are evident. Internally, the Postal Service is now able to take advantage of the increased visibility, using the IMb Service Performance Diagnostics tool. The Diagnostics Tool is accessible internally at the USPS by the Business Services Network and Plant Managers, who for the first time can actually see the flows, identify issues, and react more quickly when needed. This improves USPS delivery for everyone.
Future plans for Informed Visibility include the possibility of geo-fencing, using USPS delivery vehicles equipped with scanning equipment. This would add even more precise data, as mailpieces can be associated to a scan event as the mail carrier passes through that street or neighborhood, in effect giving a delivery time without having the carrier to have to take the time to scan each individual mail piece.
Postcom hosted a great webinar titled: "USPS End-to-End Visibility: Using Data to Drive Performance and Network Optimization", which is accessible at this link (along with their other publicly-accessible educational webinars, a great resource!)
Don't get left behind and in the dark - Informed Visibility is critical to mailing success.
