SmartyStreets Company Blog

The Post Office loves acronyms. That’s why Qualified Address has products with CASS, LACSLink, and DPV in their names. Other products and services that you might hear connected with the USPS are NCOA, PAVE, and MASS. Even ‘ZIP’ in ZIP Code is an acronym for “Zoning Improvement Plan.” It can seem like the post office has its own language sometimes.

Some of these acronyms are more interesting and confusing than others. One of the questions we get a lot is, “What is LACSLink?” ‘LACS’ is an acronym for “Locatable Address Conversion System.” A “Locatable Address” has reference to a 9-1-1 system. It means that addresses are named and numbered in such a way that shortens response times to emergencies.

In many areas of the country, rural route addresses have been used to deliver mail in the past. As these areas adopt 9-1-1 systems, the rural route addresses are replaced by locatable addresses. For a few years, the Post Office will continue to deliver mail to the rural route, but eventually it will be returned as “Undeliverable As Addressed” to the mailer. That’s where LACSLink comes into play.

LACSLink is a system that converts addresses that have been renamed or renumbered into locatable addresses. This is an invaluable service for those who send out bulk mail, because you might otherwise lose contact with many of your contacts.

Qualified Address offers LACSLink processing with all its products, including its Address Entry Pro API. LACSLink is also required for all CASS Software.

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Qualified Address has added free de-duping services to all its data-scrubbing products. If you are a current customer, this service is already available in your account.

You can find out more about these services at QualifiedAddress.com.

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We’ve just added a section to the Address Entry Pro User Guide that explains how to use our XML Address Verification with PHP. We now have examples for C#, Java, Visual Basic, JavaScript, and PHP included in the guide.

You can download the updated User Guide here: /Library/User-Guides/APIGuide.pdf

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This is a change that the USPS is proposing that may affect many mailers. It deals primarily with type-size and spacing requirements for printing of a delivery address on all letter-sized mail pieces.

Here is what the USPS says about the changes:

We are proposing revisions to the address standards for letter-size pieces mailed at automation, presorted, or carrier route rates. Under the new standards, all letters mailed at discount rates must be addressed using a minimum of 8–point type. In addition, for automation rate letters, the lines and the characters in the address must not touch or overlap, and each element on the address line may be separated by no more than three blank character spaces.

These changes probably won’t effect most mailers, but it is something to be aware of in the future. If you have comments on the changes, they can be submitted before December 10, 2007 to the following address:

Manager, Mailing Standards
U.S. Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW
Room 3436
Washington DC 20260-3436

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UPDATE: the US Postal Service has delayed the  May 2011 requirement for Intelligent Mail Barcode usage.  Here is the official post.

 

This is from the October 10, 2007 Federal Register:

The Postal Service proposes new address placement requirements for Periodicals, Standard Mail, Bound Printed Matter, Media Mail, and Library Mail flat-size pieces sent at automation, presorted, or carrier route rates. We also propose to require an 11-digit POSTNET barcode or Intelligent Mail barcode on flat-size First-Class Mail, Periodicals, Standard Mail, and Bound Printed Matter sent at automation rates. In addition, we propose related revisions to the address requirements for automation and presorted First-Class Mail flats.

Comments on the proposed change must be received by December 10, 2007. They can be mailed to

Manager, Mailing Standards
U.S. Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW Room 3436
Washington DC 20260-3436

Read the Full Announcement

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Starting October 10, 2007, the USPS has changed its policy for Temporary Change of Address filings. The changes will make it easier for those who forget to put an end date on the paperwork, but will create more work for those who want to temporarily change their address for more than six months.

Here is the word from the government:

The changes state the minimum duration for a change of address order is 15 days; the maximum duration for the initial change of address order is 185 days; and the maximum duration for the additional change of address order is 179 days. A customer seeking the longest duration for temporary change of address, can accordingly submit an initial order for 185 days and a second order for 179 more days, thus reaching the maximum period of 364 days.

Previously, a temporary change of address could be filed for an entire year. The USPS claims that this shouldn’t impact most postal service customers since the 62% of all temporary change-of-address requests are for less than six months.

Customers will be sent a reminder to submit a second temporary forwarding request at the end of six months.

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The Postal Service announced a major change in requirements for Standard Mail last week, when it was determined that Standard Mail would be required to comply with Move Update requirements starting November 23, 2008. This notice was made public in Volume 72, Issue 188 of the Federal Register.

According to the Federal Register, “the Move Update standards provide ways for mailers to reduce the number of mailpieces that require forwarding or return by the periodic matching of a mailer’s address records with customer-filed change-of-address orders.”

So, what does this mean? It means that the USPS wants those who mail at a Standard Mail rate to determine, on their own, whether or not a recipient has moved or to pay an additional fee for the USPS forward the mail.

Along with making Move Update a requirement for Standard Mail, the USPS also increased the frequency requirements for Move Update processing. Instead of the minimum frequency being every 185 days (6 months), the minimum frequency will now be every 95 days (approx. 3 months). This change will effect both First Class and Standard Mail for bulk mailers.

“We believe that the revised standards…are crucial to the continued vitality of the postal system as well as the business interests of mailers,” the Federal Register explains. Undeliverable as Addressed Mail (UAA) is a major expense for the USPS, costing upwards of $1.9 billion each year. Standard Mail accounts for 62.8% of this undeliverable mail.

This change brings up several concerns. Many believe that the requirement will be difficult and expensive for small business mailers and non-profit organizations to keep up with. The Post Office dismisses this concern, believing that there are methods available for every budget-level. Another concern was that this change was being made before the benefits of the recent changes to CASS-processing have been realized. This concern has not yet been addressed.

The new requirements do not affect move-related UAA problems, which are the main source of UAA Mail for Standard Mail.

Summary of Changes
- Move Update, which was previously only a requirement for First Class Mail, will not be a requirement for Standard Mail in order to reduce UAA mail.
- Mailers can comply with the Move Update requirement in three way: (1) NCOA^Link, (2) FASTforward MLOCR processing, or (3) On-piece ancillary service endorsements (except “Forwarding Service Requested”).
- Changes will be effective on November 23, 2008

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If you have a website that lets people lookup U.S. Government legislative districts or find representatives, you’ve probably been frustrated with finding a good way to give people the ZIP+4 Code they are looking for. Since the ZIP +4 Code is pretty much required for finding the correct congressional and legislative districts, this is a problem that a lot of web-masters face.

A lot of people facing this problem resort to directing their visitors to find the ZIP+4 Code on the USPS Look-up. This is an alright solution, but isn’t the best solution; it takes the visitor away from your site, and is an inconvenience for them.

By using the Qualified Address API, you can implement a better solution. Our Address Verification API can be integrated into any website form in as little as fifteen minutes. This allows the visitor to enter their address and get the correct ZIP+4 directly from your website. Working directly from your own web domain, this product is convenient for both you and your user.

Please visit the Address Verification API product page at QualifiedAddress.com for more information on how you can use this tool on your website to improve searches requiring ZIP+4 Codes.

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