Part 1 of a Seven-Part Series

By Monica Lundquist, Window Book, Inc.

Since 2006 the United States Postal Service (USPS) has been making a major effort to improve the way presort information, mailing documentation and postage are presented to them.  In this endeavor PostalOne! was created so that business mailers can communicate with the Postal Service electronically using electronic documentation (eDocs) instead of having to present hard-copy reports.  PostalOne! provides a centralized, one-stop system in an internet/web-based environment for online postal account management, electronic document transmission, and centralized postage payment.

Why should you implement eDocs or use PostalOne!?

Consider how much time you waste waiting in line for induction at the mailing facility. Can you easily track your mailings?  How do you currently pay your postage?  How much time and labor does it take to print, process, manage and store all of your postal documents? By automating your operation with eDocs and PostalOne! you will be able to save time and labor by taking advantage of the following benefits:

• Transmitting your mailing information electronically for acceptance and verification
• Increased flexibility in managing change in mail production
• Eliminating most of your paperwork
• Tracking your mailing acceptance at USPS 24/7
• Using a centralized payment system.   

Mail.dat and Mail.XML are the two primary types of data files PostalOne! accepts for communicating mailing information electronically. In this paper we will discuss how Mail.dat and Mail.XML work together to facilitate eDocs.  The Postal Service is offering discount incentives and free services to the mailers for implementing eDocs and the Intelligent Mail Full-Service option in their operations.  Increasing numbers of mailers are transitioning from hard-copy documents to eDocs and automating their procedures.  Mailers are urged to submit their postage statements electronically to streamline the process and save time and money, not just for their own internal benefit, but to reduce costs for the USPS, which benefits the entire mailing industry. eDocs are the way many mailers are generating postal documents now and will be the way all Postal documentation with work-share discounts will be processed in the near future.  You simply cannot continue to run your business the same old way!  In order to stay competitive, you need to implement eDocs, or you will be left behind.

What is Mail.dat?

Mail.dat is an industry standard database file set that consists of detailed presort mailing information based on specifications set by the International Digital Enterprise Alliance (IDEAlliance) (http://www.idealliance.org/maildat/). Mail.dat is a group of files that together represent virtually all the detailed information regarding a mailing with the exception of the names and addresses of the recipients. It is created during the presort process by the presort software or MLOCR (multiple line optical character reader) machines and consists of data elements in a readily usable format.  Mail.dat is the primary format of data files that is accepted by the U.S. Postal Service for exchanging electronic mailing information. In order to use Mail.dat you need to apply for a User License Code from IDEAlliance, which involves payment of a nominal fee. Currently there are hundreds of licensed Mail.dat users including mailers, software vendors, service providers, publishers, systems integrators, and the USPS.

Listing of Zipped Mail.dat file sets. Each set or Mail.dat files can contain up to 19 files. Each Mail.dat set represents one mailing.

When the ZIP file A1B2002B.zip is expanded, it contains the files A1B2002B.XXX with XXX being hdr, seg, mpu, mcr, mpa, cpt, csm, cqt, pqt, pdr.  There are additional extension names that could be included if that mailing needed them. The Mail.dat sets only contain those files that are needed to describe the mailing. 

What is Mail.dat used for?

Mail.dat provides you and your mailing partners with all the information needed to automate postal statement preparation, enhance transportation planning, speed mail acceptance and verification, and manage postage data.  Using Mail.dat to create and exchange electronic documents with the USPS^® will enable mailers to profit significantly from streamlining production and optimizing postage discounts such as drop shipping.

Because Mail.dat files are standardized, mail owners, list processors, lettershops, and transportation companies can—with the right Mail.dat software to read and manage these files—easily decode and transmit the mail production and postage information that the files contain. When Mail.dat files are available, all parties involved in a mailing can prepare in advance and allocate the proper resources for each job.  Mail.dat becomes the bridge that not only links a variety of in-house lettershop/mail service provider applications, but also links the lettershop to its clients.  Lettershops, regardless of size, cannot afford to shortchange themselves by ignoring Mail.dat, which directly benefits the bottom line by increasing operational efficiencies and by attracting new business with key value-added services.

Mail.dat facilitates communication among all parties involved in a mailing
In Part 2 of this series, we will continue the discussion of Mail.dat, including real life examples of efficiencies it brings to processing mailing documents.

Monica Lundquist is Postal Affairs Manager for Window Book, Inc.  She can be reached atmlundquist@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.