What is Mail.XML™?

Let’s face it, before either one of us understands what Mail.XML is, we first need to ask and answer “what is XML?” Gathering data from some of my more technically inclined friends, I was able to come up with some pretty good information. And because I understood it, you should have no problem with it either. XML stands for Extensible Markup Language, and is often defined as “a human-readable way of describing data or structured data.” It also means that you can extend a specification with fields - without necessarily impacting your communication software. XML is the current standard of communication between two or more computers over the internet and is the Business-to-Business communication and automation standard.

Today, a tremendous amount of eCommerce occurs through XML. Think about all the pushing and shoving you saved yourself from at the malls by purchasing your Christmas gifts online. Well, you can thank XML for making it so easy! Now that you understand what XML is, and maybe even how it’s used, let’s tackle the second, more important question we asked earlier: What is Mail.XML?

Several years ago, the International Digital Enterprise Alliance (IDEAlliance®), in collaboration with the United States Postal Service® (USPS®), developed an XML-based communication specification to automate business processes and communication wherever possible. This was originally known as the Transaction Messaging specification, is now known as Mail.XML, and is a messaging protocol that enables two-way communication between parties in the mailing supply chain. It is designed to increase efficiency and lower costs by removing many manual data entry processes and enabling quick, near real-time communication between business partners, with the core focus being light-weight, business-function-specific communication where computers are “talking” with each other.

I think we’re close to understanding all this, but maybe we should look at a couple of the benefits just to make sure. Mail.XML is designed for two-way conversational communications that occur in near real-time. This increase in speed of communicating allows for more efficient business processes and can help you lower your cost of doing business. It can also let you automate certain business functions because when you know all the “conflict situations” and you store the answers or triggers for each situation in your software, then the software is resolving most of the conflicts, thereby minimizing human interaction wherever possible.

Well, that does it. I tried to take some very techno-geek stuff and convert it into English for you and me both. I hope I was successful. More in-depth answers (and questions!) about Mail.XML can always be found on the IDEAlliance website, www.idealliance.org.

Wallace Vingelis is Director, Postal Industry Practice for Window Book, Inc., and currently serves as Co-Chair for the Mail.dat Specification Committee and Mailing Software Developers Group for IDEAlliance. He can be reached at wvingelis@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. Visit their website at www.windowbook.com.

IDEAlliance, Mail.dat and Mail.XML are trademarks owned by the IDEAlliance. The following trademarks are owned by the United States Postal Service: PostalOne!, United States Postal Service and USPS.