Everybody's talking about the dire financial situation the U.S. Postal Service® is in. The USPS is planning a "network rationalization" – closing scores of processing facilities – as well as service standard adjustments in order to reduce costs to offset financial losses. They might even experience workforce reductions.

As part of these plans, the USPS is encouraging mailers to use PostalOne!®, eDoc, and Intelligent Mail® to improve efficiency and help reduce operational costs. The USPS has discussed requiring Intelligent Mail barcodes, eDoc and Intelligent Mail Full-Service for years….and now it's no longer a rumor, but reality:

• January 28, 2013: POSTNET sunsets, replaced by the Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) on letters and flats to claim automation discounts.
• January 2014: Intelligent Mail Full-Service (including eDoc) is required to get automation discounts. 
Most likely all upcoming USPS promotions will follow the example of the mobile barcode promotion offered this summer, where eDoc and Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb) were required for mailers to get the additional postage discounts.

Inevitably, the USPS will discontinue accepting paper statements as a cost-cutting measure. The USPS annually hand-enters millions of postage statements; this manual labor costs them millions of dollars for the data entry  alone – not to mention the additional costs of any information incorrectly entered into their systems.
 
So, what about the financial challenges mailers are facing?  Everyone wants to be able to work smarter and get more done faster.  Automated systems requiring minimal manual labor, assuring less human errors, and providing greater efficiency save you time and money.  A common misconception is that eDoc is inconvenient, but that is not true if mailers adopt it as a standard practice for all mailings. When mailers move back and forth between hard-copy statements and eDoc is when the inconvenience arises.
 
One alternative is the Postal Wizard, a form-filling option for those who do not have mailing information available in the format of Mail.dat or Mail.XML.  However, this method is more work since you have to manually key in the mailing data into web-based forms, and is prone to human errors.  It also limits the number of pieces allowed for Full Service mailings.  For most business mailers, Mail.dat and Mail.XML are more efficient methods to process eDoc.

Embrace eDoc and Intelligent Mail

If you’re not taking advantage of eDoc and PostalOne! start now. When it becomes a requirement to get postage discounts, you’ll be scrambling at the last minute. The only way to get the best postage discounts right now is to use IM Full-Service - thus, eDoc and PostalOne! The process can take time to switch, so get going now!
 
Examine your current system, and decide what kind of tools you need to participate in eDoc and Intelligent Mail.  Start with eDoc even if you’re not ready to implement Full-Service in your operation.  Using eDoc will prepare you to stay viable in the mailing industry. Most of all, it will simplify your daily tasks, reduce manual labor, increase efficiency, and help you save time and money. Get going with eDoc today!