Glossary of Terms

ANK^Link™

ANK stands for “Address Not Known”. The ANKLink Product is an enhancement to the existing 18-month NCOALink® Product. ANKLink provides an additional 30 months of COA information.  The ANKLink data will not return the new address but will inform mailers of customer moves that occurred in months 19-48, along with the move effective date.

Barcoded Tray, Bag and Container Tags

Encoded routing, content, origin, and mailer information on trays and sacks.

Bound Printed Matter

Must consist of advertising, promotional, directory, or editorial material (or any combination of such material) and be securely bound by permanent fastenings such as staples, spiral binding, glue, or stitching. Loose-leaf binders and similar fastenings are not considered permanent.

Carrier Route

A postal carrier route is the group of addresses to which the USPS assigns the same code to aid in mail delivery.  These codes are 9 digits – 5 numbers for the ZIP Code, one letter for the carrier route type, and 3 numbers for the carrier route code.  The Carrier Route Product provides mailers with reference information for applying carrier route codes to addresses when taking advantage of presort postage discounts. Mail containing carrier route codes can then be presorted to the carrier route level.

CASS™

The Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) is a certification process for evaluating address-matching software.  It improves the accuracy of carrier route, five-digit ZIP Code, ZIP + 4, and delivery point codes that appear on mailpieces

Customized Market Mail™

This service is a Standard Mail option allowing mail of any shape or design (non-rectangular) to be sent.  It offers a more creative way for businesses to communicate with their customers.

Destination Entry Discounts

Standard Mail, Parcel Select, Bound Printed Matter, and Periodicals may be eligible for further discounts if the mail is entered closer to its destination. After mail is verified and postage is paid at the facility where the mailer holds the permit, the mail can be taken to three places to receive a destination entry discount: a destination bulk mail center (DBMC) (or destination area distribution center (DADC) for Periodicals), a destination sectional center facility (DSCF), or a destination delivery unit (DDU). The discount received depends on where the mail is entered.

DPV®

The Delivery Point Validation (DPV)  Product identifies whether a ZIP + 4® coded address is currently represented in the USPS® delivery file as a known address record. The DPV Product allows users to confirm known USPS addresses as well as identify potential addressing issues that may hinder delivery.

eLOT®

Also known as (electronic) Line of Travel; these codes organize the delivery points within a zip+4 code in the order that the carrier travels as they deliver mail. To aid in mail sortation, eLOT contains an eLOT sequence number field and an ascending/descending code. The eLOT sequence number indicates the first occurrence of delivery made to the add-on range within the carrier route, and the ascending/descending code indicates the approximate delivery order within the sequence number. eLOT processing may be used by mailers to qualify for enhanced carrier route presort discounts.

First-Class Mail®

This service is used for sending postcards, letters, large envelopes, and small packages that weigh less than 13 ounces.

Form 3553

Also known as the CASS Summary Report.  This certifies to the post office that the mailing has been processed. Unless excepted by standard, the mailer must complete a Form 3553 for each mailing claimed at all automation rates and all carrier route rates., and is required to receive a discount or barcode for the mailing.

GeoCoding

Geocoding is the process of finding associated geographic coordinates (often expressed as latitude and longitude) from other geographic data, such as street addresses, or zip codes.

Intelligent Mail® Barcode (IMB)

The Intelligent Mail barcode (formerly known as the 4-State Customer Barcode) is the next generation of USPS® barcode technology used to sort and track letters and flats. Intelligent Mail barcode technology, among other things, combines the capabilities of the POSTNET™ barcode and the PLANET Code® barcode into one unique barcode.

LACSLink®

The LACSLink Product is a secure dataset of converted addresses that primarily arise from the implementation of 911 system, which commonly involves changing rural-style addresses to city-style addresses. The LACSLink Product also contains existing city-style addresses that have been renamed or renumbered.

Library Mail

Used by qualifying institutions like libraries, universities, zoos, and research institutions to mail educational and research material. There are presorted prices available for bulk quantities of Library Mail (minimum quantity is 300 pieces). There is also a barcoded discount available for Library Mail.

Mail.DAT

Mail.dat is an industry defined, relational file structure for data (not postage statements) to be transmitted by the mailer to the PostalOne! System.  It has four key features:

• Offers a Web-based alternative to existing manual mailing processes with an electronic suite of services designed exclusively for business mailers
• Used to send data (not postage statements) to the PostalOne! System
• Allows updates to certain data before and after acceptance
• Intended for mailers who generally use software to generate statements and have a need to send large, complex mailings.

Manifesting

This systems combines mail pieces of identical or different weights/ rates into a single mailing, allowing increased savings and greater productivity.

Media Mail®

Generally used for books (at least eight pages), film, printed music, printed test materials, sound recordings, play scripts, printed educational charts, loose-leaf pages and binders consisting of medical information, and computer-readable media. Advertising restrictions apply. There are presorted prices available for bulk quantities of Media Mail (minimum quantity is 300 pieces). There is also a barcoded discount available for Media Mail.

Merge/Purge

Merge/ Purge is the process of combining two or more lists or files, simultaneously identifying and/or combining duplicates and eliminating, or purging, unwanted records.

NCOA^Link®

The National Change of Address Link product makes change-of-address information available to mailers to help reduce undeliverable mailpieces before mail enters the mailstream.

Optional Endorsement Line

Optional information lines include the optional endorsement line (OEL), carrier route information line, ACS participant code, and mailer’s keyline. The OEL and the carrier route information line may be printed on the mailpiece or label when the address is printed. A mailer’s keyline is reserved for the mailer’s use except where required by the USPS.

Package Services

Package Services is a class of mail primarily intended for merchandise, catalogs, and other printed material. Package Services does not receive expedited service. There are four subclasses of Package Services: Parcel Select, Bound Printed Matter, Media Mail and Library Mail.

Palletization

Pallet sortation is generally intended to presort the palletized portion of a mailing to at least the finest extent required for the corresponding class of mail and method of preparation.

 

Parcel Select®

Used by commercial mailers for mailing merchandise, books, circulars, catalogs, and other printed matter. There are bulk prices and destination entry prices available for mailers who send large quantities of Parcel Select items. There also is a barcoded discount available for Parcel Select pieces.

PAVE™

The Presort Accuracy, Validation, and Evaluation program is a process designed in cooperation with the mailing industry to evaluate presort software and determine its accuracy in sorting address files according to Domestic Mail Manual standards.

Radius Search

This allows for searching from an origin ZIP code extending out to a specified amount of miles.

RDI™

Residential Delivery Indicator is a data product that helps customers reduce shipping costs by verifying whether a delivery type is classified as residential or business.

SERP™

Software Evaluation and Recognition Program (SERP) evaluates the ability of both commercial and internally-developed software packages to validate or correct mailing lists according to Canada Post requirements.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

A model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires.

Standard Mail®

Standard Mail offers a lower price on postage for the work you perform. For Standard Mail, you must do some of the work the Postal Service would otherwise do. The work you do in terms of preparing, sorting, and entering your mail can lower your postage costs. You must pay an annual mailing fee at each facility where you enter mail. The mailpiece must weigh less than 16 ounces. Standard Mail requires a minimum of 200 pieces or 50 pounds per mailing.

SuiteLink™

A product containing business addressing information specifically identified as high-rise default records as a result of CASS™ processing. The SuiteLink Product will allow developers to create a software interface that will have the capability of appending the secondary (suite) information to a business address providing the input address is determined to be a high-rise default record.

Walk Sequence aka Delivery Sequence

Mail sorted by the mailer according to the sequence followed by the mail carrier on their delivery route.

ZIP + 4®

An extension of the five-digit ZIP code providing the U.S. Postal Service with even more precise destination information to facilitate mail handling.