Mailing Technology & Your Business

There are two buzz terms you’ve heard a lot about over the past 12-18 months — Informed Visibility® (IV) and Informed Delivery® (ID). Both are designed to position technology around mail for the future. Have you taken advantage of these tools yet?

Informed Visibility

Informed Visibility refers to the visibility of the mail while processing through USPS® facilities. BCC Software’s Track N Trace® mail tracking service utilizes this technology to bring our customers enhanced visibility into the mailstream. Historically, the mail tracking system was dependent on actual mail piece scans, but some of the recent changes include the ability to obtain assumed scans by way of a container scan trickling the scan down to the individual sub containers of trays/sacks, and ultimately individual mail pieces. When you hear Informed Visibility, you should be thinking logistics, traceability, and a tighter closed loop on where the mail has been, where it is now, where it’s going, and when it should get there.

Informed Delivery

Informed Delivery, on the other hand, is an opt-in service for residential consumers that allows them insight into what mail is on its way and what they should expect to see delivered that day by way of scanned images of the exterior of letter sized mail sent to their email or mobile app.

If you have not signed up for this service yet, or if you have more questions about it, read BCC Software’s Informed Delivery FAQ. 

The USPS did an excellent job of summarizing the potential impact the service can have on your business at this year’s National Postal Forum.

The default image appearance is grey scale however, the USPS has allowed mailers to include color images and personalized URLs through what they refer to as Interactive Campaigns. Interactive Campaigns are supported in BCC Mail Manager’s Mail.dat addon option. Learn more about creating Interactive Campaigns here.

Interactive Campaigns are an easy way to add value to your marketing campaigns by further bridging the gap between digital and physical communications. The color image will quickly set your mail piece apart and the inclusion of the personalized web link provides another touch point to potentially close the deal or offer incentive to interact with the direct mail piece.

If competitive advantage and offering a service of value to your clients wasn’t enough incentive, the Interactive Campaigns do qualify the mailer for the USPS Mobile Barcode Promotion, netting a two percent discount on qualifying Marketing Mail letters and flats.

To learn more about using Interactive Campaigns, contact BCC Software at 800-337-0442.