Intelligent Mail Barcode Delivering Results
According to verifications performed by the U.S. Postal Service, Washington, since January 2009, 95 percent of mailings with the Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) are quality, readable barcodes, enabling the commercial mailers who print them to receive the mail tracking and address correction information Intelligent Mail Full Service has to offer.
According to Thomas G. Day, senior vice president, Intelligent Mail and Address Quality, it’s this success in printing the IMb that has given the Postal Service the confidence to move ahead with previously published plans to raise the IMb readability threshold to 90 percent.
“The industry has consistently improved in its ability to print the Intelligent Mail barcode,” said Day. “The fact that more than 95 percent of the mailings being verified are passing the 90 percent threshold means that our customers are doing an even better job of printing the IMb [than] they are with printing the POSTNET barcode,” Day added. “The change in the threshold is consistent with the trends we have seen in overall mailer performance.”
Mailings that meet the 90 percent barcode readability threshold are eligible for automation prices. The barcode readability threshold for IMb aligns with the barcode readability threshold for the POSTNET barcode.
For more information about Intelligent Mail Full Service or barcode readability thresholds, visit http://ribbs.usps.gov.