Business Reply Mail®
Karen Tucker
Manager Transaction Mail
United States Postal Service
January 19, 2011
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Agenda
Business Reply Mail Overview and Pricing
Intelligent Mail Barcodes (IMb)
Using usps.com to convert BRM to IMb
Business Customer Gateway
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Business Reply Mail®
• Annual permit required
• First-Class Mail® and Priority Mail®
• Cards, letters, flats, parcels
• Per-piece fee in addition to postage
• Payment collected prior to or at the time of delivery
NO POSTAGE
NECESSARY
IF MAILED
IN THE
UNITED STATES
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
FIRST-CLASS PERMIT 000 CITY STATE
FIRST-CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO.#49 WASHINGTON DC
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE
YOUR COMPANY
JAMES STACK
RUSS GALLERY LTD
ADDRESS
476 BROADWAY
STATE ZIP 10013-9991
CITYNEW YORK NYCODE
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Business Reply Mail® Options for Letters and Cards
• Basic BRM
• High-Volume BRM
• Basic Qualified BRM
• High-Volume Qualified BRM
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Business Reply Mail® Options
Cash
Advance
Cards Barcode Check
Type Flats Parcels Required Postage
Deposit
Letters Account
Due
Basic
BRM
X X X X
High-Volume
BRM
X X X X
Basic X
QBRM up to 2 oz
X X
High-Volume X
QBRM up to 2 oz
X X
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Business Reply Mail® Pricing
Per Piece
Annual
Permit Processing Postage and Fee Break Even
Type Fee
Accounting
Fee (1 oz letters & Per Year
Fee
cards)
.44 + .74 = $1.18 869
$185 $585 None replies
BRM .28 + .083 = $0.363
.417 + .052 = $0.469 > 990
Basic QBRM $185 $585 None .257 + .052 = $0.309 replies
High-Volume $1,925 .417 + .007 = $0.424 > 43,000
$185 $585 (per qtr)
QBRM (per qtr) .257 + .007 = $0.264
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Selecting a Business Reply Mail® Option
Determine anticipated number of replies
Add the First-Class Mail® postage + per piece charge
Multiply that sum by the # of returns
Add the Annual Permit Fee
Add the Accounting Fee (if applicable)
Add the Quarterly Accounting Fee (if applicable)
This will provide projected cost for each BRM option
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Business Reply Mail® Comparison
Assumptions
100,000 outgoing
4% anticipated return = 4,000
1 oz letter
Basic High Volume Qualified
BRM BRM BRM Basic
Annual Permit $185 $185 $185
Accounting Fee $0 $585 $585
$0.44 + 0.74 $0.44 + 0.083 $0.417 + 0.052
Per Piece
x 4,000 x 4,000 x 4,000
Postage + Fee
$4,720 $2,092 $1,876
Total $4,905 $2,862 $2,646
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Business Reply Mail® Format
Illustration Source: usps.com
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Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb) Requirements
May 2011 deadline lifted
USPS will process all BRM
after May 2011, with or NO POSTAGE
NECESSARY
IF MAILED
without an IMb BUSINESS REPLY MAIL
IN THE
UNITED
STATES
FIRST-CLASS PERMIT #49 CITY STATE
QBRM approved permit POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADRESSEE
YOUR COMPANY
holders still eligible for ADDRESS
discounts CITY STATE ZIP CODE
Outbound discounts not
impacted
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Populating IMb Fields for Business Reply Mail
Service Mailer
Barcode Serial Routing
Type Identifier
Identifier Number Code
Identifier (MID)
Without Origin Confirm
Unique # 9-digit ZIP + 4
6 or 9
00 708 optional 6 or 9 Code assigned to
digits
digits BRM
With Origin Confirm
Open digits to uniquely
9-digit ZIP + 4
00 identify each mailpiece.
052 Code assigned to
MID is not required with
BRM
Origin Confirm
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Creating Business Reply Mail with IMb
Camera ready artwork available at no charge through the USPS
Mailpiece Design Analysts (MDA)
http://pe.usps.com/mpdesign/mpdfr_mda_lookup.asp
PC-based software to create the IMb artwork in-house can be
purchased through a number of vendors
https://ribbs.usps.gov
Camera ready artwork available on usps.com at no charge
– To use this option, mailers will need an Mailer ID and a BRM
Permit issued by a Post Office with the PostalOne! System
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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usps.com/replymail
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Business Customer Gateway
Josefina Cabatu
Marketing Technology & Channel Mgmt
January 19, 2011
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https://gateway.usps.com/bcg/login.htm
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Business Customer Gateway
Topics
Setting Up an Account (CRID)
– By Location
– By Hierarchy
Managing Your Account
– Services (add and review)
– Permits (add and link)
– MIDs (request and delegate)
Accessing Information
– Postage Statements
– Reports
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Setting up a New Account
Sign up at the Gateway landing page Create Username and Password
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Setting up a New Account
Select a business account Enter company information
Note: A Customer Registration ID
(CRID) is assigned to link all users
and company information by location
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Now you Need to select a BCG service
Business Service is a USPS application with specific functionality;
accessibility can be managed by BSA at each CRID
Manage Mailing Activity
Mailer ID
Customer Label Distribution System
Customer/Suppler Agreements
(FAST) Schedule a Mailing Appointment
Audit Mailing Activity
Manage Electronic Return Activity (PRS)
Manage Electronic Verification Activity (eVS)
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Managing your Account
Business services you will likely need.
Manage
Mailing
Activity
(PostalOne!,
Dashboard and
Reports)
Mailer ID
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Managing your Account
Check the business location to Edit, confirm or cancel the business
associate it to the service service request
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Managing your Account
Customer Registration ID (CRID)
Unique identifier that can be up 18 digits which is created by
the system to identify the USPS Customers at a business
location address
A CRID is assigned to a Company Name and physical address
Connects a company information across all USPS applications
Used to identify Mail Owners and/or Mailing Agents and to help
determine the recipients of information regarding the mailing
Associates every Permit Number and Mailer ID issued (there
may be multiple Permit Numbers or MIDs associated to a single
CRID)
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Managing Accounts
Profile shows CRID and
other info
Displays the your Business
locations including the
CRIDs (Customer
Registration IDs)
associated to your
business locations.
Displays the Services you
have and locations for
which that Service has
been approved.
Provides option to
remove Services.
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Company Profile: more than independent BSA
Setting up your accounts by location
Permits and Mailer IDs are linked to one CRID
Decentralized
Approach
Subsidiaries are in silos (no
Parent company)
Restricts users to certain
permits which are linked
to a particular CRID
There is an
administrator (BSA) for
each Location
If there is a corporate
hierarchy, requires the
Corporate/HQ personnel
from the company to
request access to each
of the four locations
– BSA at location
grants the access
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Customer Profile: one central BSA
Setting up your accounts by corporate hierarchy
Permits and Mailer IDs are linked and accessible by one CRID
Centralized Approach
(Parent company control)
Allows the BSA user to
build/coordinate global
view, auto visibility into all
permits or transactions
that are linked to the one
business location (CRID)
One Administrator (BSA)
for the one parent business
location (CRID), who enters
other locations, grants
access, or delegates
another BSA
Requires the BSA to grant
user access to the
service(s) for the other
locations
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Recap on Account Set-up
Before you set-up your account – Strategize first
Centralized Decentralized
Designated BSA at the the BSAs are determined
Corporation or Parent company
level (recommended for better at the local level (usually not
oversight) coordinated)
1) BSA will enter the corporate 1) Each BSA (at subsidiary) will enter
address(es) (system auto assigns a her business address
CRID) 2) Each BSA will be assigned her own
2) BSA assumes role for each location CRID
and communicates the location 3) BSA at each location grants/revokes
CRID(s) to subsidiaries (BCG users)
access to users who are affliated to
3) User(s) at subsidiary enters the her company
CRID and requests access to the
service at CRID of choice. 4) BSA at each location can grant
4) BSA will grant/revokes access to access to the parent company user(s)
the User at the subsidiary
5) A user at the subsidiary can be
delegated to BSA status
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Account: Locations
Request Access
Enter the CRID of
the business
rather than the
name and address
when requesting
additional
business locations
Decentralized approach
Centralized approach
(select existing
location)
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Account: Locations
When adding a new
business location for a
Service
Enter a known CRID or
enter the business
location address
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Permits
Manage Permits link
• Verify correct permits are linked
to the desired business location
CRID
• BSAs can link additional permits
under Manage Permits
• BSAs can set Low Balance
threshold and fee notifications
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Permits
Permit Profile tab
• View linked permits for a
business location
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Permits
Permit Validation tab
BSAs
• Link additional permits if necessary
• If validation fails, contact the Help Desk
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Manage Mailing Activity
Postage Statement Information
Balance and Fees
Dashboard
Postal Wizard
View Transactions
– Report displays all transactions for permits that are linked
to the locations in the User’s profile for the Manage or
Audit Mailing Activity Service
– Users may access postage statement details under
Transaction Type
Mailing Reports
– Report displays postage amounts by line item for a permit
and postage statement type
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Manage Mailing Activity
Balance & Fees
Manage Mailing
Activity service
A permits needs to be
linked to a CRID
Users need to be linked
to same CRID as
permit(s)
Provides permit owners the
balance and fees due for
accounts
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Manage Mailing Activity
Postal Wizard
PW is an eDoc
option
Manage mailing
activity service
By/For
identification via
permit
May submit as
permit owner or
as agent
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Manage Mailing Activity
Manage mailing activity service
Dashboard Permit owner or agent
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Manage Mailing Activity
Dashboard Search Results
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Manage Mailing Activity
Mailing Reports
Select View Transactions
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Mailing Reports
Transactions Report
Report displays all transactions for permits that are Access postage statement details
linked to the locations in the User’s profile for the under Transaction Type
Manage or Audit Mailing Activity Service
(note the centralized view)
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Mailing Reports
Mailing Summary Report
Report displays postage amounts by line item for a permit and postage
statement type for permits that are linked to the locations in the User’s
profile for the Manage or Audit Mailing Activity Service
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Mailer ID System
Access the Mailer ID System and get a Mailer ID
Request the Mailer ID
service if you do not
already have access. *
Click on the Mailer ID link
to get started
* Follow same steps for getting access to
the Manage Mailing Activity.
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Mailer ID System
Mailer ID Summary
Acquire Mailer IDs
Step 1. Select Request a MID
button
The MID landing page displays all
Mailer ID that are associated to
the selected business location.
Mailer IDs are issued by volume.
Each location gets one 9-digit
Mailer ID w/o a volume check.
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Mailer ID System
Request a Mailer ID
Acquire Mailer IDs
Step 2. Select type of MID (6 or
9-digit), enter the number of
MIDs requesting and click
Request MIDs
The number of MIDs that are
available for the business location.
If the type of MID is not available,
contact the Help Desk for assistance.
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Mailer ID System
Acquire Mailer IDs:
Request a Mailer ID
Step 3. Select the program
you will use the Mailer ID
(Full / Basic Service)
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Mailer ID System
Mailer ID Assignment Confirmation
A new MID is issued and added
to the business location.
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Business Services Administrator
You can opt to assume the BSA role if you
are the first to apply for the service at the
Some Services require a BSA business location
BSA should be
company-designated.
BSA is required to
contact the USPS
when he leaves the
company
Postal Service Help
Desk can revoke a old
BSA role/access
Postal Service Help
Desk can reassign a
new BSA
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Business Services Administrator
The Business Service Administrator (BSA)
Key contact for a Business Location for the management of the
selected Service.
– Approves and deactivates all user requests for Services at the business
location
– Assigns the appropriate access levels to its users
– Assigns additional approved users to the BSA role
1st user requesting a service for a business location will be prompted
to assume the BSA role
– Requests access to a Service for a business location, the system
checks to see if that service requires a BSA.
• If yes, the system checks to see if the BSA is assigned
• If no BSA, the user requesting access will be notified of the BSA
requirement and asked if they will assume the BSA responsibility
– Agrees to become the BSA, the registration process continues.
– If declines, the service request goes into a pending status until
there is a BSA for this Service at the Business Location
• The request is held for 25 days, then is purged
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Business Services Administrator
Request Inbox – BSA Only
The Request Inbox displays all access requests for which the
user is the BSA. The BSA selects a request by clicking the last
name of the requester.
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Business Services Administrator
Request Inbox – BSA Only
When action (approve or deny) is taken on a request, the BSA
receives a confirmation screen to confirm the action
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Business Services Administrator
Manage User Access – Request Services for Users
Allows BSAs to
assign or revoke the
BSA role for other
users.
Allows BSA to
request additional
services and
locations for their
user base
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Business Services Administrator
Manage User Access – Request Services for Users
To select user
To add Services and locations to a
your profile
To assign BSA status (delegate)
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Business Services Administrator
Manage User Access – Request Services for Users
Select the desired Service
Click Search
Select the locations for which the user
needs the Service. Click Continue
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Business Services Administrator
Manage User Access – BSA Only Confirmation of BSA role assignment
and revoking a user’s access.
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http://ribbs.usps.gov/
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