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Frequently asked questions
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Frequent Questions about Postage $aver ProductsInstallation and Registration Questions:
As long as your registration is current, you may download a replacement copy of Postage $aver at no extra charge. You can have download instructions and registration and update codes automatically sent to the email address at which you are registered by going to our Resend Codes page. I entered the registration codes that I received when I purchased Postage $aver Pro (or Smart Barcoder) and I still can't find the barcode font. The barcode font is not included in the demo package, so you cannot get it simply by entering the registration codes into your demo software. Your registration notice included instructions for downloading a complete file that includes all software and the font. You must download and install that file after you purchase Postage $aver Pro or Smart Barcoder if you want to install the font. If you have installed that file but still can't find the font, you may be just missing it on the fonts menu. Some programs like Word display the font's name using the font itself. So when it shows the name "SmartBars12" using the font, all you see are some bars and blank space. Look in your fonts menu alphabetically where SmartBars12 should go and see if you see some bars that don't make sense. That's SmartBars12 written in bars! The software keeps telling me I have the wrong update code. Each new update gets a new update code. If you are looking at the information you received when you first bought Postage $aver, chances are the update code has changed since then. We include the new update code in the email we send you to notify you of a new update, and we also include it in your acknowledgement email when you renew your registration. If you do not have the latest update notice, you can have it automatically resent by going to our Resend Codes page. If you know that you have the latest update code, but you still are getting the error that your update code is wrong, then you may not have actually ever updated your software to the current version. You can find information on our current version, and links for downloading, on our Current Update page.
The Intelligent Mail Barcode is currently in a trial phase with USPS. It is just now being implemented for bulk mail, is not required until May, 2011. Our new Smart Barcoder for Windows software creates both Intelligent barcodes and Postnet barcodes. Click here to try it!. (Mac users please check back soon. We will have a Mac version shortly.) What's all this about me having to do "move update" on my mail now. I've never done that before. Beginning November 23, 2008, USPS has a new requirement for all standard mail and first class presort that essentially requires you to check to see if anyone on your list has moved since you added their address. The requirement can be met easily by simply putting "Or current resident" as the second line on each address, or you can track address correction notices, or you can send your list out to have it checked against a national USPS change of address data base. For the details, click here for our step-by-step help page for the new move update requirement.
The "Z" versions of the forms are the "short forms", which are convenient for mailers filling out forms by hand but are not required. Postage Saver prints out the longer form, which does not have the "Z" at the end, but is always acceptable. USPS wants to know where my CASS form (form 3553) is. I can't find how to print that with the software. CASS is the process by which you get your certified zip+4 codes and your delivery point codes, which are required for barcoding if you are claiming barcoded rates. Postage $aver and Smart Barcoder are not what you are using to get your zip+4 and delivery point codes, so they can't print your CASS form (form 3553). If you purchased your mailing list from a list vendor, they probably provided a CASS-certified list and they can tell you where in their file to find the form. If you used a service bureau to get your zip+4s, the CASS form would come from the service bureau. If you are barcoding but you never got certified zip+4 codes, you have a problem. If you are not barcoding, then you do not need certified zip+4 codes to get bulk rates, as long as you do not claim barcoded rates. For a full explanation of CASS and barcoding, and links to ways of getting this done, please see our Barcoding and CASS help page. My tray tag says "5-DIGIT 77002" but some (or all) of the pieces in that tray are for 77010. What's wrong? Probably nothing. The USPS requires that some 5-digit zips be combined with others that are handled by the same post office into what are called 5-digit schemes. Trays and bundles for the schemes are always labeled to the main zip code for the scheme. For example, in this case, pieces for 77010 go in the same tray as pieces for 77002 and the tray is labeled as 77002. You can tell it's a scheme tray (rather than a tray for a single 5-digit zip) if it says SCH or SCHEME on the tag. The individual zip codes in each 5-digit scheme tray are shown on the rate qualification report. Postage $aver cleverly takes care of all of this for you, so you don't have to keep track of schemes! Postage $aver tells me to create one or more trays with fewer than 150 pieces, and then says those trays get the "AADC" rate. USPS says no way - that to get the AADC rate they must have at least 150 pieces. (Or, they say that these trays must be combined into a single tray.) What's the deal? Sorry, but your USPS person is probably wrong about this. For 3-digit areas in your home sorting region (SCF), mailers can optionally make one tray for each 3-digit area with no minimum number of pieces. That way, the local pieces don't have to go all the way to the AADC location, which can quite a distance, just to come back to your area. Such trays are called "optional 3-digit origin trays". Optional 3-digit origin trays get the AADC rate even without meeting the 150-piece AADC minimum. Also, the rules say these trays should be prepared separately for each 3-digit area, even if it would seem to make more sense to combine them. The exception to this is if the 3-digit areas are part of an official 3-digit "scheme", where USPS has designated that several 3-digit areas should be put together for the type of mail you are sending. (Postage $aver automatically combines 3-digit areas, as required, when there are schemes.) For some reason, USPS personnel often do not know about 3-digit origin trays and sacks. If you have this problem, you might suggest, respectfully, that they look at the Domestic Mail Manual rule for the type of mail you are doing, and pay attention to the section on optional 3-digit origin preparation. If a polite reminder does not solve the problem, we can provide specific rule numbers if you tell us the type of mailing you are doing. My USPS person tells me I have to use "Optional Endorsment Lines" (OELs). Postage $aver says these are optional. What's the deal? OELs are never required. For mail that must be prepared in specific rubber-banded bundles (which includes all flat-sized mail, for example), a mailer must label the bundle either by placing a colored sticker (like the ones below) on the top piece in the bundle, or by adding an endorsement line (like ***** 5D 77036) on each piece above the address.   For mail that is not prepared in specific bundles, there is no bundle to label, so there is no purpose in adding an OEL or sticker, so neither is required. Letter-sized mail prepared in trays is generally not bundled, so there are no OELs provided for most letter-sized mail. (Banding to prevent letters from flopping around in a tray is not considered to be a bundle for these purposes. Bundling only refers to when specific pieces have to be kept together for sorting purposes.) If you choose to use OELs instead of colored stickers, they must be placed above the first line of the address. If the barcode is located above the address, the barcode goes above the OEL. The OEL must be in the same typeface as the address. Postage $aver told me to create two trays with exactly the same label, but neither is full, and USPS says I must fill one tray entirely before starting a second tray. (Or, Postage $aver told me to put more pieces in the tray than I can fit.) Every mailing has a different thickness, so it takes a different number of pieces to fill a tray. Postage $aver determines thickness from the number you put in the "Count the pieces in a 5-inch stack" question on the first screen of the sort wizard. For each mailing you prepare, you must stack up 5 inches worth and count the number of pieces in that stack. (Squish the pieces as tight as they would be if they were actually in the tray.) Postage $aver will determine the correct number of pieces in 1-foot and 2-foot trays, or bundles, from there. I printed my 9-digit zip codes using your barcode font and the post office says it is wrong. A proper postnet barcode contains more than just the 9-digit zip code. It is either 10 digits (for business reply mail) or 12 digits (for bulk mail), plus a start bar and a stop bar. Our Smart Barcoder software creates the correct string of digits and start and stop bars for you automatically. Or, see our help page on delivery-point barcodes for technical information if you want to try to create the strings yourself. |
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Copyright 2009 L. Scott Hochberg |
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