**Highlights of the**

**Mailers\' Technical Advisory Committee**

**May 5, 2004**

###### U. S. Postal Service Headquarters

**Benjamin Franklin Room**

**Washington, D.C.**

**First Day**

**Welcome**

**John Wargo, Postal Chair**

**Bob O'Brien, Industry Chair**

**Marty Emery, Postal Vice-Chair**

At the opening session of the May MTAC meeting, Deputy Postmaster
General John Nolan read a letter of appreciation to retiring MTAC
member, Charles Pace. John Wargo presented a certificate of appreciation
to Mr. Pace, who was retiring after more than 40 years in the mailing
industry.

Bob O'Brien announced a new member association, the Custom Publishing
Council, Laurie Rosen, Executive Director, and new MTAC representatives:

> Pat McCarthy, National Assn. of County Recorders, Election Officials
> and Clerks

Chuck Cairatti, Newsletter and Electronic Publisher Assn.

Scott Pompe, Newspaper Assn. of America

Mary McCormack, Edison Electric Institute

Sue Sevening, Assn. for Postal Commerce.

**Overall Business Outlook**

**John Nolan, Deputy Postmaster General**

John Nolan announced that the House of Representatives draft on postal
reform is being reviewed by Senior Management and the USPS Board of
Governors and comments will be deferred until that process is completed.

The Mailing Industry Task Force has completed Phase I and is focusing on
revenue for the industry, which will be discussed at the National Postal
Forum in September. Comments from MTAC members are welcome.

The business outlook is improving, evidenced by the beginnings of an
economic upturn and recent heavy Standard Mail volume in a few regions.
The Postal Service is preparing for a healthy fall season, as focus
continues on cost reduction and maintenance of service. Employee and
customer satisfaction scores remain high.

**Financing the Postal System**

**Richard J. Strasser, Jr.**

**Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President**

Richard Strasser announced that the latest financial reports would be
posted on the web after review by the Board. He discussed cost and
revenue analysis for fiscal year 2003, noting the statutory requirement
that the Postal Service operate at an approximate breakeven level. Each
class and subclass should cover its attributable cost and make a
contribution to the system.

In 2003, total expenses were \$64.9 billion, of which 57% was considered
to be attributable (\$36.8 billion). Attributable costs are costs that
are volume variable and include mail processing costs including
transportation and receiving costs, letter carrier in-office time spent
sorting mail and the time spent delivering mail to the mail box, and
direct service to customers in other revenue areas, such as retail. All
other costs are called institutional costs (non-volume variable), and
represent 43% of total revenue (\$28.1 billion). The largest portion of
those costs relates to the delivery network and retail. Specifically,
the time required traveling to and from the delivery route and the time
to travel between stops is not volume variable. Also included in this
category are management and field support, infrastructure, etc.

Mr. Strasser presented a detailed analysis of each class of mail, noting
that the change in attributable costs only varied by a percent or so,
except for package services for which costs were down about 8%. He noted
that the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) saving had a substantial
impact on those figures, which would have been considerably higher (in
the 4%-6% range) otherwise. He also explained the total contribution of
each class to institutional costs -- First-Class Mail contributes the
bulk (about \$20 billion) followed by Standard Mail (more than \$7
billion). Express Mail (\$.5 billion), Priority Mail (\$1.6 billion) and
Package Services (\$.4 billion) provided a combined contribution of
\$2.5 billion.

Finally, Mr. Strasser commented on a dilemma that arises from the
declining volumes of the last few years. Before that, the increased
costs of a continuously expanding retail and delivery network was
financed by volume (revenue) growth and moderate rate increases.
However, in the last three years First-Class Mail volume declines and
mail mix changes have resulted in lost contribution. This, coupled with
5.3 million new deliveries has resulted in a decline in
revenue-per-delivery-point, ameliorated in part by the CSRS savings and
the successful cost reductions. He explained that the current trend has
resulted in an overall increase in operating costs of about 4%, which is
nearly twice the current CPI inflation rate. If rates are increased at
about the rate of inflation, which is the historical norm, and if
First-Class Mail volume declines and changes in mail mix to lower
contribution categories continue, the only place to look for relief is
improvement in total productivity by a factor of about 3.7% annually,
would be required to break-even. That rate, achieved only twice in the
last 33 years, is simply not sustainable. Facing this challenge requires
greater management flexibility than now exists in the structure of the
Postal Service.

Mr. Strasser announced that the latest financial reports would be posted
on the web after review by the Board. The URL address is shown below.

<http://www.usps.com/financials/_pdf/Q22004QtrlyReportFinalv1-2.pdf>

**The EMA Foundation Study of Mail and Jobs**

**John Schlich, EMA Foundation ISP Steering Committee**

**Robert Reisner, CEO, Transformation Strategy**

John Schlich commented that the EMA Foundation's Institute for Postal
Studies was established two years ago to provide industry comment to the
President's Commission on the postal reform process. The IPS has
produced a number of other products, including a response to a
congressional inquiry about the impact of postal reform on mailing
industry jobs. That study, recently completed, was described by Robert
Reisner.

Mr. Reisner explained that the report noted that, without postal reform
and management flexibility for the Postal Service, the cost of mailing
would increase with a concomitant effect on volume, revenues and jobs.
Almost 9 million individuals are involved in the mailing industry (nine
private sector workers for every one Postal Service employee), and a
decline in mail volume of 10% to 20%, as predicted by the President's
Commission, could generate 1.5 million job losses and result in
dislocations. One product of the study was a deck of cards, available
from the IPS, outlining the current jobs profiles in the various
congressional districts

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/110robert%20Presentation%20on%20Jobs%20Study.ppt)

**Marketing Update**

**Anita Bizzotto**

**Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President**

Anita Bizzotto described how the Postal Service is adopting technology
to create innovations that make it easier for customers to take
advantage of the power of mail. These innovations and new services
include:

> Click-N-Ship, which was recently successfully promoted in selected
> areas through a "Click-N-Ship week."
>
> Carriers have always picked up packages from customers while on their
> daily route. This service was enhanced through technology that allows
> customers to request next day pick up of their packages via the web.
>
> A partnership with eBay (which has 60 million users) that adds a
> Postal Service site on the eBay system -- sellers can obtain mailing
> information, obtain rate information, print shipping labels, maintain
> a shipping history, and pay the postage fees with a credit card
> account.
>
> Automated Postal Center \-- a self-service machine that allows a
> customer to weigh mail up to 70 pounds, calculate retail rates, print
> required labels, purchase stamps, obtain delivery confirmation and pay
> with a credit card
>
> Parcel Return Service has two participants in the experiment with a
> third almost ready to participate.
>
> Finally, the Customer Connect program has resulted in a \$4 million
> sale, followed recently by a sale of over \$1 million.

On the Internet, the Business Service Network has launched a web site
that allows major mailers to contact the BSN with issues 24 hours a day,
every day.

In the summer, a Reply Mail web site will be launched to allow customers
to learn about reply mail, apply for permits, pay fees with a credit
card or CAP, confirm ZIP+4 codes, and electronically create pre-approved
camera-ready formats. Finally, in the fall, an electronic return receipt
service will eliminate the current green card attached to the
recipient's envelope, and allow the sender to receive an electronic
facsimile of the recipient's signature.

Ms. Bizzotto commented that there will be a major campaign to encourage
the use of direct mail that will target 75,000 decision makers who rely
on direct mail advertising. Efforts will continue to encourage use of
"customized market mail" (high impact mail that allows unique mail piece
shapes). She noted that recent market research, that will be available
in June, shows a marked advantage to coupling catalogs with
Internet-based sales sites. Catalog recipients spend more time on the
sites and are twice as likely to purchase an item when a current catalog
is available.

Ms. Bizzotto announced that a new work group was being considered to
look at the possibilities of eliminating sacks. She invited interested
MTAC members to consider participating and noted that an MTAC co-chair
was needed. She discussed the upcoming National Postal Customer Council
(PCC) Day on May 26, and the National Postal Forum in September (19-22).
The Forum will include a number of marketing seminars, six new business
tracks and more than a hundred workshops. Early bird registration
discounts are available, and MTAC members receive a discount.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/140%20mtacbizz.ppt)

**USPS Privacy Policies**

**Zoe Strickland, Chief Privacy Officer**

Zoe Strickland affirmed that the Postal Service is committed to
maintaining the confidence that Americans have had for over two hundred
years in the security and privacy of the mails. She discussed the
increased concern for and attention to privacy legislation and
regulations at the federal and state levels. A myriad of state laws have
been passed, and major federal legislation includes the Privacy Act of
1974, the eGovernment Act, the Health Insurance Privacy and Portability
Act, and the Gramm Leach Bliley Act. She noted that the Postal Service
has developed internal guidelines on privacy, following FTC Fair
Information Principles, and is also involved with many governmental and
private sector groups concerned with privacy and security.

Three major privacy initiatives are do-not-call legislation, e-mail spam
regulations and policies, and efforts to initiate do-not-mail
regulations. The do-not-call regulations have been very popular and
widely used, and effectively enforced by both the private and public
sector. The do-not-email regulations (federal requirements related to
e-mail marketing established in January 2004) have been more difficult
to enforce. Do-not-mail regulations have been proposed in a few states,
but no serious progress has been made, and the recent "junk mail"
protest was tepid in its impact.

The Postal Service has conducted three studies related to privacy laws
-- a survey of a number of national accounts, an analysis of state laws
as they relate to mailing, and focus groups to discuss the impact of the
laws and regulations. All three studies will be discussed at the
National Postal Forum in September.

[Please click here to view the presentation](../../MTAC0504/225zoe.ppt)

**Market Research on Packaged Mail**

**Greg Whiteman, Manager, Market Research**

Mr. Whiteman discussed recent research on customer reaction to the
concept of packaged mail, noting that it would not be a major change in
the way consumers perceived mail service, the value of mail, the "mail
moment" and how recipients would handle the mail each day. Research was
based on 24 focus groups (20 residential consumers, 4 businesses) in
five cities, covering the various mail delivery methods -- mailbox, mail
slot, curbside, cluster box, and apartment delivery.

Most consumers agreed that today they are highly engaged with the mail
they receive and there are issues that were common to all recipients --
inconsistent delivery times, mis-delivered mail and jammed mailboxes.

As it relates to consumers' reactions to the delivery point packaging
concept, there were three groups:

Those who would accept the innovation were typically more mature
consumers, who felt the package mail would be easier to handle and
accept the benefits which automation brings to them..

Those who are undecided would not typically have a position on the new
packaging but also would accept it if the change was made.

The last group would be those who would oppose the concept of package
mail who would mainly be younger, more affluent and potentially more
vocal consumers. This group would be concerned due to the issue of the
environmental impact of the additional plastic that must be discarded.

Mr. Whiteman stated that, as a result of these preliminary qualitative
findings, the Postal Service will conduct a large-scale consumer study
to try to quantify the results, and to more clearly define the potential
effects on brand image and perception of mail value.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/Delivery%20Point%20Packaging7.ppt)

**Mail Moment Research Results and Implications**

**Greg Whiteman, Manager, Market Research**

Greg Whiteman described recent research to understand the in-home
behavior of consumers related to receipt of mail on a daily basis. It
revealed that mail helps consumers manage their households. The value of
mail derives from the connection which the mail provides the consumers
with the market -- bills and bill paying, subscriptions, useful
advertisements and the occasional personal mail piece. When that
personal piece arrives -- a letter or card from a friend, for example --
the positive impact is extraordinary. The key is that mail needs to be
relevant and useful, in helping consumers manage the critical functions
of home life.

The research revealed that, in most homes, one individual sorts and
distributes the mail and typically that individual is the predominant
shopper and finance manager. The "mail moment" is often the transition
from work life to home life, and there are usually good feelings related
to the process. Mail is crucial in helping consumers enjoy their
personal life and brings value to them.

The survey also revealed challenges. About half of the consumers felt
that the mail received each day contained pieces with little or no
value, in some cases including statements and bills. It also revealed
that the proportion of consumers who really rely on the mail has
deteriorated -- over 60% of recipients over 60 years of age conveyed a
dependence on the mail, while only 41% of those under 40 felt the same
way. Therefore, it is critical that anyone who sends mail into the home
(whether ads, bills or other mail) must focus on increasing the
perceived value of each piece of mail.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/MailMom%20MTAC2.ppt)

**MERLIN**

**Michele Denny**

Michele Denny announced that all Merlin machines have been deployed, and
the phase-in and grace periods have ended. The tolerance rates for
presort and labeling accuracy, First-Class short paid meter mail and
carrier route sequencing is currently 95%; barcode quality for letters
is 90% and for flats 80% (which will go to 90% on July 31 and affect
less that 1% of the mailing being processed).

MERLIN utilization is near the target of one in six mailings for small
(under 10,000 pieces). The verifications for large mailings (over 10,000
pieces) is 48%, although some sites are processing at an 80% rate. About
30,000 mailings are being tested each week (mainly letter mailings), a
number that is steadily increasing.

Over 314,000 mailings have been screened for invalid 0s and 9s -- 100
mailings revealed 0s and 84 revealed 9s -- for a passing rate of 99.9%.
Additional postage averaging \$1,184 per mailing was assessed.

Finally, Ms. Denny commented on the planned sensitivity test on the mail
processing equipment to determine whether the standards for barcode
readability could be adjusted based on the actual read rate of the
Postal Service sorting and processing equipment. The test data might
support a change in the parameters in the MERLIN system to check
barcodes.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/MERLIN%20435michele.ppt)

**Highlights of the**

**Mailers\' Technical Advisory Committee**

**May 6, 2004**

###### U. S. Postal Service Headquarters

**Benjamin Franklin Room**

**Washington, D.C.**

**Second Day**

Bob O'Brien announced the election of the new MTAC Industry Vice Chair,
Joyce McGarvy, who will take office immediately because of the
resignation of John DePiazza. He noted that the current MTAC Industry
Officers would serve an additional year, after which the two-year cycle
would resume. The election of MTAC Industry Steering Committee
Chairpersons will be held in August and MTAC members may submit
nominations between now and July 15. Mr. O'Brien announced that the
Corporate Automation Plan Phase Two had been published and is available
as a handout at today's meeting.

**BSN eService**

**Robin Ware, Manager, Business Service Network**

Robin Ware announced a new web-based service that connects customers
with the BSN 24 hours a day, every day. Although customers may continue
to contact their own BSN representative, they may enter issues that are
sent directly to the individual in the Postal Service who will act on
the resolution. Customers, who may track action on each issue, have
experienced a 20% reduction in the time for resolution. Currently there
are 86 mailers (228 individuals) who are entering 24% of their service
issues online. Large customers with a number of representatives online
will be able to access an overview of issues being addressed.

Ken Metroff, a customer who relies on the service, commented that the
BSN eService erases time zones and office hours, eliminates the e-mail
chain that often grows from issues that are tracked by e-mail, and
eliminates the need to track down the person responsible for resolving
issues.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/MTAC5_805.ppt)

**Improving the Drop Ship Process (New WG #87)**

**Anita Pursley and Cynthia Mallonee**

Anita Pursley reported that this new work group was established to
address a Department of Transportation (DOT) regulatory mandate that
affected how a driver's hours of operation were calculated, which now
includes load and unload time. The new rules would result in increased
costs and changes in the transportation management process. The work
group is looking at the replacement of DSAS with the Customer Entry
Schedule System, and will conduct a site visit to observe the entire
transportation process.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/MTAC%20820%20Session%20Presentation.ppt)

**Address Quality Enhancement (New Work Group #88)**

**Jody Berenblatt/Rick Arvonio and Jan Caldwell**

Jody Berenblatt explained that this new work group will work to identify
a weighted/prioritized list of barriers to the application of quality
addresses and barcodes. She invited MTAC members to submit ideas, which
they can contribute by June 1.

[Please click here to view the presentation](../../MTAC0504/mtac88.ppt)

**Electronic Enhancements to Certified Mail/Return Receipt**

**Pritha Mehra, Manager, Special Services**

Pritha Mehra announced enhancement of the current web-based delivery
confirmation process, electronic certified mail/return receipt
verification of delivery, which will allow a mailer to bypass the
traditional green card, and receive a facsimile proof of receipt
signature electronically. Large mailers can provide an electronic
manifest and receive the same electronic facsimile of the recipient's
signature.

[Please click here to view the presentation](../../MTAC0504/830mtac.ppt)

**Launch of BRM Website**

**Susan McMeen, Manager, (A) Product Management-Letters**

Susan McMeen announced that the Business Reply Mail (BRM) web site will
be launched in the summer of 2004, and will allow customers to learn
about Business Reply Mail, to apply for BRM permits on line and pay
appropriate fees using a credit card or an established centralized
account payment (CAP) account. The web site will provide for assignment
of a unique Zip+4 Code and design and produce pre-approved, downloadable
camera-ready art for BRM mail pieces. In the future, there will also be
an automated BRM accounting capability that will provide full billing
information and will eliminate any delays in delivering Business Reply
Mail.

**Paper and the Environment**

**Robin Baker, Director of Communications**

**American Forest and Paper Association**

Robin Baker described environmental campaigns launched by activist
groups to affect the business practices of companies that rely on paper
products. Since 2002, those groups have focused on recycling, minimizing
paper consumption, responsible fiber sourcing, reducing the cutting of
old growth forests, identifying a chain of custody for fiber, clean
production issues and looking at alternative (non-tree) paper fibers.

The Paper Campaign targeted Office Depot using tactics that included
negotiation, in store protests, media publicity and enlisting strong
advocacy support, including entertainment notables. The objective was to
induce Office Depot to issue a procurement policy in line with the
campaign's goals, and then pressure other similar companies to issue
similar policies. In another upcoming campaign, Catastrophic Consumption
will target a major catalog producer. A third campaign is focused on
paper production in a specific region, an area known as the Cumberland
Plateau in Tennessee.

Ms. Baker described an advocacy group, called Metafores, a collaboration
of large-volume paper buyers (such as McDonalds, Starbuck's, Time,
Toyota), that makes every effort to be objective and responsible in
looking at business practices and transactions related to the paper
consumption required by their businesses

The American Forest and Paper Association has assigned a high priority
to developing guidelines for recycling, developing consumer education
programs and materials, sponsoring research, and supporting the Paper
Industry Association Council, a group of 32 industry associations
working on environmental issues and providing tools for the promotion of
environmental responsibility, especially is the area of recycling.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/900mtac%20robin%20backer.ppt)

**First-Class Business Mail Measurement System (WG #83)**

**Ken Metroff and Maryellen Clarke**

Ken Metroff reported that this work group has completed its effort to
identify possibilities for business mail measurement that would serve
the needs of the mailers and be compatible with what Postal Service
Operations could deliver. A statement of work has been developed and
agreement has been reached on the format for an aggregate report that
would provide information on timely, early and late delivery of
First-Class Business Mail at the destination end of the delivery. A few
mailers are in the process of certification to participate in a pilot
test. The work group will be sunsetted and it is anticipated that a new
work group will be established to monitor and evaluate the process once
it is up and running.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/MTAC_%2383%20930on_May%20604.ppt)

**Consistency of Mailing Standards and Business Mail Acceptance (WG
#86)**

**Sue Taylor, Michele Denny and Sherry Freda**

The mission of this new work group is to identify inconsistencies in
mailing standards and business mail acceptance, and to develop
recommendations to harmonize those inconsistencies. Five issues were
initially identified: CASS logic, DMM, MERLIN acceptance, general
acceptance and First-Class Mail versus Standard Mail content.

Work Group #88 (Address Quality Enhancement) will handle the CASS issue
\--inconsistency in required logic used by vendors and mailers in
building CASS-certified software. Concerning the DMM, information on
some topics is located in multiple places, and there is evidence of
conflicting interpretation of regulations at different Postal Service
locations, and by customers versus the Postal Service. There is a need
to communicate established policies for MERLIN acceptance, and to
harmonize some local policies that differ from national policies
(usually because of unique local conditions). Finally, clarification is
needed with regard to First-Class Mail and Standard Mail content (mainly
when personal information is included).

Perhaps the most important contribution of the work group will be the
development of a communications model that will cover effective
dissemination of information to all mailing industry stakeholders about
mailing standards, policies and procedures.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/MTAC%20950Consistency%20Workgroup%20Presentation.ppt)

**Postal One! Postage Payment and Statements -- Approach and Design (WG
#84)**

**Larry Goodman and Dan Minnick**

This work group has addressed eight issues -- shortages, multiple
presorts, combined mailings, postage adjustments from third parties,
postage adjustment due to presort changes (MERLIN), co-mailing using
multiple permits, co-palletization, return of postage statement data and
unlimited statement at separation. The reports on these issues prepared
by MTAC work group members have been useful in improving Postal One!

The Postal One! team has been focused on the June software release that
will allow replacement of the legacy system of permits. It has the
capability of creating a true customer identity, which allows a complete
understanding of the customer's mailing profile (locations, types of
mail, etc.), and it will eliminate a major manual records system.

Mail.dat was also discussed and Mr. Goodman stressed that the USPS
remains committed to listening to the needs of its customers.

**Parcel Delivery Performance Measurement Effectiveness (WG #82)**

**Chris Finley and Bob Fisher**

Bob Fisher summarized the objective of the work group -- to understand
the operations and procedures that affect measurement, identify issues
that affect performance measures, to prioritize those issues and to
develop recommendations (including a process review mechanism). The key
issue is whether the number of parcels delivered to the Postal Service
agrees with the 8125 in terms of time and number.

A national DDU survey was conducted to verify arrival of pieces versus
the data on the 8125. The results were shared with each consolidator
involved in the test. The work group will be discussing the implications
of the test results at the next meeting.

The Postal Service has made parcel service part of the National
Performance Assessment and holds field managers accountable. However,
some of the parameters (like the failed pieces that do not arrive with
an 8125) are not under the field manager's control, and some adjustment
may have to be made in the internal measurement process.

The work group has developed a list of issues to address in the future
-- arrival quality measurements and their consequences, improved report
design, reports to support the 8125 scan performance, data sharing and
establishing communications processes at all levels.

**Flat Mail Preparation Optimization (WG \# 81)**

**Joe Lubenow and Sharon Daniel**

Joe Lubenow discussed several projects. The work group addressed a
simplified mail preparation process for the AFSM 100, a process that
would bypass the small parcel and bundle sorters (SPBS) and the
automated package processing system (APPS). Mailers would save on
materials, the Postal Service would handle the mail less, which would
reduce labor input. The simplified mail preparation process is not
intended for the next rate case but will be considered after that time
frame.

Issues related to APPS included visibility and readability of the
address block (an engineering assessment of poly wrap issues is being
conducted by the Postal Service), and Postal Service-initiated changes
in the optional endorsement line (OEL) parameters.

The terms "packages" and "bundles" have multiple definitions in the DMM
and in common usage in the mailing industry, and the work group is
looking at clarifying the issue.

Finally, the work group discussed the cost-based rates quantitative
market research. Industry review is complicated by a complaint case
filed by certain Periodicals mailers, and the difficulty an individual
mailer faces in comparing the numbers with current operations. The
research can move forward, however, for Standard Mail, a consultant for
the Postal Service is developing a number of alternative mail
preparation scenarios to illustrate potential outcomes using the
Standard Mail market research rates compared to a baseline of current
preparation procedures.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/1055FlatMailPreparationOptimizationMay04.ppt)

**Enhancing Confirm (WG \# 80)**

**Paul Bakshi and Martin Bernstein**

The Confirm certification process will generate sufficient data to
develop service performance results. Three mailers are being certified
for the initial pilot tests, which involves site visits, a requirement
to adjust internal operations to reflect the Confirm requirements, and
continual monitoring for quality compliance. The site visits have also
been helpful in adjusting Postal Service procedures. Shared reports will
provide confidential information to the mailer, including delivery
versus service goals and in home window delivery results. Enhanced
training for Postal Service personnel has been developed for on-site
sessions and web-based access.

Marketing research has been completed on bundle tracking of
carrier-route presorted packages not run on automation equipment.
Mailers attach bundle slips that are scanned at the Postal facility. Two
services will be available, a basic report that provides the raw scan
data and a premium report service that includes the shared reports.
Costs for the service are being calculated and a rate case may be filed
before the end of the year.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/MTAC-1115ConfirmUpdate-May04-General%20Session.ppt)

**Mail Irregularity Feedback (WG \# 55)**

**Pat Killeen, Susan Redman and Joyce McGarvy**

Pilot tests completed in November 2003 stimulated a number of upgrades
and enhancements, including the use of the new J2EE technology. The
program, now called eMIR, will be launched in mid-summer with a national
training program, with full implementation in the fall. Current training
is targeted at the BMEU level and the mail processing facilities where
the reports will originate. The pilot tests demonstrated that the
training has a positive effect -- non-resolution of issues based on lack
of actionable information was reduced from 21% before the November test
to 8% after training, and the quality of the reports related to
resolution improved.

Joyce McGarvy commented that mailers could expect to begin receiving
notifications this summer.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../../MTAC0504/mtac%201135.ppt)

## Adjournment 

## 

## The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.