AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wrote and published this piece back in April. Given the recent announcement by the USPS that has indefinitely delayed the required use of the Intelligent Mail Barcode to qualify for automation postage discounts, I thought it was appropriate to look at these ideas again. Maybe more mailers would embrace IMB if it had more to offer them...

What If Intelligent Mail Was ... More Intelligent?

I've been writing and speaking about intelligent mail for quite a while now. My opinions about certain aspects of the program and my recommendations to clients have changed as information became available and the USPS published rates and regulations. But one thing that hasn't changed is a sense that intelligent mail isn't a whole lot smarter than what was available to mailers before.

I'm all for increased automation to keep labor costs under control. And Postal Service accountability for service standards is a good thing. I just think there are more ways we could take advantage of mail pieces that are individually numbered and associated with a particular mailer.

 Here are a few things that came to mind:

Use IMB codes to allow customers to opt out of certain mailing lists

Consumers are tired of receiving mail that they determine to be irrelevant. Wouldn't it be great if mail recipients could slap an official USPS sticker on a mail piece, drop it back in the mail, and be automatically removed from the list? The USPS would scan the returning mail and send removal request notifications to the mailers electronically. Or even better, consumers could scan IMB codes with their cell phone cameras and be taken right to the mailer's preference page on the web. Not only could consumers stop receiving an unwanted catalog, they could sign up for other catalogs the same mailer might produce, enter a contest, fill out an accurate profile, etc.

Cut down on unnecessary routing and delivery

Some consumers say they want no Standard Mail delivered at all. Should a do-not-mail-list become law, mailers might be required to pass their mailing lists against the do-not-mail file within 90 days of the mailing, just as they do today with NCOA. Recent additions to the do-not-mail file could be compared to mail induction scans. Standard Mail pieces with addressees who match the list could be separated from the mail stream and recycled, thereby reducing the labor and environmental impact caused by routing and delivering mail that the recipient does not want. Of course the mailer would be notified of the non-delivery so they can update their mailing lists.

Link physical mail to electronic mail

We all know that multi-channel communication is more effective than direct mail alone. What if the USPS created a secure electronic mailbox tied to every delivery address? Mailers could create feature-rich electronic documents and pay a fee to the USPS to have them delivered to the electronic mailboxes. Mailers wouldn't have to collect or maintain customer email addresses or worry about spam filters and abandoned email boxes anymore. IMB scans could be used to time the delivery of the electronic documents to coincide with home delivery of the related physical mail pieces.

The same concept would work for notifying customers that images of their bills or statements can be found in their secure USPS electronic mailboxes. Billers can send simple notification postcards instead of multi-page bills and statements to customers who want to pay online but still want the physical mail piece delivered. This is a value-added service that could be a new revenue stream for the USPS and keeps some volume in the mailstream instead of losing it to electronic delivery altogether.

These are just a few random thoughts. I'm sure there are lots of other possibilities for making the mail more intelligent. The good news is that much of the technology required to do so already exists and could be licensed by the USPS. The Postal Service needs to prepare for the future of communications quickly, not embark on long program development projects.