UPS Enhances Online Tools
United Parcel Service of America Inc. has upgraded its UPS OnLine Tools, the shipper said yesterday.The software allows businesses to link their Web sites with UPS, calculate shipping costs, select and compare shipping services and track packages from point-of-order entry to delivery.
One new service is UPS Signature Tracking, which allows customers to track packages and receive the digitized signature of the person who signed for the delivery, the full delivery address, the c.o.d. amount collected and the reference number associated with the delivery.
The other new application is UPS Shipping, which will allow approved customers that ship at least 50 packages a day to have their employees create and print shipping labels from their desktops. It also makes it possible for businesses to share information such as address books, shipment histories and tracking information across internal systems.
UPS also is offering enhancements to help expand the reach of two existing programs:
• Rates & Service Selection will provide customers with rates from 35 origin countries to every destination that UPS serves.
• Time-in-Transit will offer enhanced shipping information on all available services between any two points in the United States.
In addition, UPS said the entire program is available in XML. The company will provide customers with a list of approved service providers that can help with integration.
More than 60,000 businesses have licensed UPS OnLine Tools since their introduction in April 1999.
