Group 1 Software Inc., a Pitney Bowes Company, now offers the Address Quality Hub, an address cleansing software platform that it said improves mail deliverability and maximizes postal discounts for users of CODE-1 Plus and Finalist CASS software.
Lanham, MD-based Group 1 said the new platform is beneficial for all businesses that use the mail stream for customer communication, as they face increases in postage costs in August 2007 when the U.S. Postal Service implements more stringent postage discount rules designed to reduce undeliverable-as-addressed mail. Under these rules, part of the current USPS rate case and new CASS requirement, CASS Certified software will be required to perform DPV processing, which is expected to reduce the number of ZIP + 4 coded addresses that are eligible for postage discounts.
It has been estimated that the new CASS requirement will cause ZIP + 4 coding rates to drop approximately two percent, Group 1 said. The implications of this drop in discount-eligible mail, combined with increased postage rates can be huge – especially for large-volume mailers – potentially costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
The Address Quality Hub from Group 1 Software enables mailers to address this issue in two ways.
First, the Address Quality Hub’s Coding Uplift Module employs algorithms and programming logic to enable existing CODE-1 Plus and Finalist CASS solutions to cleanse and code up to 35 percent of address records that would have previously been rejected during CASS processing – resulting in higher postal discounts and a reduction in UAA mail.
Second, its Delivery Point Correction Module provides a solution to correct the primary house number required for automation discounts by automatically matching name against street address, and correcting bad addresses. This address correction and validation technology allows mailers to verify that U.S. street addresses actually exist and are truly confirmed delivery points for mailing, enabling mailers to reduce UAA mail and maximize postal savings, while meeting the new USPS CASS requirement.
The Address Quality Hub and associated modules are compatible with Group 1 Software’s CODE-1 Plus and Finalist products, requiring no changes to existing applications or APIs, and no extensions or changes to return codes. The modular design of the Address Quality Hub also enables the implementation of additional modules to address future postal requirement changes.
