The U.S. Postal Service said yesterday that it is upgrading the data transmission backbone that supports its automation and intelligent mail program.
According to the agency, 108 large postal facilities will have existing wiring replaced with high-speed wiring technology over the next 15 months. So far, 62 plants have been upgraded.
The new wiring will increase the postal service's ability to receive real-time information about mail as it travels through the mail stream, and this will especially improve Confirm mail.
Business mailers are using information gained from the Confirm service to augment marketing and business processes. With Confirm, for example, customers know when their customers receive bills, credit cards, direct mail and fulfillment orders. As a result, they can plan staffing and inventories and process payments and orders more efficiently.
The USPS said the high-speed network will have the capacity to handle future requirements as it continues to develop its intelligent mail program and implements other mail processing infrastructure programs such as PARS, which is designed to identify potential Undeliverable as Addressed mail pieces at their point of origin rather than at their destination; the Bio-Detection System, established to safeguard the mail from biological threats; and the Surface Air Support System, used to maximize efficiencies in the postal service's transportation network.
