FAST for Periodicals MTAC Workgroup 95 Update

1. FAST for Periodicals MTAC Workgroup 95 Update Washington, D.C. August 2, 2007

2. Agenda • Periodicals Deployment • Recurring Appointments • Mail.dat • Communications • Next Steps

3. Periodicals Deployment • Periodicals Deployment Plan • Periodicals mailers must register for FAST through PostalOne! • For more information on registration go to fast.usps.com and click on Resources, Reference Documents, and download the PostalOne! Customer Registration Job Aid • Schedulers should be submitting recurring appointments in FAST. If this has not been completed, this should be done by August 20th so appointments are created before September 4th • If recurring appointments are not submitted by August 20th, one-time appointments must be created until recurring appointments go into effect. Recurring appointments are created 15 days after approval. • Beginning September 4th Periodicals mailers must submit appointments in FAST. The appointment number should be on PS Form 8125 as soon as you are able to comply (software vendor issue) • Periodicals mailers that arrive without an appointment number on the PS Form 8125 after September 4th will be accepted after Periodicals mailers who have an appointment scheduled and the appointment number on their 8125. Periodicals will not wait behind Standard or Package Services drops

4. Periodicals Deployment (cont) • Periodicals Mailers who arrive without an appointment will be asked to provide a Scheduler ID so they can be accepted as an unscheduled arrival • Periodicals Mailers who cannot provide a Scheduler ID will be accepted but advised they must obtain a Scheduler ID • If you receive a redirection warning message when submitting a recurring appointment request, check to see if Periodicals are accepted at the facility by looking at the Mail Direction Search Report or the Mail Direction file • If some Periodicals are redirected and the redirection is within the grace period, the Periodicals recurring appointment will be approved and in effect until the grace period end date. After the grace period end date, FAST will not create recurring instances for your recurring appointment • FAST will be introducing a change request in the near future which will not allow recurring appointments to be scheduled at a facility when contents are redirected and a grace period is in effect

5. Auto Approval of Recurring Appointments FAST has modified the Recurring Appointment request process to auto approve all pure Periodicals recurring appointments if the facility processes the contents and the recurring appointment is within the hours of operations of the facility: • If a pure Periodicals recurring appointment is requested, FAST will auto approve this request if the facility accepts Periodicals and the request is within the Hours of Operation at the facility. An email notification will be sent to the facility and corresponding Scheduler, Mail Owner(s) and Mail Preparer. • An email is sent to the facility when a new request or an update has occurred. • The facility reviews the recurring appointment request prior and approves. • The FAST online application will determine if new requests or updates to active recurring appointments made by schedulers are eligible for automatic approval. This validation will occur when the request is submitted to FAST but before the user is directed to the recurring appointment confirmation screens. • An email is sent to the Scheduler, Mail Owner(s) and Mail Preparer to inform them the status and effective start date the new changes will take place for approved requests.

6. Periodicals and mail.dat • FAST is fully integrated with PostalOne! and mail.dat 08-1 with the Periodicals rate case implementation on July 15 • Full integration with mail.dat version 08-1 provides the capability for Periodicals mailers to utilize mail.dat to update each appointment or a recurring appointment with accurate data Note: Please contact FAST at fast@usps.com for details

7. Recurring Appointment Mail.dat In order to update a recurring appointment instance in FAST, the following fields in the mail.dat should be populated: • Reservation Number • Located in the .csm record of the mail.dat • Should be populated with the FAST recurring sequence ID (i.e. 12345R) • Scheduled Induction Date • Located in the .csm record of the mail.dat • Should be populated with the appointment date • FAST Content ID • Located in the .csm record of the mail.dat • Should be populated with the FAST recurring content ID (see screen shot) • Provided for the following reasons: • To preserve Mail Owner information • To preserve Mail Preparer information • To preserve Publication information

8. Recurring Appointment Mail.dat (cont) The recurring appointment management page has been modified to give a holistic view of all titles associated to a content of a recurring appointment

9. Communications • The following communications have been developed in June and July to notify customers of the upcoming requirements for FAST and Periodicals: • Mail Pro • Postal Bulletin • PCC Insider • Dock Handout/BMEU Handout • Web Services communication • FAST Mailing list communications • Job Aids and FAQs posted on https://fast.usps.com Resources and RIBBS • Postcard #4 in a five part series promoting the benefits of FAST • Upcoming Communications • Postcard #5 outlining the FAST go-live checklist and key dates • Mailing list communications • Job Aids • DMM Advisory

10. Communications (cont) • Communication effectiveness was measured in terms of customers signing up for the mailing list, FAST Customer registrations, web-based training downloads, and recurring appointment requests for Periodicals. • Total number of customers signed up for the FAST Periodicals mailing list - 128 • Total web-based training downloads since January - 90* • Total FAST registrations through PostalOne! since March - 1,045*. This is a 32% increase in the total FAST registrations in PostalOne! *Totals include all users and are not specific to Periodicals

11. Next Steps • Continue to communicate the September 4th required date to your business partners, LTLs, transporters, etc. • Deploy FAST for Periodicals September 4, 2007 • Get training at https://fast.usps.com • Download Job Aids on the FAST Resources page • Formatting and Printing Reports • Joint Scheduling • Mail Direction Report • PostalOne! Customer Registration • Preferred Publications • Resolution and Internet Browser Settings • Upcoming Label List Improvements • Web Services Overview