EP1022691A2 - Procédé de réponse au courrier non-recevable retourné à l'expéditeur - Google Patents

Procédé de réponse au courrier non-recevable retourné à l'expéditeur Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1022691A2
EP1022691A2 EP99126154A EP99126154A EP1022691A2 EP 1022691 A2 EP1022691 A2 EP 1022691A2 EP 99126154 A EP99126154 A EP 99126154A EP 99126154 A EP99126154 A EP 99126154A EP 1022691 A2 EP1022691 A2 EP 1022691A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
search
execute
address
mail piece
returned
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
EP99126154A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1022691A3 (fr
Inventor
Ronald P. Sansone
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Pitney Bowes Inc
Original Assignee
Pitney Bowes Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Pitney Bowes Inc filed Critical Pitney Bowes Inc
Publication of EP1022691A2 publication Critical patent/EP1022691A2/fr
Publication of EP1022691A3 publication Critical patent/EP1022691A3/fr
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00435—Details specific to central, non-customer apparatus, e.g. servers at post office or vendor
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
    • G07B17/00—Franking apparatus
    • G07B17/00185—Details internally of apparatus in a franking system, e.g. franking machine at customer or apparatus at post office
    • G07B17/00435—Details specific to central, non-customer apparatus, e.g. servers at post office or vendor
    • G07B2017/00443—Verification of mailpieces, e.g. by checking databases

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to methods for automating mailing, and in particular, to a method for responding to receiving from the U.S. Postal Service mail returned as undeliverable.
  • the Postal Service would have no better address, it would have marked the mail piece "Undeliverable as Addressed,” endorsed the piece with "No Forwarding Address,” and returned the mail piece to the sender, in this case, the mailing company.
  • the piece of mail returned to the sender is marked "Undeliverable as Addressed,” and is, in fact, undeliverable as addressed.
  • a mail piece may be marked "Undeliverable as Addressed" when in fact the address is correct. Sometimes this happens because of a mistake on the part of a Postal Service employee. Other times, the addressee may have provided a change of address shortly after having moved, almost ninety days earlier, and then a mailing company, without pre-screening its mailing addresses before addressing its mail, uses an address for which the forwarding instructions expire before the mail can be delivered. In that case, the Postal Service will mark the mail, correctly, as "Undeliverable as Addressed," and then the company's internal address database should be updated with current address information from, for example, the U.S. Postal Service National Change of Address (NCOA) database.
  • NCOA National Change of Address
  • the present invention is a system for responding to the receipt of a mail piece as undeliverable.
  • An object of the present invention is to respond, efficiently and accurately, to receiving such a mail piece, including responding to mail incorrectly returned as undeliverable.
  • the present invention provides a method of responding to a notice by a postal service that a mail piece addressed to an addressee is undeliverable, the notice including an endorsement indicating why the postal service was unable to deliver the mail piece, the method comprising the steps of: pre-determining a set of data sources to be searched; pre-determining a confidence threshold for establishing when to terminate a search of the data sources; based on the endorsement made by the postal service, selecting a search pattern consisting of at least one search process having a pre-determined search objective, each search process programmed to search at least one of the data sources; and executing the search pattern so as to vary a success factor from an initial value based upon the instantaneous results of the executed search pattern; wherein the executing of the search pattern is terminated if the success factor reaches the confidence threshold.
  • the method of the present invention uses a data center able to access various, independent sources of name and address information, accessible as separate databases or sources of data. Because this data center accesses an amalgam of name and address data, it is here called an amalgamated recipient data center (ARDC).
  • ARDC amalgamated recipient data center
  • a mailing company that has received back from a postal service a mail piece indicated as undeliverable, will prepare a query that includes the address used and the endorsement noted by the mail carrier, and will then provide the query to the ARDC.
  • the mailing company After preparing a query for a returned mail piece marked undeliverable to a particular addressee, the mailing company transmits the query to the ARDC using U.S. mail, telephone or facsimile, e-mail (by scanning the face of the return mail onto a computer record and adding to the computer record the identification of the requestor).
  • the ARDC then executes various searches, making up a search pattern, to locate new address information for the addressee.
  • the search pattern is designed to efficiently determine whether the address used for the addresses is really correct (so that the mail should never have been marked undeliverable), or whether a new address should be used for the addressee.
  • the present invention has the worthwhile result that mail returned as undeliverable will not be set aside until the addressee asks about it. If a mailing company sends important or value-bearing mail to an individual, based on information in the mailing company's database, and that information is, in fact, correct but the mail is returned marked undeliverable, the mailing company is likely to simply wait to be contacted by the addressee, which will only happen if the addressee for some reason expects the mail piece. There will be no change of address forthcoming because, in this scenario, the individual has not moved; the mail piece has simply been erroneously returned marked undeliverable.
  • the determination of what to do is made promptly, using a predetermined process designed to provide a reliable result efficiently.
  • Fig. 1 the method of the present invention is shown to involve a mailing company 11 , an amalgamated recipient data center (ARDC) 12 , and various, independent data sources 14 , each providing information useful in associating a name with an address when taken alone or when combined with information from others of the data sources. Also indicated in Fig. 1 is the ownership of each data source.
  • ARDC amalgamated recipient data center
  • the data sources indicated are only intended to be illustrative of data sources that would be consulted in a particular implementation of the present invention. As new data sources useful for the object of the present invention become available, it is envisioned that these too would be consulted in executing the search patterns that will be described below.
  • NCA National Change of Address
  • Fast Forward database which are owned and maintained by the U.S. Postal Service
  • NCOA National Change of Address
  • Fast Forward database which are owned and maintained by the U.S. Postal Service
  • the present invention is intended to consult these corresponding postal service databases instead of, or in addition to, the U.S. Postal Service versions, depending on where the present invention is practiced, or whether the returned mail piece suggests consulting foreign sources of name and address information.
  • the present invention is not intended to be restricted to mail pieces returned by the U.S. Postal Service, but, instead, to be of use in responding to receipt of a mail piece returned by any postal service.
  • the suppression data of the data sources 14 is name and address information of people who have indicated that they would prefer not to receive one or another kind of mail.
  • the term of art Dead House indicates a formerly used structure that has been abandoned or destroyed, or is for any reason no longer a place where mail should be sent.
  • a flow chart is used to represent steps in the method of the present invention performed by both the mailing company 11 and the ARDC 12 . Terminal steps in the method of the present invention are indicated within blocks having rounded corners.
  • a first, internal checking step 21 upon receiving a mail piece returned as undeliverable, the mailing company 11 first confirms that the mail piece was correctly marked according to whatever data the mailing company currently has in its own address database.
  • the mail piece may have been mismarked by the mailing company, or, more likely, the mailing company may have corrected its mailing data based on information from one or another outside source after mailing the returned mail piece.
  • the mailing company defers to a service, practicing the present invention, to either confirm that the mail piece address is correct as originally mailed, or to determine a new address, or whether there is any address at all for the addressee.
  • Step 22 indicates that if the mail piece address conforms to what is in the mailing company's address database, then the mailing company cannot perform a correcting address and re-mailing step 33 , but instead must perform a preparing and transmitting query step 24 , in which the mailing company packages the information for a query on the address of the addressee, and transmits the query to the ARDC 12 .
  • the information included in the query is any information provided on the face of the returned mail piece, including whatever endorsement the mail carrier indicated. Examples of an endorsement are "No Mail Receptacle," and "Temporarily Away.” (See 41 of Fig. 3.)
  • the query information further includes identification of the mailing company.
  • the ARDC 12 examines the query transmitted by the mailing company 11 to determine whether the query contains adequate information for a response, including whether the query indicates it is from a mailing company with which the ARDC has an understanding in respect of the confidentiality of data provided by the ARDC. If the query is incomplete, or otherwise invalid, in a rejecting query step 32 , the ARDC terminates processing of the query. If, however, the query is found to be valid, then in a next, executing search pattern step 26 , the ARDC performs a predetermined search of a series of address databases, leading to a most likely determination of whether the mail piece was correctly marked undeliverable, and if so, what is most likely a corrected address.
  • the ARDC returns the query result to the mailing company indicating whether the mail piece was correctly marked undeliverable, and, if so, a new address to use if any new address is in the address databases searched.
  • the mailing company 11 examines the query result provided by the ARDC 12 and if that result shows a new, current address, the mailing company updates its database.
  • the mailing company may readdress and re-mail the mail piece based on the result of the query, or in a waiting to re-mail step 33 may hold the mail and later re-mail it in the case of an addressee only temporarily without a good address or, in a discarding mail piece step 34 may simply discard the mail piece, as for example in the case of a deceased addressee with no person designated to receive mail on behalf of the deceased.
  • the correcting address and re-mailing step 23 does not include fixing the name of the addressee.
  • the corresponding step 30 performed after consulting the ARDC, allows for fixing the name as well as the address.
  • a pattern table 41 the different search patterns according to the present invention are shown in a pattern table 41 , as well as how those search patterns for a particular returned mail piece depend on the endorsement indicated on the returned mail piece. Also shown in a process table 42 are the particular search process modules indicated by the search patterns of the pattern table 41 .
  • the ARDC will pursue the process action plan: verify name at address; i.e., it will seek to verify that the named addressee is at the address as mailed. To this end, it will execute the search pattern indicated as BACDH , which will require executing the following search processes: B (attempt to locate the addressee at some new address); A (check and correct the address used); C (verify and determine whether the addressee has moved); D (verify and determine whether the recipient is deceased); and H (check for the addressee as a child or relative of the addressee).
  • Each search process involves searching one or more of the data sources accessible by the ARDC, depending on the search process.
  • the search process A (check and correct the address used) will, in the preferred embodiment, refer to the U.S. Postal Service NCOA and Fast Forward databases. More generally, the search process A will refer to any accessible data source useful in checking and correcting an address, i.e., useful in accomplishing its implied goal, and likewise for the other search processes of process table 42 .
  • the ARDC may not necessarily perform the search processes in the order suggested by the search pattern.
  • the search processes may be performed in parallel, or in any order.
  • the order suggested by the search pattern is believed to be the most efficient order, in the sense that it is the order usually most likely to provide sufficient confidence to terminate a search pattern after the least searching, as explained below.
  • the ARDC While executing a search pattern, the ARDC accumulates a success factor used to decide whether to terminate searching. As a search continues, as information is found in the various databases, the success factor for the search is varied from some initial value. If, during the search, the success factor reaches some pre-determined confidence threshold, the search is terminated before the search pattern is completed. Depending on what is uncovered in executing the search pattern, the success factor may be either increased or decreased, or not changed at all. Information uncovered in one data source may contradict information in a second data source, or may contradict a conclusion that might be drawn from data in the second data source. In that case, the success factor would be decreased, even if the instantaneous value dips below the initial, starting value.
  • one predetermined confidence threshold is used for all searches. In other embodiments, though, the confidence threshold will be adjusted upward or downward, before the search begins, depending on whether the search should be more or less certain than usual. Performing the search processes in the order indicated by the search patterns in the pattern table 41 is believed to be most efficient in the sense that it is believed that the success factor for a search would most likely reach the confidence threshold fastest by performing the search processes in the order indicated by the search pattern, e.g. for a pattern ADB , performing first search process A , then D , then B .
  • the success factor cannot be allowed to exceed the pre-determined confidence threshold until at least two independent data sources corroborate how to respond to the returned mail piece based on the name as addressed on the returned mail piece. For example, if a mail piece is returned addressed to F. Smith at some address, endorsed as "attempted--not known," the ARDC will not terminate the search pattern until it located two independent data sources that agreed in concluding, for example, that the intended F. Smith is now at some particular new address.
  • the search is continued, according to the search pattern, until it is completed, and the results of the search -- the most likely name and address -- are provided to the mailing company, along with the final value of the success factor.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)
  • Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)
  • Sorting Of Articles (AREA)
EP99126154A 1998-12-29 1999-12-29 Procédé de réponse au courrier non-recevable retourné à l'expéditeur Ceased EP1022691A3 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US222599 1988-07-21
US22259998A 1998-12-29 1998-12-29

Publications (2)

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EP1022691A2 true EP1022691A2 (fr) 2000-07-26
EP1022691A3 EP1022691A3 (fr) 2000-11-15

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EP99126154A Ceased EP1022691A3 (fr) 1998-12-29 1999-12-29 Procédé de réponse au courrier non-recevable retourné à l'expéditeur

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EP (1) EP1022691A3 (fr)
CA (1) CA2293194A1 (fr)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6826548B2 (en) 2001-01-24 2004-11-30 Return Mail, Inc. System and method for processing returned mail
US7305440B1 (en) * 1999-11-11 2007-12-04 Panasonic Communications Co., Ltd. Apparatus and method for receiving image
US8598482B2 (en) 2009-03-16 2013-12-03 United States Postal Service Intelligent barcode systems
US20130325893A1 (en) * 2012-06-01 2013-12-05 Northwest Research, Inc. Systems and methods for identifying lost packages
US10510084B2 (en) 2011-07-21 2019-12-17 United States Postal Service System and method for retrieving content associated with distribution items

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5079714A (en) * 1989-10-03 1992-01-07 Pitney Bowes Inc. Mail deliverability by mail and database processing
US5703783A (en) * 1992-04-06 1997-12-30 Electrocom Automation, L.P. Apparatus for intercepting and forwarding incorrectly addressed postal mail
EP0829811A1 (fr) * 1996-09-11 1998-03-18 Nippon Telegraph And Telephone Corporation Procédé et système pour le recouvrement d'informations
US5842200A (en) * 1995-03-31 1998-11-24 International Business Machines Corporation System and method for parallel mining of association rules in databases

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5079714A (en) * 1989-10-03 1992-01-07 Pitney Bowes Inc. Mail deliverability by mail and database processing
US5703783A (en) * 1992-04-06 1997-12-30 Electrocom Automation, L.P. Apparatus for intercepting and forwarding incorrectly addressed postal mail
US5842200A (en) * 1995-03-31 1998-11-24 International Business Machines Corporation System and method for parallel mining of association rules in databases
EP0829811A1 (fr) * 1996-09-11 1998-03-18 Nippon Telegraph And Telephone Corporation Procédé et système pour le recouvrement d'informations

Cited By (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7305440B1 (en) * 1999-11-11 2007-12-04 Panasonic Communications Co., Ltd. Apparatus and method for receiving image
US7769812B2 (en) 1999-11-11 2010-08-03 Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd. Apparatus and method for receiving image
US6826548B2 (en) 2001-01-24 2004-11-30 Return Mail, Inc. System and method for processing returned mail
EP1483744A2 (fr) * 2002-01-24 2004-12-08 Return Mail, Inc. Systeme et procede de traitement de courrier retourne a l'envoyeur
EP1483744A4 (fr) * 2002-01-24 2006-04-12 Return Mail Inc Systeme et procede de traitement de courrier retourne a l'envoyeur
US9012799B2 (en) 2009-03-16 2015-04-21 United States Postal Service Intelligent barcode systems
US8829379B2 (en) 2009-03-16 2014-09-09 United States Postal Service Intelligent barcode systems
US9012798B2 (en) 2009-03-16 2015-04-21 United States Postal Service Intelligent barcode systems
US8598482B2 (en) 2009-03-16 2013-12-03 United States Postal Service Intelligent barcode systems
US9508107B2 (en) 2009-03-16 2016-11-29 The United States Postal Service Intelligent barcode systems
US9691116B2 (en) 2009-03-16 2017-06-27 United States Postal Service Intelligent barcode systems
US10510084B2 (en) 2011-07-21 2019-12-17 United States Postal Service System and method for retrieving content associated with distribution items
US11423419B2 (en) 2011-07-21 2022-08-23 United States Postal Service System and method for retrieving content associated with distribution items
US11836745B2 (en) 2011-07-21 2023-12-05 United States Postal Service System and method for retrieving content associated with distribution items
US20130325893A1 (en) * 2012-06-01 2013-12-05 Northwest Research, Inc. Systems and methods for identifying lost packages

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1022691A3 (fr) 2000-11-15
CA2293194A1 (fr) 2000-06-29

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