Why CASS Is No Longer Enough

"CASSing" a file is a popular but misleading phrase in our industry. CASS, Coding Accuracy Support System, is a process administered by the USPS through which software vendors have
their software certified to standardize and verify addresses. However, "CASSed" has come to describe a file that has been processed by certified software and the term is used here to mean a file that has had its addresses corrected, verified, standardized and enhanced by CASS certified software.

The main goal of the mailer CASSing their file is to attain automation rates, i.e. to mail the pieces at postage rates available to mail that is properly barcoded. Having placed so much importance over the years on CASS, some have come to believe that CASS is the all-in-one solution to the mailers needs - deliverability, postage savings and timely delivery.

We should be aware of the limitations of CASS software. It is intended only to standardize, verify and enhance. Standardizing brings your addresses in line with postal addressing standards such as replacing certain components with USPS accepted abbreviations, such as N for North, Ave for Avenue, etc. Standardizing also rearranges some address components and removes punctuation. This process helps to ensure timely delivery but cannot correct an invalid
address. Addresses that are undeliverable will still be standardized.

Verifying compares your address to a data file of known addresses provided by the USPS. This file is a compressed version of the Delivery Statistics File (DSF) which is a complete listing of all US addresses. When the file is compressed, however, it contains only address ranges such as 100 - 1000 Main Street. Even though most of the addresses in that range may exist, your CASS software cannot tell you which ones do not and, therefore, cannot remove undeliverable addresses that fall within these address ranges.

The data file used by your CASS software is only updated every 60 days. In addition to not catching undeliverable addresses, verifying does not have access to real-time address data that changes daily. It also does not verify the addressee's name to the name of the person that actually lives at the address so if your addressee has moved, verify cannot help you find their new address.

Enhancing adds things to your address that help in timely delivery and postage savings. If your addresses were able to be standardized and verified, then a ZIP+4, Delivery Point and other components necessary for presorting will be added. The ZIP+4 and the Delivery Point are used to build a complete barcode necessary for mailing at automation rates.

Due to the limitations of CASSing, some of your addresses that make it through all of these steps may still be undeliverable. CASSing is not enough to ensure deliverability. Other services must be used in addition to CASS, such as:

• NCOA - National Change Of Address is a service that compares your addresses to the change of address requests filed by individuals, families and businesses. Seventeen percent of Americans move each year.
• LACS - Locatable Address Conversion System is a database of 5 million addresses that have been converted from rural delivery addresses to city delivery addresses to facilitate 911 emergency service in those areas. This database increases by nearly 75,000 each month.
• DPV - Delivery Point Validation tackles the limitation of CASS software that uses compressed DSF data. Without DPV, CASS software can only verify whether an address falls within a range of addresses, not whether the address itself is valid. DPV verifies that an address ctually exists.

For quality and deliverability, CASS is not enough. Currently, the USPS is concentrated on addressing the losses caused by Undeliverable As Addressed (UAA) mail. The limitations of CASSing will become more apparent as the post office makes changes necessary to reduce UAA mail. Mailers will soon find CASSing alone is not enough anymore.

CASS, NCOA, LACS and DPV are available from most major list brokers, including CCI, a list broker and lettershop. Call 800-279-2505 for more information.

How To Get A Free DVD Player

A new web site is offering a brand new DVD Player to the person with the worst experience. If you have ever had little or no response from a mailing, or paid too much postage, or received poor service from your lettershop, your experience can actually pay off.

MyBadMail.com is collecting stories from advertisers of their worst mailing episodes. If your mail tale is judged the worst, you will win a DVD Player.

To enter, go to http://www.MyBadMail.com. You can enter from the email link (story@mybadmail.com, mailto:story@mybadmail.com) or by calling the provided toll-free phone number.