September 2002

Business Reply Mail That Expires?
Bob Fredman was looking for stamps one evening in 1999 while paying his bills and when he thought of a new concept for Business Reply Mail envelopes - an expiration date. Companies could add an expiration to postage paid envelopes as an incentive to pay your bills early.

Fredman, who has received patent approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, says businesses could apply an expiration date to the postage paid envelope on a customer basis by printing the date on the bill such that it shows through the window of the envelope. Fredman calls his new envelope Urgent Reply Mail and believes companies will benefit from the new envelope when as customers take advantage of the free postage and pay their bills early.

Fredman plans to license the concept to an interested envelope manufacturer, but approval of the USPS is needed before businesses can begin using URM envelopes. Currently the USPS is concerned with how expired envelopes will be handled. The USPS would have to absorb the costs of returning expired URM with no postage to the sender. The USPS is also skeptical of the market demand for such a service.

Priority Mail Users Push For Improvements
Citing deteriorating service and higher-than-average rate increases for Priority Mail, the Association of Priority Mail Users Inc. has submitted recommendations for improvements. In the most recent rate case, the average increase was 7.7 percent while Priority Mail rates grew 13.5 percent. This, in addition to inconsistent delivery times has major users of Priority Mail worried.

During the meeting, APMU members report that USPS officials promised to re-evaluate rate increases for Priority Mail and pledged more consistent on-time delivery for the service.

Hitachi Printer Service Available
CCI is an authorized dealer of Hitachi Imaging Solutions products. Included in the Hitachi line is the Digital Document Publisher 70 laser printer, the same laser printer CCI uses to produce its own quality variable data print (VDP) direct mail. 

With every Hitachi product from CCI comes setup, training and on-site service from our Hitachi-trained service technicians. Learn more about Hitachi Imaging Solutions, the DDP 70 printers, and free setup, training and service at http://mailcci.com/hitachi/products.asp.

News Poll
Send your vote to mailto:webmaster@mailcci.com or vote online. Visit http://www.mailCCI.com and click Direct Mail Survey.

Have you ever mailed a letter piece at flat rates to avoid using tabs (wafer seals)?

____ Yes
____ No

We'll post the poll results here in next month's e-newsletter.
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Results of last month's poll: 
How do tabs (wafer seals) impact the results of your direct mail campaigns?

38% Positive impact
26% No impact
21% Negative impact
16% Do not use tabs

See the results of other surveys CCI has conducted online at http://www.mailcci.com/data/surveys.asp.

www.mailCCI.com
Our new online estimate allows you to change the specifications of your direct mail job and get instant feedback on those changes by instantly calculating the new estimated cost. And it is all done right from your desktop, online, instantly, any time of day. 

And remember, when you use the instant online estimate, you also receive a special free offer from CCI.

Try it now at http://www.mailcci.com/estimate.

You can get answers fast and easy and right online. Direct mail specialists are available every day during regular business hours in our live chat room. When you visit http://www.mailCCI.com, you're given a link to the LiveRespond system. Enter the chat, type in your question and get answers instantly from direct marketing specialists. (LiveRespond has been discontinued.)

It's free, anonymous and does not require any extra software.