Vertis Communications Finds Top Results With ARS

The major printer/mailer uses Bell and Howell’s Address Resolution Service to restore "undeliverable" records to auto-compatible health

One of the largest commercial printing companies in the United States, Vertis Communications is a premier provider of targeted advertising and marketing solutions to America's leading retail and consumer services companies. Vertis applies proprietary research, digital program management systems, data-driven targeting technology, and world-class production expertise to produce print advertising and direct marketing programs that deliver superior program performance and better results per program dollar.

With a diverse client base ranging from major retailers to local and regional businesses, Vertis routinely handles printing and list-management tasks for jobs "from 15,000 to 2 million pieces," according to Augie Frey, Senior Shipping Clerk. A common denominator among all those varied jobs is the need for address quality—particularly for records determined by the USPS to be undeliverable as addressed. That's where Address Resolution Service (ARS), a process offered through Data Services, comes in.

Introduced in 2008, Address Resolution Service is a Bell and Howell-exclusive offering that improves upon the DPV processing that is now part of the standard CASS encoding for any mailing seeking automation rates. The USPS DPV process designates addresses lacking certain match characteristics as undeliverable, but ARS takes that address-quality effort an important step further: By using third-party database information to dig deeper into those records, the service can often correct or supply vital details that allow the records to be restored to a proper auto-compatible condition. The corrected records are then seamlessly returned to the original list, and ready to be included in a typical automation-compatible mailing.

Vertis has been a Bell and Howell user for years, relying on not only the company's flagship BCC Mail Manager software but also the Data Services that are easily accessible from within the presorting software product. When Frey began adding ARS processing to his list-enhancing Bell and Howell services, he quickly saw results that led him to recommend it to his clients.

Although Bell and Howell has found a typical match rate of approximately 30 percent of addresses submitted for ARS processing, Frey has seen results even better than that. "For one customer, I get about a 40 to 50 percent [match rate] on records sent through ARS," he says. "It can make a big difference for certain clients. Their lists are really getting cleaned up."

Often, Frey says, simple data entry errors can account for many of the "bad" addresses that are repaired during the ARS process. Because the USPS DPV database doesn't allow for intuitive guesswork, even a simple misspelled word can render that record DPV-invalid—but the private ARS database is under no such restrictions, and can therefore produce substantial results for mailers looking to find maximum value in every mailing record. (Apartment numbers can also be added by ARS processing—a value-added benefit that even the USPS AEC process cannot provide.)

"A simple character out of place can stop a record from being CASS encoded, because your software isn't allowed to change anything for CASS encoding," Frey explains. "But with ARS, being able to fix maybe as many as half the records we send in ... the customer is really happy about that."

Frey praises Bell and Howell's fast turnaround times, and the company's in-house technical assistance on Data Services issues. "Any technical support that you need is always on hand," he says. "It's good stuff."

He now recommends Address Resolution Service as an additional service to most Vertis clients. And with Bell and Howell's new streamlined ARS pricing that allows the entire job to be purchased in advance—a departure from the industry-standard practice of charging an upfront fee followed by a variable subsequent charge depending on the match results—he expects more customers will begin to consider this useful service as a way of improving their mailings.

"More and more people are looking to save money," Frey says. "Once they see how this can help their addresses, they're pretty happy with that."