Track N Trace Delivers for Dayton Mailing

Bell and Howell’s OneCode Confirm service improves delivery predictability and client satisfaction

Dayton Mailing Services, a family-owned and operated commercial mailhouse in Dayton, OH, has offered customers a full range of printing, fulfillment and mailing services for more than 25 years. A longtime Bell and Howell client, the company has used BCC Mail Manager presorting and list management software products for more than a decade—and in fact recently upgraded to BCC Mail Manager Full Service, Bell and Howell's top-tier software solution, when a steady trend of growth made the switch logical and cost effective.

Another recent industry trend has involved the implementation of the Intelligent Mail barcode, along with the enhanced services this new technology makes available. One such service is OneCode Confirm mail tracking, offered by Bell and Howell as Track N Trace.

Natalie Bisnow, Data Processing Manager for Dayton Mailing, knew this recent addition to Bell and Howell's slate of Data Services would be of great value to certain clients.

"Most of our Track N Trace customers are insurance companies who are mandated by the state for certain delivery standards, or retail mailers with diverse national locations, doing promotional mailings built around instore sale dates," Bisnow says.

With access fully integrated into all BCC Mail Manager products, Track N Trace can be easily used with presorted First-Class™, Standard® Mail or Periodical mailings. The service assigns a unique ID for each mailpiece, and includes that data in the Intelligent Mail barcode that is printed directly on the address labels.

After the mailing drops, Track N Trace collects step-by-step OneCode Confirm delivery information from postal facilities on the pieces' delivery paths and maintains that data on a secure Web interface. Highly customizable reports can be generated or downloaded at any time. Closely monitoring the progress of a mailing helps gauge delivery effectiveness and predict future performance.

"It's working very well," Bisnow says of the service. "Before we had Track N Trace, it was a guessing game to predict delivery standards. Track N Trace has shown us that mailings are often delivered quicker than [expected]. After looking at the data, we're able to adjust our drop dates and hit the in-home targets more effectively."

While she has noticed that some smaller postal facilities around the country often fail to make the final scans that conclusively indicate a mailpiece reaching its destination, Bisnow estimates that final scans are received approximately 90 to 98 percent of the time. "We're pretty happy with that," she says. "We have repeat mailers who mail to the same segments over and over, and with Track N Trace they're able to really nail down the delivery standards for each of those areas. It's really helped the planning process in terms of the drop schedules."

The usefulness of Bell and Howell's OneCode Confirm service is improved further with a Track N Trace Reseller Site option, which allows BCC Mail Manager and BCC Mail Manager Full Service users the ability to present delivery scan data directly to their end-user clients via a website tailored to resemble the mail service provider's own corporate site. Because the clients retrieve scan data themselves, the provider's day-to-day responsibilities are reduced—ensuring greater convenience for both ends of the transaction.

"The reseller site takes the tracking out of my hands, so the customer can get their information directly," Bisnow says. "I'm there to help them, but it's pretty user friendly, so after an initial tutorial they're pretty much able to log in and view their reports on demand."

Transitioning to the Intelligent Mail barcode in general, and Track N Trace in particular, was a relatively easy process for Dayton Mailing, Bisnow says: "The actual generation of the barcode turned out to be pretty simple … and our data-processing team had no problems with setting up Track N Trace. Once you know BCC Mail Manager, it's easy."

Any challenges they encountered in the switch to Intelligent Mail were resolved with the help of Bell and Howell's comprehensive Customer Support system. "Your forums are really helpful—I can troubleshoot most of my problems on my own," Bisnow says of the customer exclusive online User Forums that offer peer-to-peer guidance and a 24/7 resource. "I usually don't call tech support unless I'm really stuck; and when I am, they're always able to help."

Between the ease of implementation and the convincing results, it's clear that Bell and Howell's Track N Trace and the Intelligent Mail barcode have proven to be a worthwhile path for Dayton Mailing Services as they pursue continued growth.

At a Glance

Client

• Dayton Mailing Services

Headquarters

• Dayton, OH

Specialization

• Mailing & Fulfillment Services

Bell and Howell Solution Set

• BCC Mail Manager Full Service
• FSP Unlimited NCOALink Processing
• Track N Trace Prepaid Credits
• TrayMate 3 Thermal Tag Printer