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USPS OFFERS HELP TO NONPROFITS

The Postal Service today released a new Customer Support Ruling designed to provide qualified nonprofit mailers with examples of how the clarification to Standard Mail Eligibility that takes effect June 1, 2005, will apply to the types of mail they typically deposit.

"Nonprofit mailers have become very creative in their solicitation mailings, and we want them to be as confident as possible in their understanding of our mailing standards," said Anita Bizzotto, USPS Chief Marketing Officer. The new ruling, CSR 323, comes after several other initiatives by the USPS to ensure consistency in the application of mailing standards, including the establishment of the consolidated Pricing and Classification Service Center in New York, new National Customer Rulings, the new Domestic Mail Manual 300, Mailing Standards of the USPS, and the email notification service called DMM Advisory.

"Mail is one of the most effective and efficient ways to reach and engage members, donors and customers, and we have been working hard to make it as easy to use as possible. This clarification of specialized non-profit solicitation issues and examples will go a long way to further that goal," said Bizzotto.

The new CSR augments an easy-to-use decision-tree flow chart on Standard Mail eligibility. It's available at http://pe.usps.com. Interested parties can click on DMM Advisory and select the May 2nd Advisory. CSR 323 and the flowchart were emailed to all DMM Advisory subscribers today.

Bizzotto said the USPS listened to representatives of nonprofit mailers about mailing practices and how the clarified standard applies to them. She said the USPS had the benefit of analyzing hundreds of mail pieces and speaking with many nonprofit mailers. The Postal Service took this input and created a new approach, a comprehensive Customer Support Ruling, addressing all of the mailers' issues. "Four mailer groups, the Free Speech Coalition, Association of Direct Response Fundraising Counsel, the DMA Nonprofit Federation, and the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers provided helpful review and suggestions for the draft USPS CSR," Bizzotto said.

The new CSR incorporates USPS policy on this issue, and is expected to give clear guidance to non-profit organizations as well as acceptance personnel well before the June 1 implementation date of the Standard Mail eligibility clarification.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media Relations 202-268-2155
May 2, 2005
News Release No. 05-036
www.usps.com

From back of Bourke and back again: a mail odyssey
By Denis Gregory

The Sun-Herald

March 27, 2005 - Snail mail has a special meaning for people in many towns in NSW whose letters to local addresses are trucked halfway across the state to be sorted and then sent back.

Places such as Bourke, Nyngan, Brewarrina and Cobar in the west can wait up to a week to have mail delivered. A central mail sorting system also applies in the south, and towns there are in the same boat.

Bourke mayor Wayne O'Mally said all the mail posted at the town's post office went into the one bin. It was then put into a container, loaded on to a truck and taken 600 kilometres to the mail sorting centre at Bathurst. "Then it is sent the 600 kilometres back to Bourke on another truck for local delivery," Mr O'Mally said.

"I don't know where it goes, but it often takes a few days to get back and if you live out of town, like I do and plenty of other people do, we have only one or two mail deliveries a week and it can often mean a delay of seven or 10 days to get a locally posted letter."

Business papers for a council meeting last Monday were mailed on Monday, March 13, and arrived the day of the meeting. Mr O'Mally said the local post office operators were not permitted to accept local mail over the counter and put it in local boxes.

He said it was a ridiculous situation that mail which only had to go around the corner had to go 600 kilometres to Bathurst to be sorted and then come back.

"There is a simple solution and that is for Australia Post to have a local letterbox and pay the post office operators to sort it so we could have a normal next-day delivery," he said.

Australia Post spokeswoman Sheridan Beattie said mail processing operations in both metropolitan and regional areas had been highly mechanised for more than 10 years.

By making use of purpose-built technology, like that in its Bathurst operation which sorts mail at roughly 30,000 articles an hour, Australia Post had been able to maintain a reliable and cost-efficient mail network.

"The mail has been going to Bathurst to be sorted for at least five years and there have been no previous problems or reports of trucks breaking down," Ms Beattie said. "Complaints to Australia Post about delayed mail in the Bourke region have been negligible with less than 10 in the past 12 months and none indicate long delays such as those alleged.

"However, if customers do have concerns about items of mail which they believe are delayed or late, they should contact Australia Post's customer service centre on 131 318 so they can be investigated."

Answer the Phone: Your Identity is on the Line

Beverly Hills, CA -- (ArriveNet - May 06, 2005) -- There hasn't been much good news in the battle against identity theft lately, with fraudsters staying one step ahead of the game. But don't panic, our old friend the telephone has come to the rescue.

We're all aware of the problem of identity theft, but did you know that your local pizza chain has had a solution for years? You recognize it as the system that prevents little Johnny from having twenty pizzas delivered to your door at midnight: the pizza chain calls you immediately after the order is placed to verify the validity of the order. Because little Johnny is afraid to be caught, he'll think twice about causing this pizza-related havoc.

TeleSign's patent-pending verification system has transferred this pizza concept to the high-tech world. It works like this: after filling out a form on a website, the user is prompted to enter his phone number. A robotic system then places a call to that number and speaks aloud a unique three digit code. Once that code is entered into the website, the authentication is complete. This system can be implemented at any point on a website: at registration, purchase, a specific time interval, or at the request of a user.

Email verification is the current standard for user authentication, but email may end up filtered, junked, bulked, or trashed. Because of spam, viruses, and phishing, email filtering has become so aggressive that even legitimate emails don't reach the inbox. But a telephone call cannot be stopped, making this the perfect time for the introduction of TeleSign’s solution.

The future of ecommerce is threatened by rampant fraud and lack of trust. TeleSign will force anonymous users to expose their faces by revealing their working phone numbers.

To try an interactive demo, visit (http://www.telesign.com/demo2/demo.asp) and have your phone ready.

For more information about TeleSign’s products and services, visit (http://www.telesign.com/demo2/) or email press2@telesign.com.

About TeleSign Corp.
TeleSign is a leader in innovative internet security solutions and provider of intelligent telephone-based verification solutions for any entity conducting business online where trust is essential and where fraud is a concern. TeleSign’s patent-pending Verification System provides a critical layer of security for the e-commerce world and is a proven deterrent against ill-intentioned web users. The company’s first product, the TeleSign Verification System, blends the latest internet, security and telephony technologies into a powerful new tool to combat fraud and enhance trust in e-business.

TeleSign Corp. seeks to provide simplified solutions for any company conducting business online where trust is essential and where fraud is a concern. TeleSign’s patent-pending Verification System provides a critical layer of security for the e-commerce world and is a proven deterrent against ill-intentioned web users. TeleSign’s Verification System is able to legitimize a web user’s claimed identification at a miniscule cost and with little inconvenience to all parties involved.

TeleSign’s Verification System is based upon the premise that ill-intentioned web users hesitate to disclose their working phone numbers. By placing a computer-generated telephone call coupled with a unique security code, we insist that a web user provide a legitimate telephone number or be rooted out. The company’s first product, the TeleSign Verification System, blends the latest internet, security and telephony technologies into a powerful new tool to combat fraud in e-commerce.

Visit http://www.telesign.com/demo2/ or call 310-276-5900 for more information.

TeleSign Corporation
Contact: Sam Gonen
Telephone: (310) 276-7843
Email: press2@telesign.com

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