Overview

IMS provides printing and mailing services to utilities, municipalities, city, state and county governmental agencies, healthcare providers, industry and manufacturing, banking and credit institutions. We also provides offset printing of forms, envelopes, newsletters and other items that require color printing.

Items printed include:

• Utility bills including electric, telephone water, gas, cable and security
• Statements
• Invoices
• Notices
• Medical billing
• Demand letters
• Checks
• Jury summonses
• County tax rolls
• Notices of appraised value
• Voter registration cards
• Marketing mailers
• Letters & cards with fixed and variable data

Our CASS & PAVE, NCOA and Intelligent Mail Bar Code services use mail automation software to provide the lowest postage rates offered by the USPS.

In addition to using stringent quality control measures to ensure that all mail is accounted for, IMS provides Mail Verification services at no additional cost made possible through the use of 2D Bar Codes.

Print data is received quickly over dual high speed T-1 Internet connections, and we encourage data encryption and FTP transmission. After printing, IMS can archive your print images in a PDF, XML, HTM or a COLD/ERM format. Using a free viewer, you can then view and reprint what was printed.

Our goal is to always provide a quality product at a reasonable price that is mailed on time!

Printing for Healthcare Providers

IMS uses state-of-the-art equipment and software to print, insert, fold and mail a wide variety of items for healthcare providers.

Items Printed & Mailed:

• Patient Statements
• Customer Statements
• Invoices
• Certification Letters
• Past Due Letters and Notices
• Pre-Collection Notices
• Pre-Collection Letters
• Third Party Collection Services Letters or Notices
• Patient Surveys
• Newsletters
• Announcements
• Marketing Material
• Notifications

Our focus is on quickly printing and mailing statements, invoices and other patient related correspondence to help you expedite cash flow, collections and promote prompt communications. As important as pricing is, we also realize it is not the only criteria on which a decision is made. We understand you want a quality product that is mailed on time.

IMS is familiar with and compliant with all HIPPA regulations which are applicable to the printing, mailing and hosting of patient information.

Other benefits our clients realize are the lowest postage rates offered by the USPS and low monthly service charges.

Mailing services include custom forms design, forms & envelope storage, producing and inserting custom inserts, NCOA data certification, and CASS & PAVE mail presorting to give maximum postage discounts.

IMS operates an in-house Offset Print Shop, which allows us to quickly and efficiently produce preprinted forms and envelopes used in the printing and mailing of statements, invoices and bills. Newsletters and marketing pieces are also produced providing one-stop printing and mailing services.

IMS offers completed document hosting services in an environment that meets HIPAA confidentiality requirements.

Printing for Utilities

IMS uses state-of-the-art equipment and software to print, insert, fold and mail a wide variety of items for Utilities.

Items Printed & Mailed:

• Statements
• Bills
• Letters
• Late Notices
• Disconnect Notices
• Marketing Pieces
• Refund Checks
• Notices

IMS provides advanced mailing and lettershop services that ensure your mail is processed in an efficient and professional manner.

Lettershop Services include:

• Bills
• Letters
• Late Notices
• Disconnect Notices
• Marketing Pieces
• Refund Checks

• Notices
• Auto Inserting
• Folding
• Labeling
• Metering
• Sorting

• Forms design
• Trimming
• Bursting & Folding
• Tabbing
• Certified Mail

Our goal is to always provide you a quality product at a reasonable price that is mailed on time!

Other services provided to utilities include:

Form & Envelopes:

IMS has an offset printing department dedicated to printing forms, envelopes and marketing pieces for the convenience of our customers. This department allows IMS to control the delivery date and quality of such items.

Postage Savings:

Our clients receive the lowest postage rates offered by the USPS and low monthly service charges.

Data Hosting:

IMS offers complete on-line data hosting and archive services.

Electronic Bill Payment and Presentment:

IMS offers full EBPP services.

Custom Programming:

Custom programming is available and allows you to present and print usage bar graphs. You may also want you data reformatted to fit new preprinted forms and envelopes

Capital Credit Checks:

IMS provides full capital credit check printing and mailing. IMS can provide all paper stock including the check stock, MICR ink printing and mailing services.

Annual Meeting Notices:

IMS provides printing and mailing of meeting notices and ballots.

Marketing Pieces & Newsletters:

The offset printing department also prints marketing pieces and newsletters with the customer providing the graphics file. This relieves the customer from having to print and ship such items to IMS for mailing providing you with "one stop" printing services.

Special Letters, Annual Meeting Notices, Ballots, Rate Changes and Tariff Notifications:

IMS’s offset printing department produces high volumes of letters, notices and ballots for inclusion with monthly bills or for separate mailing.

Notices Within A Bill:

IMS can for no extra change per month include lines of text in a bill or notice for the purpose of a customer notice for an upcoming event, season’s greetings or marketing purposes.

Printing for Municipalities, Counties & Governmental Agencies

IMS uses state-of-the-art equipment and software to print, insert, fold and mail a wide variety of items.

Items Printed & Mailed:

• Tax Notices
• Tax Rolls
• Jury Summons
• Levy Rolls
• Notices of Appraised Value
• Appraisal Rolls
• Late Notices
• Domestic Relations Orders (DROs)
• Municipal Court Invoices

Our goal is to provide fast professional service at reasonable prices!

Other benefits our clients realize are the lowest postage rates offered by the USPS and low monthly service charges.

Mailing services include custom forms design, forms & envelope storage, producing and inserting custom inserts, CASS & PAVE, NCOA data certification and mail presorting services to give maximum postage discounts.

IMS operates an in-house Offset Print Shop, which allows us to quickly and efficiently produce preprinted forms and envelopes used in the printing and mailing.

Standard A and Direct Mail

IMS provides Standard A mail services. Standard A Mail offers a unique opportunity to selectively target the most highly responsive audience for your marketing dollar at postage rates considerably lower than 1st Class rates.

To qualify for Standard A status, it requires 500 or more identical items such as letters, flyers, catalogues, newsletters, etc. and the content cannot be time sensitive. Items such as bills, statements, invoices, tax statements and personal letters do not qualify for Standard A Mail rates. Standard A mail is also called Direct Mail, 3rd Class and Bulk Mail.

We uses both high speed inkjet printers and laser printers to address mail pieces.

IMS offers offset printing services for the production of preprinted forms, cards, letter, envelopes and marketing pieces. This allows us to produce most items required to be printed and mailed in-house. It also allows us to produce help meet tight turnarounds and control the time it takes to get print material for a customer.

Standard A items we print and mail include:

• Flyers
• Postcards
• Letters
• Leads Fulfillments
• Solicitation Letters
• Seeded Address Letters
• Same Letter to a Database
• Marketing Letters

To fully realize the lowest possible postage rates given to Standard A mailings, your addresses must be processed to the latest USPS standards. There are three ways to utilize our mailing services. They are Enhanced Carrier Route, Automated (barcoded) and Non-Automated.

We use the latest USPS software to ensure that you receive the lowest postage rates possible.

Money saving automated postal services we offer include:

• CASS & PAVE
• NCOA
• NES
• Duplicate Elimination
• Post Net Bar Coding
• Address Standardization
• LACs

PLANET Bar Coding

PLANET bar coding, a new service of the USPS, is used to track both inbound and outbound letter mail. The USPS recently launched PLANET, a barcoding system that will track both inbound and outbound letter mail.

The PLANET bar codes complement the existing POSTNET barcodes. The PLANET barcodes are required by the USPS to use their CONFIRM service. CONFIRM provides confirmation that customers received the mail.

This allows you to synchronize your telemarketing programs with direct mail campaigns or augment other advertising media with their mailings. To use the CONFIRM service, we print the PLANET codes in the form of a 12-digit barcode on the front of the envelope in the wide area barcode read zone. PLANET can be used on both 1st Class and Standard A mail pieces and will generally have two barcodes on each piece.

Qualifying for Postal discounts requires that very specific USPS guidelines be followed. Some of the primary requirements include how the mail is bagged and trayed and the size and thickness of the pieces. Important requirements that determine whether your mail can qualify for Standard A rates include:

1. The mail must be presorted
2. All pieces must be in the same category (all letters, all flats, etc.)
3. Each mailing must contain at least 200 addressed pieces or addressed pieces weighing at least 50 pounds
4. Each piece must have the correct ZIP Code
5. All pieces must qualify as Standard Mail (no time sensitive material qualifies- no checks, bills, statements)
6. A permit or license to pay postage with pre-canceled stamps, permit imprints or meters must be obtained
7. An annual bulk mailing fee must be paid
8. The mail must be sent from the post office where the permit was obtained and the bulk fee was paid

The postage charged by the USPS is determined by 1) the size & weight of the piece and 2) the saturation/concentration of your mailing to Zip Codes.

The more pieces you have going to similar Zip Codes, the less expensive your mailing is going to be.

That is why a mailing of 5,000 pieces, all going to say Zip Code 78163, is going to cost much less per piece for postage than the same size mailing going to hundreds or thousands of different Zip Codes across the USA.

Direct and Bulk Mail FAQs

Can I do automated, direct or bulk mailing myself?

Yes. But if you consider the value of your time and that you will have to learn and automate a new process in your business and acquire hardware and software, why would you? We usually get your mail into the post office within two days and give you professional, high quality service.

How does automation save me money?

Standard "A" mail was once called 3rd Class Mail, junk or bulk mail. It was slower than 1st class mail that is time sensitive. But with the advent of automation by the USPS, Standard "A" mail is almost untouched by hand either at IMS or by the USPS. It now gets through the postal system much more quickly than before. Standard "A" automated rates are about $145 per thousand less than 1st Class postage.

Can presorting really save me money?

Presorting your first class mail will save you about $0.06 per piece. Add up all the mail you do throughout the year, and the savings are substantial.

How do you get mail to qualify as "automated"?

There are a number of ways. Some of the more basic ways are:

• Your mailing list must be CASS Certified. This requires a software package that must be approved by the USPS.
• Bar coding a clear zone in the address block
• Letter size self-mailers must be folded at the bottom and one tab must be applied to the opening at the tops. Bottom opening mailers must have two tabs which increases costs.
• Addresses must be readable and conform to abbreviation standards

If IMS mails for me, how is postage handled?

IMS requires that the postage for a job be paid before it is mailed. We have to pay the postage before the USPS accepts your mail and postage is a non-profit cost for us. We can invoice you in advance for postage, and depending on your mailing patterns and your accounting department’s turnaround of our postage invoices, you may be billed for 30 to 45 days of postage in advance. If you have a permit, it will be printed on your pieces. It is then your responsibility to ensure you have sufficient postage on deposit with the USPS before a mailing.

How many pieces of mail do I need? Do I need a permit?

Bulk mail requires at least 200 pieces to be mailed at the same time to receive postal discounts. You will be able to use our permit number saving you the cost of permit fees. If you are a non-profit organization you can register with the post office and still use our permit. First class presort requires a minimum of 500 pieces and special qualifications to receive postal discounts.

If we invoice weekly, can you help us?

We can mail on any schedule you require- daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually.

Lettershop Services

IMS operates a lettershop to provide the following services:

• Laser Printing and Mailing
• Laser addressing
• Forms design
• Auto Inserting
• Folding

• Labeling
• Metering
• Sorting
• Trimming

• Bursting & Folding
• Tabbing
• Foreign mail
• Certified mail

Offset Printing

IMS offers offset color printing services for the production of preprinted forms, envelopes, checks and marketing pieces. This allows us to produce in-house most items required to be printed and mailed.

We control how long it takes to get print material for a customer allowing us to meet tight turnarounds.

IMS has an on-site offset print shop that is operated solely for the convenience of its customers. It allows us to quickly produce one and two color forms, newsletters, marketing pieces and envelopes. It further allows us to control the cost, quality and delivery time of such items.

Items printed include:

• Forms with Color and Perforations
• Envelopes
• Newsletters
• Marketing Pieces
• Notices
• Ballots
• Checks

Postage Savings

CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System):

The term CASS is widely used by the USPS when they refer to the verification status of an address list. In order for an address list to receive CASS certification, the list must be checked against the USPS Address Matching System (AMS) CD-ROM, a match must be found for each address and the correct 11-digit Delivery Point ZIP code and corresponding barcode must be added.

Only addresses with the Delivery Point ZIP code and barcode are eligible for automation bulk mailing rates. A mailing list must undergo address verification every six months (every three months for Carrier Route mailings) and is particularly important to mailers because of the difference between "automation" and "non-automation" mailing rates, which is about five cents per piece.

Postage Savings- To qualify for the presorted postage rates the mail must be processed using approved CASS & PAVE software and contain at least 500 pieces of mail grouped within a zip code area.

The current postage cost for a one ounce First Class Letter mailed at full rate is $0.044 per piece. The postage rate for the same mail processed using the CASS & PAVE Process will be about $0.35 or less per piece.

PAVE (Presort Accuracy Verification and Evaluation):

This is a voluntary program in which the U.S. Postal Service provides testing for presort software and hardware to determine their accuracy in sorting address information and in producing standardized supporting documentation. Presorting is the process of arranging your mail so that pieces going to the same area are bundled together.

This allows for the mail to bypass one or more processes once it enters the mailstream. The USPS is thus able to skip certain sortations and process your mail more quickly and less expensively.

The savings are passed on to you in the form of lower rates and faster processing. In general, the more levels of sorting you perform, the lower the cost of postage.

NCOA (National Change of Address):

This is a process that matches names and addresses on your mailing list to changes of address filed by relocating postal customers. When the name and address information on your mailing list matches the name and address information on the NCOA file, a new address will be returned.

NCOA contains around 48 months of permanent address changes that are updated weekly. The file is maintained by the U.S. Postal Service and is licensed to vendors. The turnaround time for NCOA processing is about 24 hours, but the file may be processed the same day if we receive it early in the day.

NES (Nixie Elimination Service):

A service that applies footnotes indicating why an authorized NCOA match could not be made to the input address.

The footnotes help you analyze your records to determine the need for additional action such as a special mailing, special handling or elimination from the list. e.g. NES footnote "B" indicates a potential move; NES footnote "G" indicates an individual move or the first names do not match.

Intelligent Mail Barcodes

Intelligent Mail Bar Codes are replacing the old Post Net bar codes that were required to receive presorted mail discounts.

The Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB), formerly referred to as the 4-State Customer barcode, is a new Postal Service barcode used to sort and track letters and flats. The Postal Service is promoting use of the Intelligent Mail barcode because it expands the ability to track individual mail pieces and provides customers with greater visibility into the mail stream.

IMB’s will be required on all presorted mail in 2010. IMS has already implemented this new bar code.