What is the Intelligent Mail barcode?
The Intelligent Mail barcode is the tall/short-bar barcode on automation letters and flats. It encodes the mailer ID, a serial number, and the routing (ZIP+4 and delivery point) that lets USPS sort the piece to an exact address. A valid IMb on a CASS-processed address is required to claim automation prices. See USPS-B-3200 and DMM 708.
Placement and clear zone
On letters the IMb sits in the address block or the lower barcode clear zone, with a clear area free of other printing so scanners can read it. Interfering graphics in the clear zone break the read and disqualify automation pricing. Plavidian's prepress verifies barcode placement. See DMM 202 and 708.
What is USPS Full-Service?
Full-Service requires unique IMb serialization across pieces, trays, and containers, plus electronic documentation. It is a requirement for the automation prices, not a price by itself: what a mailing actually pays still depends on class, shape, sortation, entry point and whether the pieces qualify. Full-Service also enables USPS scan visibility and Informed Delivery.
On scan data specifically: USPS scans give visibility of a piece moving through the mailstream. They are not a delivery scan and not proof of delivery, and complete scan data is not guaranteed for every piece. Treat scan activity as visibility, not confirmation. Plavidian prepares Full-Service mailings; qualification is confirmed at PostalOne. See DMM 705 and 708.
What is Informed Delivery?
Informed Delivery shows recipients a grayscale scan image of their incoming letter-size mail by email and in the USPS dashboard the morning it arrives. A mailer can attach a color ride-along image and click-through link to that scan, turning the physical piece into a digital touchpoint at no extra postage.
How do I run an Informed Delivery campaign?
A campaign supplies USPS with the representative image, ride-along image, and target URL, keyed to the mailing's IMb serial range, so the enhanced content shows for the right pieces during the campaign window. The mailing must be Full-Service or otherwise carry the serialized IMbs the campaign is keyed to. Plavidian can set up and submit the campaign alongside the mail job.