Volume 8, Issue 07 November 11, 2005

This NewsCast is being provided to you as part of your Group 1 Software, Inc. ("Group 1") product maintenance and support plan. It is not intended for distribution outside of your Group 1 user base. Group 1 has taken the best security measures possible to protect your identity on this announce-only distribution list.

Inside this Issue of NewsCast:


    1. Technical Services Communication Updates
    2. Technical Services Pending Product Updates
    3. PRC Recommends Increases in Postage Rates
    4. Decoding Customer Communication Reference Numbers
    5. Group 1 University Offers More for Mailers

        Archives and Links

1. Technical Services Communication Updates

Group 1 recently sent the documents listed below to the primary user contacts on a maintenance plan via email, fax, or mail. Ship to contacts received release information with the product shipment. You may find these and other documents at http://www.g1.com/support. (You will need your user ID and password). For List Services, visit the Technical Support - List Services area of our Web site to subscribe at http://www.g1.com/support.

On our Web site, customers may NOT have access to all information listed below. It is only accessible if your company licenses the particular product and/or platform addressed by the announcement.

CANADIAN/INT'L PRODUCTS

REF#: cpcExLtr1105 - This one-page letter contains the expiration dates for the November 2005 CPC Reference File.
LOC: Greenbars and Technical Bulletins DIST: Web PLAT: All

REF#: SSCG241B - Greenbar listing for the November 2005 SortStream Canada 2.4.0/2.4.1 CPC Reference File. Details file names and sizes.
LOC: Greenbars and Technical Bulletins DIST: Web PLAT: Mainframe

CENTRUS PRODUCTS

REF#: CAA000P1A05 - This one-page letter notifies customers of the availability of the October Release of Centrus Data Products. Media has been shipped.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: In the Box PLAT: All LIST SERVICES: Centrus/Geo Products

CODING PRODUCTS

REF#: 2FL760DASDINFOB05 - DASD information for November 2005 Finalist 7.60.
LOC: Greenbars and Technical Bulletins DIST: Web PLAT: Mainframe, Unix and Windows

REF#: 2FL760ZIP4B05 - ZIP+4 listing for November 2005 Finalist 7.60. Contains Finalist ZIP+4 listings.
LOC: Greenbars and Technical Bulletins DIST: Web PLAT: Mainframe, Unix and Windows

REF#: 2FL760ZIP4TAPEMAPB05 - ZIP+4 Tape Map listing for November 2005 Finalist 7.60 . Contains Finalist 7.60 record blocks by state.
LOC: Greenbars and Technical Bulletins DIST: Web PLAT: Mainframe, Unix and Windows

REF#: 2FL773RAA05 - This five-page letter announces the release of Finalist 7.73 and outlines several of the enhancements and change requests included in the release.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: In the Box PLAT: All LIST SERVICES: Coding Products

REF#: DPV29GBA - Greenbar listing for the October 2005 Delivery Point Validation. Details load counts.
LOC: Greenbars and Technical Bulletins DIST: Web PLAT: All

REF#: UNC310S2B05 - This two-page letter notifies customers of the availability of Product Update S02 for Universal Coder 3.1.0 for download from the Group 1 Web site, login to Support, My Products, Universal Coder, Product Updates. S02 corrects several change requests (1-8975861, 1-10714269, 1-10766034, 1-10850233, 1-12677801, 1-12682101, 1-13044932, 1-13680811, 1-13681811, 1-13983801, 1-14124601, 1-14228611, 1-14673606, and 1-14673611). Details are provided in the letter.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: Email PLAT: All LIST SERVICES: Coding Products

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

REF#: AAA000P2B05 - This one-page letter notifies Canadian customers of a change in the remittance address to which all Canadian dollar payments must be sent.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: Email PLAT: All LIST SERVICES: N/A

REF#: AAA000T1A05 - This five-page letter informs customers that Group 1 will be migrating from a Micro Focus compiler to an ACUCOBOL-GT compiler. Information concerning the changes customers can expect are also included in this letter.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: Email PLAT: Windows, Unix, Linux LIST SERVICES: All Products

OTHER PRODUCTS

REF#: DQM110RAA05 - This two-page letter announces the release of Data Quality Adapter 1.1.0 for Microsoft CRM 1.2 and outlines several of the highlights in the release.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: In the Box PLAT: All LIST SERVICES: N/A

REF#: LES260S2A05 - This two-page letter notifies customers of the availability of Product Update S02 for Enterprise Server 2.6.0 for download from the Group 1 Web site, log in to Support, My Products. S02 corrects two issues (1-10813506 and 1-14273648) related to the C and C++ APIs on the Unix and Linux platforms. Details are included in the letter.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: Email PLAT: Unix and Linux LIST SERVICES: Coding Products and Centrus/Geo Products

REF#: LES260S3A05 - This two-page letter notifies customers of the availability of Product Update S03 for Enterprise Server 2.6.0 for download from the Group 1 Web site, log in to Support, My Products. S03 corrects a memory leak in a Java process that caused a java.lang.OutOfMemoryError exception to be reported in server.log file (1-14182154). Details are included in the letter.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: Email PLAT: Windows, Unix, and Linux LIST SERVICES: Coding Products and Centrus/Geo Products

REF#: ORT200P1A05 - This two-page letter outlines the new features available with OnRoute 2.0.0 and introduces customers to the Group 1 Support site.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: Email PLAT: Unix, Linux, Windows, and MVS LIST SERVICES: N/A

POSTAL PRODUCTS

REF#: MSPG700B - Greenbar listing for the November 2005 MailStream Plus 7.0.0 USPS® Reference File. Details file names and sizes.
LOC: Greenbars and Technical Bulletins DIST: Web PLAT: Mainframe

REF#: MSPG750B - Greenbar listing for the November 2005 MailStream Plus 7.5.0 USPS Reference File. Details file names and sizes.
LOC: Greenbars and Technical Bulletins DIST: Web PLAT: Mainframe

REF#: MSPG770B - Greenbar listing for the November 2005 MailStream Plus 7.7.0 USPS Reference File. Details file names and sizes.
LOC: Greenbars and Technical Bulletins DIST: Web PLAT: Mainframe

REF#: MUz770PRA05 - This three-page letter announces the upcoming release of MailStream Plus 7.7.0. This letter also notifies customers of the availability of Technical Notes for download from the Internet.
LOC: Customer Communications DIST: Email PLAT: All LIST SERVICES: Postal Products




2. Technical Services Pending Product Updates

The following documents have recently been posted to the Pending Product Updates area of the Group 1 Support site. Once a Product Update becomes available, Group 1 will notify the primary user contact for that product via email. You may find these and other documents at http://www.g1.com/support/. (You will need your user ID and password).

On our Web site, customers may NOT have access to all information listed below. It is only accessible if your company licenses the particular product and/or platform addressed by the announcement.

There are no Pending Product Update Announcements at this time.




3. PRC Recommends Increases in Postage Rates

On November 1, 2005, the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) officially lent its support to the request of the USPS® for a rate increase of 5.4 percent across the board, with a few minor exceptions. The 2006 rate increase is justified by the USPS as necessary for it to meet the October 1, 2006 escrow payment, a requirement set on the USPS by the Civil Service Retirement System reform legislation of 2003.

Exceptions to the recommended 5.4 percent increase include:

  • An increase of 3 percent for Nonprofit Standard mailers
  • An increase of roughly 12.3 percent for Nonprofit Enhanced Carrier Route (ECR) mailers
  • A decrease of 2.3 percent of in-county rates for small local newspapers
  • An increase of 12.7 percent on Media Mail rates
  • An increase of 12.7 percent on Library Rate rates
While the USPS Board of Governors has yet to determine the date that these increases will take effect, those watching the case have predicted a date of January 15, 2006. Final approval of the rate case by the Board of Governors should take place in mid-November, at which time the date that the rate case will take effect will also be announced. For more information, you can visit the PRC Web site, http://www.prc.gov/.




4. Decoding Customer Communication Reference Numbers

All communications distributed by Group 1’s Customer Information Management department are assigned reference numbers for facilitated tracking. Understanding our letter naming conventions will help you to ascertain the purpose of the Group 1 communications you receive even before you read them.

Customer Communication Reference Numbers
Communication reference numbers may appear in several locations, including: the subject line of an email, the inside address line of an email or letter, and the footer of a letter. Every reference number contains five pieces of information, ordered as follows: a three-digit product code, a three-digit version number, a two-digit letter type identifier, a one-digit month identifier, and a two-digit year identifier. Each of these pieces of information is explained below.

Product code – The product code is a unique code assigned to each Group 1 product and product variant. Since Group 1 produces so many products and product variants, it would be impossible to list all of the product codes in this article; however, as you receive communications on a given product, you can take note of the first three digits of the reference number assigned to that product. This will enable you to readily recognize communications concerning that product in the future.

Please note that some announcements may have irregular product codes that are not associated with a specific product. For example, General Announcements, which may refer to multiple products or platforms, have the product code "AAA".

Version number – The version number is the version of the product referred to in the letter. Please note that general communications referring to multiple products or platforms are assigned the version number "000".

Letter type identifier – The letter type identifier is used to refer to the type of letter, and thus the type of information, being distributed. Single and Combination Product Updates are denoted by "S#"s and "C#"s, respectively. In each case, the "#" is replaced by the number of the update to which the letter is referring. For example, the letter type identifier for a Product Update S02 would be "S2".

Technical Announcements and Product Announcements are represented by "T#"s and "P#"s, respectively. In each case, the "#" is replaced by the numbered place that that particular Technical or Product Announcement has occurred out of all Technical or Product Announcements in a given month.

Additionally, "TN" indicates a set of Technical Notes, "PR" indicates a Pre-Release Announcement, "RA" indicates a Release Announcement, and "DA" indicates a Database Announcement.

Month identifier – The month identifier is an alphanumeric character representing the month in which the letter is distributed (i.e., "1" for January, "2" for February). If the month’s numerical representation contains two digits (i.e., October, November, or December), it is assigned an alpha character, as follows: "A" for October, "B" for November, and "C" for December.

Year identifier – The year identifier consists of the last two digits of the year in which the letter was distributed.




5. Group 1 University Offers More for Mailers

1. Introduction to MailStream Plus for Mailer's Choice Customers - This FREE webinar is for Mailer's Choice customers and can be taken via eLearning. The time for all webinar dates is the same: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. Please note that only one webinar is left for each platform! The dates are listed below:

  • Introduction to MailStream Plus for Mailer's Choice Customers - Mainframe: November 21, 2005

  • Introduction to MailStream Plus for Mailer's Choice Customers - Unix: November 23, 2005

  • Introduction to MailStream Plus for Mailer's Choice Customers - Windows: November 22, 2005

2. Mailer's Choice to MailStream Plus: How to Modify the MailStream Plus Parameters - In this FREE webinar you will see how to modify the MailStream Plus parameters generated by the Mailer's Choice parameter conversion program.

Prerequisites:
  • Introduction to MailStream Plus for Mailer's Choice Customers class
  • A printout of converted parameters to use as a reference during the class

3. What's New in MSP 7.7.0 - This FREE webinar will tell you what has changed and what remains the same! We will cover: Regulatory Changes, Processing Changes, Mail.dat highlights, Drop Shipping highlights, and Periodical Processing highlights.


Please note that, while each of these webinars is free, you will still need to choose the "Bill Me" option when registering. Visit the Group 1 University Web site, http://www.g1.com/education for further course and registration information.




Archives and Links

Back issues of Newscast are being archived. Click previous issues to go the Newscast homepage to review any prior issues.

Below are some links that may be of interest to our customers:

Group 1's Web Page - http://www.g1.com. The Group 1 Software Web site provides customers with valuable information concerning different areas of the company. From this Web site, you can access education information, recent press releases, support, and much more useful information.

USPS® Web Site Business Section - http://www.usps.com/smallbiz

The USPS® Web Site - http://www.usps.com. This Web site allows customers to check out the latest information regarding postage rates and fees, news and events in the postal community, locations of local post offices, and provides various other links. There is also a place where postal service customers can track the status of a package or access other online mailing forms.

Canada Post - http://www.canadapost.ca/splash.asp. This is the direct link to the Canada Post Web site. Follow this link to view a quick and free course in Canadian NDG sorting (http://www.canadapost.ca/business/ndg/default-e.asp).

USPS® Rapid Information Bulletin Board System - http://ribbs.usps.gov. This is the National Customer Support Center for the United States Postal Service. It provides you mail-service updates, current weather conditions, and other interesting facts pertaining to the Postal Service.

Postal Rate Commission - http://www.prc.gov. The Postal Rate Commission Web site provides information about the organization, its function and procedures, along with postal rates and fees. It also provides a location where you can voice your opinion to the Consumer Advocate.

Nonprofit Mailers - http://www.nonprofitmailers.org. The Alliance is the primary representative of nonprofit mailers before the Postal Rate Commission, at the United States Postal Service's (USPS®) Headquarters, and on Capitol Hill.

Postcom - http://www.postcom.org. Postcom is the Association for Postal Commerce. Its Web site provides you with up-to-date information regarding what is going on in the "postal world." It includes links to other helpful sites, as well as a place to contact your US Senators or Representatives.




We welcome comments and suggestions regarding NewsCast. Please send them to cim@g1.com. Please be sure to include "NEWSCAST" in your subject line. Please look for your next issue to arrive in your email box on or near November 30, 2005.

NewsCast - Volume 8, Issue 7
Date: November 11, 2005
Editor: Erica Fenstermacher (cim@g1.com) Asst. Editor:Becki Dustin
Phone: 1-800-367-6950

Copyright © Group 1 Software, Inc. 2005. All Rights Reserved.

CASS, CASS Certified, DPV™, eLOT, FASTforward, NCOALink, Postal Service, Post Office, RDI™, United States Post Office, USPS®, United States Postal Service, ZIP Code™, and ZIP+4 are registered trademarks of United States Postal Service (USPS®). This list is not exhaustive of the trademarks belonging to the Postal Service.

Group 1 Software is a non-exclusive licensee of USPS® for NCOALink processing.

Prices for Group 1's products, options and services are not established, controlled or approved by USPS® or United States Government. When utilizing RDI™ data to determine parcel-shipping costs, the business decision on which parcel delivery company to use is not made by the USPS® or United States Government.


Subscription Information

NOTE: You are already subscribed to NewsCast if you received this message. If you would no longer like to receive emails from the NEWSCAST list, please visit List Services at http://www.g1.com/support, Log in to Support. Under the Technical Support heading, click List Services and unsubscribe using the web interface. Replies to this email will not be read.