While the fight for accurate address information
persists, Direct Bill continues to pave the way
with new technology. Direct Bill has released
version one of Direct CASS which combines data
analytical & systematic data management logic.
Using micro-comparison routines, Direct Bill is
able to return more accurate standardized addresses
than ever before.
Direct Bill has gone even a step further though,
now those minute corrections are available to
you through Direct Update. While you receive bad
address and forwarding addresses, now you have
the information to change the zip codes, suites,
and route numbers. In fact, Direct Update actually
separates Direct CASS corrections into a tab delimited
file titled “Coded Corrections.”
If you don’t think Direct CASS is important,
then you probably need to check some of our statistical
test studies. Using a sampling of 100,000 records,
Direct CASS returned 79,254 records with standardized
corrections. Almost 80% of this sampling would
have returned mail, which in our book is unacceptable.
So what is CASS? CASS stands for Certification
Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS). The Coding
Accuracy Support System (CASS) improves the accuracy
of carrier route, 5-digit ZIP, ZIP+4, and delivery
point codes that appear on mail pieces. The program
is a quality-control measure that ensures that
software vendors provide accurate, updated information
and software to customers who purchase this information
to process their mailing lists. CASS is available
to all mailers, service bureaus, and software
vendors who want to evaluate their address-matching
software and improve the quality of their ZIP+4,
carrier route, and 5-digit coding accuracy. The
USPS's National Customer Support Center administers
and grades the mailers' tests and then returns
the results so mailers can diagnose and correct
deficiencies.
CASS enables the Postal Service to evaluate the
accuracy of address-matching software programs in
three areas: 1) ZIP+4 delivery point coding, 2)
carrier route coding, and 3) 5-digit coding. CASS
allows vendors/mailers the opportunity to test their
address-matching software and, after achieving a
minimum percentage of accuracy, be certified by
the Postal Service. However, CASS does not measure
the accuracy of ZIP+4 delivery point, 5-digit ZIP,
or carrier route codes in a mailer's existing files.
CASS enables mailers to measure and diagnose internally
written, commercially available address-matching
software packages. The effectiveness of service
bureaus' matching software can also be measured.
Match rates using CASS-certified software vary greatly
depending on address hygiene, the quality of addresses
used, and the timeliness of the customer database
update applications. An address with an incorrect
ZIP+4 code, carrier route code, 5-digit ZIP Code,
or no ZIP+4 code can contribute to delays in processing
mail.
To be CASS-certified, participants must pass with
a minimum score of 96 percent accuracy for ZIP+4
coding, 100 percent accuracy for delivery point
coding, and 98 percent accuracy for carrier route
and 5-digit coding. CASS certification is valid
for one year, and lists of certified vendors are
published periodically in USPS documents.
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Through highly integrated proprietary software
developed by Direct Bill, we are able to
offer a wide variety of primary & secondary
services
