Admin Corner

Lori Bovalacco is our Guest blogger today with a wrap-up of what she learned on the 2009 Rate Change Roundtable -- thanks, Lori!!

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1. Communications - the consensus is that most of you received a letter and/or email notifying you that the new rates were available for download
2. Instructions - many of you stated our written instructions were better understood than in the past, that they were "more clear" and "easy to understand"
3. New price displayed on effective date - for those who processed the download prior to the effective date, the new rates were present on your meter on May 11 without having to do anything.  This is great! This means that most of you have your meter set to a "class", for example 1st Class Reg.   Because of this, you'll never have to change the meter display (Normal Preset Setting) again when the Postal rates change, you'll just have to process the download.

1. Update took too long to download - for most of you who experienced this, it appeared that a software version update was being processed along with the new rates.  This is the reason for the extra time which caused some inconvenience for those who waited to the end of the day, on a Friday and wanted to go home.  I recommend that whenever your meter displays there is an update or add on available, you should always go through the process so that your meter will be up to date with the latest software version.
2. Restart meter or meter got stuck - many times when a software version is updating or rates are downloading, you may need to power cycle your meter.  This can take longer than we want due to modem speed and the volume of meters trying to connect to the data center.  We do, however, offer some connection solutions such as connecting your meter to your PC as well as having a dedicated LAN line.  You can find out more about these solutions from your local Pitney Bowes sales representative.
3. Rates should update automatically - Guess what?  This is exactly what we're working on today.  We'll keep you posted.

By now, the May 11 USPS postal rate change has come and gone and everybody's system is up to date and displaying the correct rates... right??

This is where social media like Forums really shine. On a phone support line, the customer service representative may give the same answer to person after person, one at a time.  On the Forum, our most popular question - How to Update Postage Rates on Your PB Equipment - was viewed over 57,000 times. Talk about "one-to-many"!  On average, each answer on the board was seen about 750 times. That's a big lever.

So, when you ask a question on the forum and get an answer, you're not only helping yourself - you're helping a lot of others as well. And it seems to be working: our 2009 USPS Postage Rate Change board has had over 355,000 views since we launched it last December, peaking right around the rate change date itself.  Hopefully, those of you who needed help found what you were looking for!

The biggest win for everyone comes when users answer each other's questions. Who can give you a better answer than someone else who has "walked in your shoes"? The moral of the story? -- Share your wealth!  You almost certainly have knowledge that someone else needs right now.

When the USPS changes the postage rates, just about everyone with a Pitney Bowes mailing system has to do something to update.  That makes the rate change a very big deal at Pitney Bowes. In fact, one of the motives for creating the user forum a year ago was to provide another channel for support during this crucial period.  Lots of people asked questions and a lot more read the answers. On average, each message was viewed 750 times!

Many people are finding answers on the forum again this year. How to Update Postage Rates on Your PB Equipment was viewed over 52,000 times before Jeremy updated it with this new post: Answers to your most common questions.  If you're looking for Rate Change help, that's a great place to start.

Here are some other tips for finding your answers:

• Use the "Search" tool at the top of  the Home Page. Chances are good that someone else has already asked your question and found the answer.
• Look for the "Solved" icon  - it means that the solution to the problem has been shown to work.
• Try clicking a tag related to your issue. The tag cloud is at the bottom of the home page and in the right column of every discussion board.

You can find more information on PB.com. Try:

• Rate Change Central - the hub for update instructions for your specific equipment
• Our Postal Information Site - a wealth of general information about postal rates and regulations.