USDA Forest ServiceFederal organization replaces postage meters with

Stamps.com Enterprise in 8 locations and saves over $17,000 a year.

Customer

The USDA Forest Service is the agency of the United

States Department of Agriculture that administers

the 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands

throughout the country. These lands cover over 193

million acres of protected wilderness and are designated

wildlife refuges for thousands of species including many

on the verge of extinction. Mark Twain National Forest,

Missouri’s only National Forest, encompasses roughly

1.5 million acres. USDA operations on this enormous

piece of land are carried out by just over 200 individuals

operating in 8 field offices.

Challenge

Because of the remote nature of these facilities and

the importance of their interaction with the public, the

Mark Twain USDA Forest Service mails almost 20,000

pieces of mail a year, including inter-office letters, public

brochures, financial documents, legal documents and

assorted packages. As part of the federal government,

the Mark Twain USDA Forest Service regularly reviews all

internal processes to ensure they are doing everything

as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. This helps

to ensure that they stay within budgets and can carry

on operations unhindered throughout the year. In 2005

they conducted a review of their shipping solutions and

realized that the postage meters they were leasing for

each of their 8 locations were inefficient, overpriced and

outdated. Cheryl Moreland, Staff Assistant to the Forest

Supervisor, initiated a search for a replacement postage

solution that could fill the needs of their organization,

save money and simplify all of their processes.

Solution

Cheryl evaluated several shipping management systems.

After a short trial period using Stamps.com Enterprise,

she realized that it was the best fit for the organization’s

needs. “Once I used Stamps.com Enterprise, I knew that it

was the best choice. Stamps.com gives us the capabilities

we were looking for and has saved us considerable

money,” said Cheryl.

Key criteria for her decision included the ability to send

Certified Mail™, ability to print postage at high volumes,

overall cost-effectiveness and ease of use. Stamps.com

Enterprise was rolled out in all 8 of the Mark Twain USDA

Forest Service’s facilities in 2005 and has been their

primary postage management solution ever since.

Results

Cost Savings

Prior to using Stamps.com Enterprise, the USDA Forest

Service was locked into long term leases on 8 postage

meters. These hardware-only solutions came with

substantial price tags that extended past their high rental

cost. Each one required expensive inks refills that could

only be purchased from the manufacturer, dramatically

increasing the cost of each piece of postage prepared.

The USDA also paid for each system reset when postage

rates changed, each eDelivery confirmation and each

scale used in their mailrooms. Most importantly, because

of the postage meters’ unnecessary complexity, they

required substantial training to operate and drove up the

overall cost of ownership. With Stamps.com Enterprise,

none of this is required.

Efficiency

Because Stamps.com Enterprise is a software-based

application that runs directly on users’ PCs, it was quickly

deployed throughout all of the offices of the USDA. The

simple, linear interface allowed users to instantly begin

mailing packages and printing postage with no special

training needed. Each office designated one primary

mail clerk and as many as 3 alternates because the

system could easily be used without any special training

or experience. The Stamps.com product interfaced

with their existing contact database and was able to

handle large scale public mailings on its first day of use.

Preparing Certified Mail, which used to be a cumbersome

task with their postage meters, was immediately

simplified by using Stamps.com. The migration from

postage meters to Stamps.com Enterprise proved so easy

that the USDA moved all postage and shipping activities

over to the system on its first day of activation.

Reporting

One of the most important features the USDA was

looking for in a postage management solution was

a powerful, networked reporting capability. With

Stamps.com Enterprise, the system administrator has

the ability to instantly review activity in all of their

locations, preparing detailed reports that can focus all

the way down to the user level. Stamps.com Enterprise

has enabled the USDA to manage their postage activities

and expenses in a way that was not possible before.

This capability has increased employee accountability,

decreased accounting errors and oversights and given

them the ability to forecast their expenses well into

the future.

“It only took a short trial for us to realize that Stamps.com

Enterprise was the postage and shipping solution we

wanted to use. Its straightforward, easy-to-use design

has everything we need to fill the needs of our 8 mailing

locations and it saves us over $17,000 a year over our

old postage meters. I would definitely recommend

Stamps.com Enterprise to any organization with multiple

offices and extensive postage requirements.”

- Cheryl Moreland, Staff Assistant to the Forest

Supervisor, USDA Forest Service