SONG BIRD OF THE SOUTH--KATE SMITH STAMP GOES ON SALE

CUSTOMER FOCUS


SONG BIRD OF THE SOUTH

KATE SMITH STAMP GOES ON SALE



From left, David Failor, manager, Stamp Services, PMG Jack Potter, Undersecretary of the Army Joseph Westphal and Lou Scheinfeld, former vice president, Philadelphia Flyers.



Kate Smith — America’s “Song Bird of the South” and one of the nation’s most popular female singers — yesterday took center stage in Washington, DC, as officials dedicated a U.S. postage stamp in her honor.



In a career that spanned almost five decades, Smith, a native of the Nation’s Capital, recorded nearly 600 songs. At least 20 of her records sold more than 1 million copies, including three religious albums. Many consider her signature song, “God Bless America,” America’s unofficial national anthem.



“Kate Smith and ‘God Bless America’ are forever intertwined,” said PMG Jack Potter during a ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. “Now, this legendary singer, entertainer, humanitarian and American icon will be forever commemorated with a stamp in her honor.”



In 1973, Smith was invited to sing “God Bless America” at the National Hockey League’s Philadelphia Flyers’ season opener. The Flyers won. From that day on, Philadelphia players and fans considered her a good-luck charm — an impression that attracted national attention when her appearances foreshadowed Stanley Cup victories in 1974 and 1975. Today, there is a bronze statue of her outside Philadelphia’s Spectrum arena, once the home of the Flyers.



In 1982, President Ronald Reagan presented Smith with the Medal of Freedom. She died in Raleigh, NC, in 1986 at age 79. Smith was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1999.



The stamp’s artwork was based on a photograph of Smith taken in the 1960s. The stamp went on sale nationwide yesterday.

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USING THE POWER OF THE MAIL--USPS DELIVER CALL TO HELP LOCATE MISSING CHILDREN

TOP STORY


USING THE POWER OF THE MAIL

VALASSIS, NCMEC, USPS DELIVER CALL TO HELP LOCATE MISSING CHILDREN





Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the “Have You Seen Me?” program that helps locate missing children, the Postal Service this week will deliver more than 44 million special mailers nationwide.



The mailer, created by Valassis, has been customized for six different regions within the United States and features 25 missing children specific to that part of the country.



Valassis, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and USPS have been working to reunite missing children with their families through the “Have You Seen Me?” program and the power of the U.S. Mail since 1985.



According to NCMEC officials, an estimated 800,000 children in America each year are reported missing — more than 2,000 each day. As a direct result of leads generated by this program, 149 children have been safely returned to their families.



“We don’t just deliver the mail, we deliver hope,” said PMG Jack Potter during anniversary ceremonies in Washington, DC. “The men and women of the Postal Service provide 500,000 extra pairs of eyes, always open, always watchful, always hopeful that we’ll play a small part in reuniting families.”



Success stories



Joining Potter at yesterday’s event were Jude Densley, a Postal Inspector in San Francisco, and James Pantoja, Postmaster of Naco, AZ, both of whom were recognized earlier this week during ceremonies at the U.S. Department of Justice for their separate roles in recovering missing children.



Densley received a Certificate of Honorable Mention for her efforts to recover an 11-year-old girl and seek justice for a 17-year-old girl kidnapped by the same individual.



Pantoja received the “Missing Children’s Citizen Award” for his efforts in locating a 9-year-old boy who had been abducted in North Carolina and taken to Tombstone, AZ. Sales and Service Associates Anthony Palma and Denultra Camp assisted in this recovery and also were honored ( 5/22/09).



Special cancellation



To reinforce the importance of its partnership with Valassis and the NCMEC — and the need to find missing children — the Postal Service next month will cancel stamped mail nationwide using a special cancellation bearing the words “Never Stop Looking For Missing Children” and silhouettes of a boy and girl.

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CUSTOMERS HAVE OUR NUMBER--more than 57 million customers

CUSTOMER FOCUS


CUSTOMERS HAVE OUR NUMBER

CALL CENTERS HANDLE MILLIONS OF CONTACTS EACH YEAR



Agents at the Convergys call center in Denver, CO.



Last year, more than 57 million customers picked up the phone and dialed one of the Postal Service’s toll-free numbers — such as 800-ASK-USPS.



Those calls are answered at call centers managed by Convergys Corporation, a USPS vendor since 2003.



Convergys’ USPS operations are located in Denver, CO; Orem, UT; and Jacksonville, NC. Additionally, Convergys manages an Internet customer care center in Columbia, MD, that provides technical support for usps.com and Web Tools. The number and geographic spread of the call centers is by design, in case of natural disaster or power interruption.



The number of staff at the call centers varies, depending on call volume, and is currently about 1,000 agents. The contact centers don’t just answer the phone. Last year, they also responded to 1.3 million e-mails and handled the new “live chat” feature of usps.com. The centers also receive calls from other sources, such as Track and Confirm inquiries (800-222-1811), 800-STAMP24, employee unscheduled leave, U.S. Postal Inspection Service inquiries, and TTY for deaf and hard-of-hearing customers.



“We handle a broad spectrum of customer inquiries, from simple requests such as prices and ZIP Code lookups, to more complex complaints, change of address concerns, and the international inquiry process,” said Don Nichols, acting manager, Corporate Customer Contact. “From purchasing stamps over the phone, to assisting customers printing Click-N-Ship postage — it’s very broad.”



Nichols has been involved with customer contact activities since shortly after the first national call center opened in 1996. He’s seen a lot of change. “Initially, our mandate was to provide consistent, accurate and efficient customer service and relieve Post Offices of that burden,” he said. “In the future, we’ll be collecting and analyzing much more data from a variety of sources to drive improvements in the customer’s experience with the Postal Service.”



Having customers talk to an agent instead of a local Post Office is saving USPS more than 1 million workhours a year. Add to that the 34 million calls that were automatically handled by the Integrated Voice Response system last year and the savings balloon to more than 2.8 million workhours each year.

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‘EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR’ AWARD--HIGHLY HONORED

HIGHLY HONORED

MID-CAROLINAS HR SPECIALIST WINS ‘EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR’ AWARD



Mid-Carolinas District HR Specialist Gary “Tommy” Miller.



Charlotte, NC, Human Resources Specialist Gary “Tommy” Miller has been named one of Careers & the disABLED magazine’s “Employees of the Year.” The award was for Miller’s professional and advocacy efforts on behalf of people with disabilities.



Careers & the disABLED bills itself as the nation’s first and only career-guidance and recruitment magazine for people with disabilities.



Miller, a paraplegic, was injured while playing football during his senior year in high school. The injury left him paralyzed from the mid-chest down, with limited use of his arms and hands.



In 1982, Miller began his career with USPS as a clerk typist in Human Resources. He later became an accounting technician in Finance.



“Tommy is a kind and hard-working employee,” said Mid-Carolinas Safety Manager Stephanie Harris. “He never complains and always finds a way to accomplish any task assigned to him. He’s physically tough and has great endurance, and he treats everyone with dignity and respect.”



Miller has received other recognitions throughout his life. The Mayor of Rock Hill, SC, proclaimed Oct. 18, 1985, “Tommy Miller Day.” And each year, the “Tommy Miller Award” is given at Rock Hill’s Northwestern High School to outstanding male and female athletes of the year.



He also is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Citation from the Postmaster General in recognition of notable performance and in appreciation for his exceptional contribution to the Postal Service.

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BUY IT. STAMP IT. MAIL IT.

BUY IT. STAMP IT. MAIL IT.

GREETING CARDS ON SALE AT MORE LOCATIONS FOR GRADS AND DADS

One of the 1,500 Post Offices participating in the greeting card program.

With thousands of students graduating from schools and colleges across the country, and with Father’s Day approaching next month, customers are looking for a convenient way to purchase and send a special greeting card.

How’s this for shopping convenience? Buy a graduation or Father’s Day card at one of the Postal Service’s retail locations that offers greeting cards, stamp it, mail it and you’re done.

USPS had been offering greeting cards in select areas to determine if customer interest warrants expanding the program nationwide.

Already, the program’s success has prompted USPS to expand its test to another 1,000 retail locations, in addition to the 500 offices that initially offered greeting cards.

“Sending greeting cards is as American as apple pie,” said Tim Healy, vice president, Retail Products and Services. “And customer response has been very positive. We have cards for almost any occasion or celebration, and now they’re even more widely available.”

More than half of the 7 billion greeting cards sold in the United States each year are sent through the mail. “Greeting cards and the mail are directly connected,” said Healy. “There’s no better place to sell them than at our Post Offices.”

Greeting cards also are the most popular gift for Father’s Day. According to greeting card company Hallmark, an estimated 110 million cards are purchased annually to honor dads.

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DID YOU KNOW?

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TIP OF THE DAY

INFO EVERYONE KNEEDS. More than 10 million men and women over the age of 45 will suffer from knee pain this year. Knee problems usually result from overuse, poor form during physical activity, not warming up or cooling down or inadequate stretching.

With self care, simple causes of knee pain often can clear up on their own. Click here for tips to keep your knees healthy. Click here for information developed by the National Institutes of Health on how to keep your knees healthy.

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VOTE BY MAIL

CUSTOMER FOCUS

INCREASED VOTER PARTICIPATION

VOTE BY MAIL WINS IN HAWAII’S SPECIAL ELECTION

While Republican Charles Djou wound up with the most votes in Hawaii’s Congressional special election May 22, there was a second clear winner — the concept of voting by mail ( 5/13).

As reported in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper the day after the election, “Voters of the 1st Congressional District made it clear: When given the choice, most of the people in the district prefer to mail their ballots.”

According to Hawaii’s Office of Elections, 54 percent of the 317,337 registered voters in the district cast their votes by mail during the three-week-long special election. That voter turnout was substantially higher than the 13.3 percent recorded in 2003, when a polling place special election was held.

Behind the scenes and out of the spotlight, though, it was Hawaii’s postal employees who helped make it all work, according to Honolulu District Marketing Manager Gary Gardetto.

“Our sales team, support managers and operational managers stepped up to ensure the success of this election,” said Gardetto. “But the most credit should go to our clerks and carriers, who ensured that ballots were delivered and collected efficiently and accurately.”

Of the 171,417 people who voted in this special election, fewer than 2,400 people (about 1.3 percent) chose the walk-in option of casting traditional ballots at Honolulu’s city hall. Election officials reported there were no glitches in the vote-by-mail special election.

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A HALLMARK IN FIRST-CLASS MAIL SERVICE

A HALLMARK IN FIRST-CLASS SERVICE

IMb TECHNOLOGY TO BOOST FIRST-CLASS MAIL VOLUME

Hallmark postcards with the Intelligent Mail barcode.

Starting next week, USPS and Hallmark will introduce a new line of postage-paid greeting postcards.

The postcards use Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) technology, allowing customers to buy them with pre-paid postage — also referred to as “Alternative Postage Payment.”

The postcards come in packs of eight. There are two sets, each with eight unique designs. The sets will be available in 2,000 Hallmark Crown Stores across the country.

Hallmark research suggests that making First-Class Mail easier to mail encourages consumers to send more greeting cards. With pre-paid postcards, customers won’t have to buy postage — or be concerned about how much postage is needed.

Barcode sorters performing IMb scans during normal mail processing will track the number of postcards entering the mailstream to calculate Hallmark’s total postage payment.

“Alternate Postage Payment is a breakthrough product that uses technology to create convenience for consumers and revenue for USPS and its business partners,” said Steve Monteith, manager of Transactions and Correspondence Mail. “When sorters read the IMb code, the prevailing rate for First-Class Mail postage will be applied.”

Alternate Postage Payment postcards also feature three other technology elements — a legend that includes a permit number, a new facing identification mark to orient, separate and trigger an image capture of both sides of the mailpiece, and an imprint that reads, “No postage necessary if mailed in the United States.”

Monteith says employees should follow normal processing and delivery procedures for these postcards. “To ensure timely processing, employees should not obliterate barcodes or other information within the address block,” he said.

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