Do you print optical bar codes on envelopes prior to mailing?
With Word 2003 I could print my own address bar code. Now, in Word 2010 I’ve found that feature is eliminated. Does it speed up postal handling to print your own bar code? If so, what application do you use to do so?
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Did you PM Astrochuck? He would know.
I recently watched a video of a Last HOPE conference talk about postal hacking (linked below) that may answer your first question (and are interesting in general), but I don’t remember if the barcode actually made mail move faster… I think it just prevents them from needing to be read by a person if the address is not readable by their OCR scanners. (And, sorry – don’t have an answer for your second question.)
Last HOPE Postal Hacking on YouTube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5
Note: Those involved in the research project stress that theft or abuse of any kind, or any behavior which could harm others or others’ property is strictly avoided, and demand the same consideration of others who engage in similar efforts.
I do and I have been told it speeds things up. But I could be wrong. Astrochuck will know for sure. I should have said I use a widget for mac that prints envelopes so I’m not sure my method will help you. Sorry.
Several days later, I’ve found an on-line site that will print the envelope with the correct optical bar code. Seems to work well, and it should move your snail mail a little faster.
http://www.angryox.com/web-envelopes/
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