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Informed Visibility Mail Tracking & Reporting

Informed Visibility Mail Tracking & Reporting, IV-MTR, is the USPS application that gives commercial mailers near real-time tracking data for domestic-bound mail and its containers. Mailers use the data to manage operations, refine processes and adjust marketing campaigns.

Updated October 29, 202647 sources

What it is

IV-MTR is a web application that USPS provides to mailers at no charge. It serves commercial mailers who track barcoded letters, flats, bundles, trays, tubs, sacks and containers bound for domestic addresses.

IV-MTR replaced a split set of tools with one source of tracking data. Before it, tracking data sat in several applications.

IV-MTR also passes through data from other USPS systems, so one account receives several kinds of data. Mailers can share their data with partners through data delegation.

How it works

USPS scans barcoded mail objects as they move through its network, and IV-MTR turns those scans into handling events. A mailer signs up through the Business Customer Gateway, the single entry point for USPS online business services, then asks IV-MTR for data.

Getting access to IV-MTR, from choosing the BSA to signing in.

  1. Decide which person will be the IV-MTR BSA for the CRID.
  2. Decide which CRID or CRIDs you need access to.
  3. Create a Business Customer Gateway account if you do not have one.
  4. Request the IV-MTR service from within the Business Customer Gateway.
  5. If you are not the BSA, wait for the IV-MTR BSA to approve the request.
  6. Go to https://iv.usps.com and sign in with the Business Customer Gateway username and password.

Once signed in, a user picks a query type, a delivery method, a file format and a scan enrichment type.

Data it provides

IV-MTR provides two kinds of tracking data of its own. Scan data holds actual and assumed handling events. Logical Delivery Events are implied events that show when mailpieces reach the recipient.

IV-MTR also passes through data from these USPS systems:

  • Enterprise Payment System, for postage information.
  • Informed Delivery, for email campaign details. Its Post-Campaign data gives processing, opens and click-throughs for interactive campaigns, to users who also hold Mailer Campaign Portal privileges.
  • Mail Quality Data, for Mailer Scorecard data. It comes only as a data feed of the scorecard's detailed error data, which only a BSA, BSA Delegate or Subscription Manager can create.
  • USPS Ship, for physical package and payment information.

As of April 2026, API invoices and package scan event extracts are marked coming soon.

Visibility requirements

IV-MTR shows only mail objects that carry an Intelligent Mail barcode, an Intelligent Mail tray barcode or an Intelligent Mail container barcode. Some visibility also needs the mail object to be Full-Service when it is eligible.

Visibility depends on the mail object type, the handling event type and the role of the CRID or MID. The eDoc or the barcode sets that role for each mailing or mail object.

Raw and enriched scans

A raw scan updates only the one barcode that USPS scanned. Raw scans exist only at the piece level in IV-MTR.

An enriched scan adds data from the mailing's eDoc and from USPS processing to the raw scan. IV-MTR builds enriched scans by matching raw records to eDoc records. Container, handling unit and bundle data comes only as enriched scans.

The matching also lets IV-MTR apply one barcode's status to every barcode associated with it. When a tray receives an actual scan, IV-MTR assumes that scan for every mailpiece inside the tray.

IV-MTR also creates logical handling events from business rules, such as Logical Delivery Events.

Reading a handling event

Each handling event carries a three-digit Scan Event Code, also called an operation code, that names the processing operation behind the event. USPS publishes the codes in the IV-MTR Operation Codes List.

The Scan State field tells what type of handling event a mail object received. Its values are:

  • Entered at USPS: a container or orphan handling unit entered the USPS network.
  • Enroute Arrive: a container or handling unit arrived at a USPS facility or airport.
  • Enroute: a handling unit or bundle ran on sorting equipment at a USPS facility.
  • Enroute Depart: a container or handling unit left a USPS facility or airport.

The Entered at USPS scan is also the scan used for Start-the-Clock.

Queries and delivery

IV-MTR offers two query types. A one-time query is an ad hoc search for a set of records. It returns data for the past 120 days.

A data feed is a recurring subscription that returns results at a set interval. It sends data from the time it is set up forward, with no historical data.

Any user can run a one-time query for online download and view existing data feeds. Sending a query's results to an SFTP server takes a BSA, BSA Delegate or Subscription Manager.

Results reach the mailer by one of these delivery methods:

  • Online view, which shows a one-time query's results without a file download.
  • Online download, which lists files in an output history to download.
  • An SFTP server, which receives the files the application pushes.
  • A web service, which receives pushed data or pulls it.

To receive files by SFTP, a mailer adds IV-MTR's IP addresses to the server's firewall, and the IV Solutions Center provides them.

The file formats are an online view with CSV or PDF export, the IMb Tracing legacy PKG file, delimited text, Mail.XML and JSON. IV-MTR supports Mail.XML versions 12.0A, 12.0B, 14.0A and 16.0.

The IV-MTR API lets mailers connect mobile or web applications to IV-MTR data without the overhead of data feeds.

Sharing data

Data delegation shares a CRID's or MID's data with another CRID or MID. The CRID or MID that shares is the delegator, and the one that receives is the receiver. Either one can start a delegation. The two can belong to one organization or to two, such as a mail owner and its mail service provider. A delegation lets the receiver create data feeds with the delegator's data.

Scan data can be shared at the CRID or MID level, and pass-through data at the CRID level. Mail Quality Data is shared only at the CRID level, but Informed Delivery Post-Campaign data can be shared at either level. A CRID-level delegation covers every MID of the CRID, current and future. Each data type needs its own delegation, and no blanket delegation covers them all.

The delegator has the final say on what the receiver sees and can change any delegation at any time. Delegated data is not added to the receiver's existing data feeds, so the receiver must update them or create new ones. A feed delivers delegated data only from the time the delegator approved the delegation.

Organizations with IV-MTR accounts set up delegations themselves, without contacting USPS. When an organization lacks IV-MTR access or does not want to set one up, the IV Solutions Center can help. An organization that only wants to share its data may not need an IV-MTR account. It still needs a Business Customer Gateway registration.

Rules

To access the IV-MTR application, you must first have a BCG account.

A user must hold a Business Customer Gateway account before using IV-MTR.

Before you begin requesting IV-MTR access, you must decide who the IV-MTR BSA for your CRID will be.

An organization must choose its IV-MTR BSA before anyone requests access. The Business Customer Gateway makes the first person who requests the service the BSA.

If you are not the IV-MTR BSA, you must wait for the IV-MTR BSA to approve your request for the service.

Any user other than the BSA must wait for the BSA's approval before using IV-MTR.

To manage data feeds, a user must be the IV-MTR BSA, a BSA Delegate, or a Subscription Manager for the subscription owner CRID.

A user must be the BSA, a BSA Delegate or a Subscription Manager for the owning CRID to manage its data feeds.

To manage data delegations, a user must be the IV-MTR BSA, a BSA Delegate, or a Data Delegation Manager for the CRID.

A user must be the BSA, a BSA Delegate or a Data Delegation Manager for the CRID to manage its data delegations.

Any IV-MTR user can complete a one-time query.

Every IV-MTR user may run a one-time query, whatever role the user holds.

What goes wrong

IV-MTR does not track international-bound mail or packages. Its tracking covers letters and flats only.

IV-MTR does not support Postal Wizard mailings. Those mailers get raw scans but no enriched scans and no tracking by Job ID.

IV-MTR keeps transactional scan-level tracking data for 120 days. A data feed cannot fill in history from before it starts.

A session ends after 30 minutes without activity. A Business Customer Gateway timeout in another tab also ends the IV-MTR session.

The wrong person can become BSA, because the first requester gets the role. The IV Solutions Center handles a change of BSA.

The legacy PostalOne! Informed Visibility download file format does not exist in IV-MTR. Bundle and piece data are not available through online view for a one-time query.

Terms

handling eventscan event
Any change in the state of a mail object including actions such as assembling, processing, sorting, scanning, staging, and transporting. May also be referred to as a scan event.
assumed handling event
a system-generated event that is an implied handling of a nested mail object based on a handling event associated to the composite mail object
logical handling event
System-generated event for a mail object based on business rules. For example, the system could create a logical handling event for “Out for Delivery” based on an actual handling event of “Arrived at Unit.”
Logical Delivery EventsLDEs
Implied event indicating when the mailpiece should have been delivered.
Enriched scans
Enriched scans contain all the information from raw scans, in addition to extra information from the mailing’s eDoc and Postal processing information
One-Time QueryOTQ, one-time queries
a one-time (ad hoc) search for a particular set of records
data feedIV-MTR data feeds, Data Feed (Subscription)
a recurring search (subscription) that provides results at a specified interval
Data Delegationdata delegation functionality
Data delegation is used to share data between CRIDs—to provide visibility of a CRID or MID’s data to another CRID or MID’s users.
IV-MTR BSA
the user designated as the BSA for the IV-MTR service for a particular CRID
Customer Registration IDCRID, Customer Registration Identification Number, Customer Registration Identifier, Customer Identifier, Customer Reference ID, Customer Registration Identifications
a USPS-generated numeric code of up to 15 digits that uniquely identifies a business at a specific location
IV Solutions CenterIVSC
is part of the Postal Service’s National Customer Support Center (NCSC) and provides assistance with all areas of the IV-MTR application

Documents

Technical Specifications

Tech Guides

User Guides

Quick Service Guides

Fact Sheets

FAQs

Data Files

Release Notes

Contact Lists

Applications/Forms

Contacts

The IV Solutions Center answers questions about IV-MTR at 1-800-238-3150, option 2, or InformedVisibility@usps.gov. It helps with onboarding, accounts, visibility issues and barcode checks.

USPS schedules about one IV-MTR release a month.

Sources