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Mail Quality Data through IV-MTR

Mail Quality Data through IV-MTR is a USPS service that gives mailers their uncapped Mail Quality Data through the IV-MTR application. The data is the error detail behind the Mailer Scorecard. Mailers get it as daily, weekly or monthly data feeds.

Updated October 29, 202648 sources

What it is

Mail Quality Data is detailed error data from the Mailer Scorecard. It helps mailers succeed in the Streamlined Mail Entry programs. Error details are available for these programs:

The Mailer Scorecard shows a summary of errors, and reaching one error's details takes several drills. Report caps can limit those drills. An older Legacy Bulk Error Data process gave mailers their uncapped errors on request to the PostalOne Helpdesk, weekly or monthly only. USPS set that process to retire in February 2019, when IV-MTR's Mail Quality Data took its place.

IV-MTR passes Mail Quality Data through from other systems and does not generate it. The same application carries other Postal data, such as mail tracking scans and Informed Delivery campaign results.

A feed carries errors for any of these mailing roles:

  • eDoc Submitter
  • Mail Owner
  • Mail Preparer
  • Transportation Carrier

How it works

A mailer needs a Business Customer Gateway account and IV-MTR privileges granted through it. A Business Service Administrator, the company's representative for the service, activates the mailer's CRID in IV-MTR.

The data arrives only through a data feed, a subscription that sends Mail Quality Data at intervals the mailer picks. Mail Quality Data is not available as a one-time query.

Setting up a Mail Quality Data feed in IV-MTR.

  1. Log in to IV-MTR with a Business Customer Gateway username and password.
  2. Open the Create & Manage Data Feeds tab.
  3. Pick the Subscription Owner CRID, the CRID the feed belongs to.
  4. Set the Feed Data Type to Mail Quality Data.
  5. Choose a delimited file or JSON.
  6. Choose a target: a server, a web service or an online download.
  7. Set the source frequency, the frequency and a start time.
  8. Name the feed.
  9. Add the CRIDs and pick the mailer roles to get data for.
  10. Check the programs and error types to receive.
  11. Pick the data fields for each program and error type, and put them in order.
  12. Select Create Feed.

A feed starts when it is created and delivers by its start time and frequency. Data for each period arrives the following day. Monthly data comes after the Mailer Scorecard locks on the 11th of the month.

Choosing what a feed delivers

Source frequency rolls the data up by day, week or month. Frequency is a separate setting: how often a file comes. Frequency defaults to every 4 hours and runs from every minute to every 31 days.

A daily source frequency with a frequency of 7 days sends one file a week, with the data summarized by day.

Each program and error type checked makes a separate data feed. IV-MTR adds the program and error type to the feed's name. A web service target takes JSON files.

Reading the files

A file name starts with the time the file was made, then MQD and the program type. The error type, source frequency, message group and message number follow. In 20191207112728_MQD_FS_BQ_M_2XY4_0001.txt, FS is Full Service, BQ is Barcode Uniqueness and M is monthly.

PartCodeMeaning
ProgramFSFull Service
ProgramMUMove Update
ProgramSESeamless Acceptance
ProgramEIeInduction
Source frequencyDDaily
Source frequencyWWeekly
Source frequencyMMonthly
Error typeBQBarcode Uniqueness
Error typeBFBy/For
Error typeDPDelivery Point
Error typeDDuplicate
Error typeEFEntry Facility
Error typeEPDEntry Point Discount
Error typeMCMail Characteristic
Error typeMIDMID
Error typeMMisshipped
Error typeMUMove Update
Error typeNSNesting/Sortation
Error typePYMTPayment
Error typePPostage
Error typeSTIDSTID
Error typeUUndocumented
Error typeUCUnlinked Copal
Error typeWWarning
Error typeWTWeight
Error typeZZone

A delimited feed makes more than one file when it has more than 100,000 records.

Getting the files

An online-download feed's files are on its Output History page in IV-MTR. For a server or web service feed, Output History shows each delivery's status and a link to resend it.

Sharing Mail Quality Data

Data delegation is an IV-MTR feature that shares data between CRIDs. The delegator is the CRID that shares its data. The receiver is the CRID that gets it.

Mail Quality Data is delegated at the CRID level. A delegation covers all of the CRID's Mailer IDs, present and future. Each data type needs its own delegation.

Either side can start a delegation, and the delegator has the final say. A mailer that only shares its data with a third party may not need to register for IV-MTR, though it still needs the Business Customer Gateway. The IV Solutions Center can set up a delegation when one side has no IV-MTR access.

For a Mail Quality Data delegation, the delegator can change only the end date. Any other change needs a new delegation.

Rules

Only BSAs, BSA Delegates, and users that have been granted Subscription Manager roles can create and manage data feeds.

Only a Business Service Administrator, a BSA Delegate or a Subscription Manager can create or manage a data feed. Every user can view the feeds that exist.

To send data to a server or web service, it must be added to the IV-MTR address book.

A feed sends files only to a server or web service that is in the IV-MTR address book. The mailer must add it there, before or during feed setup.

If using SFTP, be sure to add the IV-MTR-specific IP addresses to your server firewall to ensure your system can receive data from IV-MTR.

An SFTP server can receive IV-MTR's files once its firewall lets IV-MTR's IP addresses through. The IV Solutions Center has the addresses.

Note: It is recommended you do not choose Comma as a delimiter in MQD files since MQD itself contains commas.

A delimited Mail Quality Data file should not use a comma as its delimiter, because the data itself holds commas. A pipe is the recommended delimiter.

IMPORTANT: To save changes, you must click Update Feed.

A change to a feed's settings must be saved with Update Feed.

After the receiver is granted visibility, they must update any existing data feeds or reports or create new feeds/saved reports manually.

Delegated data does not join existing feeds by itself. The receiver must add the delegated CRIDs to its feeds or make new ones.

Only BSAs, BSA Delegates, or Data Delegation Managers can set up delegations.

Only a Business Service Administrator, a BSA Delegate or a Data Delegation Manager can set up a delegation.

What goes wrong

  • A feed has no history: it delivers data from the date it starts. Historical Mail Quality Data is not available in IV-MTR.
  • Online downloads stay in IV-MTR for 7 days only.
  • A delimited feed with no records puts a blank file in Output History but sends nothing.
  • A JSON feed with no records sends no file.
  • The address book's Test Server Connection button is disabled and grayed out.
  • Deleting a feed cannot be undone. A disabled feed stays listed but gets no new data until it is turned back on.
  • The code list gives SE for Seamless Acceptance, but USPS's example names for its files use SA, as in 20190616150100_MQD_SA_BQ_D_141U_0001.json.
  • A delegated feed delivers data only from the delegation's approval forward, whatever dates the receiver asked for.
  • A delegation request cannot be changed once submitted; the receiver cancels it and makes a new one.
  • A denied or deleted delegation is final.

Terms

Mail Quality DataMQD, Mail Quality Data (MQD) Data, MQD data, Mai Quality Data
Detailed error data from the Mailer Scorecard
Pass-through data
non-scan data that is generated by other Postal systems and provisioned through the IV-MTR application
data feedIV-MTR data feeds, Data Feed (Subscription)
a recurring search (subscription) that provides results at a specified interval
Source Frequency
how you would like your data presented – rolled up by day, week, or month
Frequency
how often you want to receive the rolled-up data – every minute, day, or month
Business Service AdministratorBSA, Business Services Administrator, Business Server Administrator, Business Systems Administrator
a representative within your company, for each service
BSA Delegate
User who has been granted BSA powers for CRID, but is not the actual BSA.
Subscription Manager
Creates and manages a CRID’s data feeds (subscriptions)
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.
delegator
the CRID or MID sharing its data
receiverReceives data from another CRID/MID
The CRID or MID that receives the data
Data Delegation Manager
Manages data delegation for a CRID or MID

Documents

User Guides

Fact Sheets

FAQs

Error Codes

Data Files

Contacts

The IV Solutions Center answers questions about IV-MTR. It takes email at InformedVisibility@usps.gov and calls at 1-800-238-3150, Option #2, from 7 AM to 5 PM CT, Monday through Friday. The IV-MTR application is at https://iv.usps.com.

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