delivery point barcode in merge to labels from Outlook 2003 contacts

[John Nasta]

Does anybody know how to include a delivery point barcode on labels
generated from a mail merge initiated in Oultook 2003?

It's very simple to do this if you originate the merge from Word (there's an
icon for it in the wizard), but I prefer to initiate my merges from Outlook.
I typically contact people by phone and then generate a label to them if
they express interest in my services. I can easily send labels to a filtered
group or to selected contacts straight out of Outlook. It's much more
cumbersome to have to go into Word and look up the contacts again in order
to create/edit a recipient list. The only problem is that I'm not seeing a
way to insert a delivery point barcode when I initiate the merge from
Outlook.

I used to be able to do this from Outlook 2000.

The answer may be here:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HP051862051033.aspx?pid=CH061047251033

I don't know how/where I would insert the code though. Seems like it should
be part of the wizard like it is in Word, but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks,
John Nasta

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP]

There may be no point. This is from a post on this subject by Peter
Jamieson:

Quote

The problem with the barcodes inserted by Word is not just to do with the
fact that you can't use this software to get bulk discounts. It's also to do
with the fact that for multi-unit addresses (apartment blocks etc.) the
geenrated barcodes may be incorrect because the USPS changed the algorithm
several years ago and Word did not keep up. In other words, your mail might
not be handled correctly by the USPS. I am told that barcodes generated from
9-digit ZIP codes are correct, but have no means of verifying that that is
still correct.

Unquote

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[John Nasta]

Wow. I guess the answer is to just forget about barcoding then...

 

[Peter Jamieson]

If it is any comfort, the USPS claims that its systems handle "properly
addressed mail" as efficiently as barcoded mail. They may not put it
precisely like that, and it may be that then mean "properly addressed with
an address that's printed rather than handwritten" but perhaps the
recognistion equipment can cop e with practically anything these days.

 

[John Nasta]

Thanks Peter,

Yes, I am using nice cleanly printed labels and I guess they ought to be
able to scan that without a problem. I'll just stick to originating my
merges from Outlook because the ability to select individual contacts and/or
filter is much easier/better than doing it from Word, and I'll forget about
barcoding.

John Nasta