Delivery Schedule
A delivery schedule is a set of days on which subscribers can receive a publication. Many publications have several delivery schedules from which subscribers can choose, such as Monday-Friday, weekends only, or 7 days a week. You can define whether a particular delivery schedule is valid for mail delivery, and which routes can deliver that delivery schedule. Business Rules determine the default delivery schedule for new starts.
It is not necessary to set up delivery schedules for Targeted Marketing products (such as shoppers or soap samples) because they have no subscribers and can be delivered whenever you process the TM product.
If you offer day pass subscriptions (see the User Manual), you must set up at least one delivery schedule with a Subscription Type of “Day Pass”. Leave all days of the week set to “y” for this delivery schedule. You can then specify the delivery schedule for the Business Rule What is the delivery schedule used for Day Pass purchases? (Customer Services section). Day pass delivery schedules will not be available for regular (term) subscriptions.
Note: If delivery schedules have not been set up or have incorrect start/end dates, there will be problems in transaction processing, account billing, and customer service.
To set up a delivery schedule:
In character Circulation, select Delivery Schedule from the Products menu to display the Delivery Schedule Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
Field Type What to enter PRODUCT
setup
Enter the ID of the product that will use this delivery schedule.
DELIVERY SCHEDULE
open (8)
Enter an ID for the delivery schedule, such as “Daily” or “Sunday”.
START DATE, END DATE
date
Enter the date range in which this delivery schedule will be used.
DESCRIPTION
open (30)
Enter a description for this delivery schedule.
SUBSCRIPTION TYPE
predefined
Indicate whether this delivery schedule should be used with term (regular) or day pass subscriptions. Once the delivery schedule is defined, this field cannot be modified.
DAYS OF WEEK
predefined
For each day of the week, indicate whether this product is delivered.
ENTER ON WEB, WEB DESCRIPTION
yes/no open (30)
These fields are used by iServices Subscriber (a companion application). You can control whether this delivery schedule is available for subscribers entering transactions via the web. If so, enter “y” in the Enter on Web field, and enter the description of the delivery schedule that should be displayed on the web.
VALID FOR MAIL
yes/no
Indicate if this delivery schedule is valid for mail delivery.
VALID FOR ONLINE
yes/no
Indicate if this delivery schedule is valid for online delivery.
DIGITAL VAC HOLD
yes/no
If subscribers on this delivery schedule can receive a digital vacation pack during a temp stop, leave this field set to “y.” If the delivery schedule does not qualify for a digital vacation pack, set the field to “n.”
VARY COPIES
yes/no
Indicate if the number of copies delivered may vary by day of the week. For example, if this product/delivery schedule can deliver three copies on Wednesday but one copy during the rest of the week, enter “y.”
Select items on the Specifics menu, listed in the table below, to enter additional information about the delivery schedule.
Option When to select Route Delivery Sched
To assign specific routes to the delivery schedule.
Delivery Schedule Days
If the delivery schedule will be used for mixed delivery routes, to define which will be route, and which will be mail delivered days.
Message Days
To define messages that should be printed on bundle tops for subscribers with this delivery schedule.
Label Group Delivery Schedule
To identify the label groups with which the delivery schedule can be used.
Select Accept to enter the delivery schedule and associated specifics into the database.
Set up another delivery schedule, or press F4 and select Exit to exit to the Setup menu.
Specifics, Route Delivery Schedule
Select this option to specify valid routes for this delivery schedule. During initial setup of Delivery Schedules, you will not be able to select this option because your routes will not yet have been set up (unless this delivery schedule is valid for all routes). While setting up your routes, you can define the valid delivery schedules for each route, or this information could be converted.
To define valid delivery schedules for a route:
Select Specifics | Route Delivery Sched from the Delivery Schedule Setup screen to display the Route Delivery Schedule Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
Field Type What to enter ROUTE
setup
Enter the route to be associated with this delivery schedule. Enter “*” if this delivery schedule is valid on all routes.
PRODUCT
display
The product entered on the Delivery Schedule Setup screen is displayed.
DELIVERY SCHEDULE
display
The delivery schedule entered on the Delivery Schedule Setup screen is displayed.
START DATE, END DATE
date
Enter a date range for which the route will be associated with the delivery schedule.
Select Accept to link the route with the delivery schedule.
Specify another route for this delivery schedule, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Delivery Schedule Setup screen.
Specifics, Delivery Schedule Days
Enter this specific only if you are setting up a delivery schedule for use with mixed delivery routes or hybrid subscriptions:
A
mixed deliveryroute has both mail and route delivery, on different days. For example, a rural route might be mail-delivered Monday through Saturday, but route delivered on Sunday when there is no mail.A
hybrid subscriptionhas both route and online delivery, on different days. For example, a subscriber may receive a route-delivered paper on weekends but read an online subscription on weekdays.
Note: Mixed-delivery routes and hybrid subscriptions should not be used with the “carrier collect” billing method.
To set up mixed delivery routes:
Set up a distribution class, which will be identified in Business Rules as the mixed delivery distribution class. Any route in this distribution class will be considered a mixed delivery route. See distribution class for more information about distribution classes.
Set up delivery schedules for mixed route customers. Indicate what days are mail and what days are carrier delivered with this specific.
Set up the routes, assigning them to the mixed route distribution class and linking it with one or more of the delivery schedule(s).
Assign subscribers on the route one of the mixed delivery schedules that have been set up.
To define the carrier and mail days for a mixed delivery schedule:
Select Specifics | Delivery Schedule Days from the Delivery Schedule Setup screen to display the Delivery Schedule Days screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
Field Type What to enter PRODUCT, DELIVERY SCHEDULE
display
The product and hybrid/mixed delivery schedule are displayed from the Delivery Schedule Setup screen.
START DATE, END DATE
date
Enter a date range for the mail/carrier mix that will be entered below. You may leave End Date blank.
LABEL GROUP
setup
If you are assigning label groups to mixed-delivery or hybrid subscribers by delivery schedule (rather than Zip code), enter the label group for this delivery schedule. See label groups.
HYBRID/MIXED DELIVERY METHOD
predefined
For each day of the week, indicate whether delivery is by route or mail. If the label group entered is valid for online subscriptions, then indicate which days are for online delivery and which days are for route delivery.
Select Accept to save the information.
Specify mixed delivery schedule information for another date range or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Delivery Schedule Setup screen.
Specifics, Message Days
Bundle tops may contain messages for subscribers with a certain delivery schedule. This is useful if the delivery schedule is uncommon or is delivered only on one or two days in the week. For example, the bundle tops for Saturday could have messages for Saturday-only subscribers, so that the carrier will not forget to deliver these papers.
The message label and text for delivery schedule messages is user-defined; only one message may be entered per delivery schedule.
To set up the delivery schedule message:
Select Specifics | Message Days to display the Message Day Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
| Field | Type | What to enter |
|---|---|---|
PRODUCT, DELIVERY SCHEDULE | display | The product and delivery schedule are displayed from the Delivery Schedule Setup screen. |
MESSAGE WEEKDAYS | yes/no X 7 | For each day of the week, indicate whether the delivery schedule message should print for this delivery schedule. |
MESSAGE LABEL | open (20) | Bundle top messages contain headers. Enter the header for this delivery schedule message—for example, “SUNDAY-ONLY”. This field cannot be left blank. |
MESSAGE TEXT | open (60) | Enter the text of the message here—for example, “Sunday-only subscriber”. |
Select Accept to enter the delivery schedule message into the database.
Select Exit to exit to the Delivery Schedule Setup screen.
Specifics, Label Group Delivery Schedule:
This specific allows you to specify the label groups with which the delivery schedule can be used. When entering transactions such as new starts, only the delivery schedules that are valid for the entered label group will be available for selection.
To link a delivery schedule to a label group:
Select Specifics | Label Group Deliv Sched to display the Label Group Delivery Schedule Setup screen.
Select Add and complete the following fields.
Field Type What to enter PRODUCT
display
The product is displayed.
DELIVERY SCHEDULE
display
The delivery schedule is displayed.
LABEL GROUP
setup
Enter a label group for which this delivery schedule is valid.
START DATE, END DATE
date
Enter the date range during which this delivery schedule is valid for the label group.
Select Accept to accept the label group/delivery schedule link.
Link other label groups with this delivery schedule, or press F4 and select Exit to return to the Delivery Schedule Setup screen.
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