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Intelligent Mail Barcode Scanner SDK

The Scanbot Intelligent Mail Barcode Scanner SDK lets you integrate fast barcode scanning into your mobile app in no time. Use any iOS, Android, or Windows device as a flexible scanning tool. It’s fast, accurate, and cost-effective!

Intelligent Mail Barcode

Definition

The Intelligent Mail barcode, or IMb, is a barcode symbology used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) for sorting and tracking letters and flats. It combines the capability of POSTNET and PLANET Code in a single barcode while offering more data capacity, containing both routing and tracking information.

Characteristics of the Intelligent Mail barcode

The USPS Intelligent Mail barcode consists of 65 vertical bars that can be assigned to four types: Full bar, ascender, descender, and tracker. 

Thanks to its tracking code of 20 digits and its routing code of 11 digits, the IMb can encode up to 31 digits of mail piece data. Those include the following components: 

  • Barcode Identifier
  • Service Type Identifier (3 digits)
  • Mailer ID (6 or 9 digits)
  • Serial Number (6 or 9 digits)
  • Delivery Point ZIP Code

Application

USPS uses the Intelligent Mail barcode to sort and track mail pieces through the postal system in the U.S., improving mail flow monitoring and visibility throughout the post chain for both mailers and recipients. USPS made its use mandatory on letters and flats that are supposed to qualify for automation prices.

USPS Intelligent Mail Barcode Reader

USPS Intelligent Mail barcodes usually cannot be scanned with traditional barcode scanners. This is due to a combination of factors: IMb is a height-modulated barcode, while traditional barcode scanners use a barcode’s width to read the encoded data. Also, traditional barcode scanners cannot read USPS’s specialized encoding system. 

Purpose-built barcode scanners and mobile devices can be used as a solution. Intelligent Mail barcode reader apps can be built with modern software, leveraging even regular smartphones into powerful Intelligent Mail barcode readers.

Read even USPS Intelligent Mail barcodes with the Scanbot Intelligent Mail Barcode Scanner SDK

Using the Intelligent Mail Barcode Scanner SDK, you can…

  • Extract even specialized barcodes – like the IMb – with smartphones
  • Turn modern smartphones into sophisticated multi-tools
  • Cut time-to-value – implemented in one week
  • Enable flexible barcode scanning on the go and on the road – no network connection required

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