The text is a detailed walkthrough of the process of processing mail in the United States, specifically focusing on the handling of letters with poor handwriting or damaged envelopes.
The process begins with the sender placing a letter in a post box. The letter is then transported to the nearest processing center, where cameras and computers take a picture of the front of the envelope. The address is then read using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. If the OCR technology fails to read the address, the picture of the envelope is sent to a remote encoding center in Salt Lake City, Utah, where human keyers attempt to decipher the address.
The keyers use a specialized keyboard designed to speed up the process. They follow a specific set of rules to key in the address, such as the "three plus one rule", which means typing in the first three characters of the first word in the city name, the first character of the second word, and the two-character state or territory abbreviation.
If the keyer can't decipher the address, the machine at the plant sends it to a reject bin. If the mail can't be sorted manually, it is either returned to the sender or sent to the mail recovery center.
The process is designed to be fast, with the goal of keying in 7150 keystrokes per hour. The keyers are tested on their speed and ability to keep up with the pace. The text ends with the speaker expressing their impressions of the keyers' performance.
1. Almost all the letters sent in the United States are processed automatically.
2. When a letter is put in a post box, it's taken to the closest processing center.
3. Cameras and computers at the processing center take a picture of the front of the envelope.
4. The address on the envelope is read using optical character recognition (OCR).
5. If the OCR technology can't read the handwriting, the letter is passed on to the right truck or plane.
6. If the handwriting is really bad or the envelope got a bit damp and the ink blurred, the postal service sends the picture of the envelope to the remote encoding center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
7. The job of the folks at the remote encoding center is to turn scroll and blurred ink into actual addresses.
8. In 1997, there were 55 remote encoding centers open, and they keyed 19 billion images.
9. In 2021, as the last wreck remaining, they only keyed 1.2 billion images.
10. The remote encoding center has about 810 employees.
11. If a piece of mail can't be read by the machine, one of the keyers will type in the missing information, and the information goes right back to the plant.
12. The keying process is a small extract of what's on the letter and then it compares it to the known good addresses in the database.
13. If the piece matches a couple of good addresses, then the keyer will get a list and choose out of that list which is the address they're trying for.
14. The keying process is much faster than typing out the entire address.
15. If a piece of mail isn't keyed in 90 seconds and the information isn't returned to the machine, it dumps it off into a reject bin.
16. The letters are run through the machine one time, stored off to the side, and a few hours later, they are put in the machine the second time.
17. The OCR technology that reads the letters is really good, with nearly 99% of letters being read today.
18. The job of keying the letters is getting harder because pieces are harder to read.
19. The machine at the plant sends unreadable pieces to the reject bin, and then somebody will manually handle it.
20. If the unreadable piece can't be deciphered, it will either get returned to the sender or go to the mail recovery center.