[ic] Re: 2007 UPS Rates will not be available on the web

[Jon Jensen]

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007, Norton, Gary wrote:

>> Thank you for your request. Unfortunately I am not able to send you the 
>> requested information through email. However, it is avail for you to 
>> download on www.worldship.ups.com. Or, if you would prefer, we can 
>> order a copy for you. I sincerely apologize for the late response.
>>
>> If we may assist you in the future, please don~Rt hesitate to contact 
>> us.
>>
>> Bethany Satterfield
>> UPS Preferred Customer Team
>> 1-800-377-4877
>> pcateam5501 at ups.com
>
> I looked at the Worldship application and the files they mentioned are 
> not there. It seemed to be a separate application with ODBC integration. 
> Is anyone familiar with it, and is that the direction we need to go for 
> future integration?

WorldShip is UPS's Windows client application for weighing packages, 
scanning barcodes, and sending them batch shipment information. It 
integrates with external databases via ODBC and can fetch shipment 
information and send tracking numbers back to the database.

We've integrated it with PostgreSQL for a couple of our clients, and it's 
fairly straightforward. We use views and a separate database user to 
control what it can see and change, and to have it automatically change 
the status of orders from "shipping" to "shipped" when the user finishes a 
batch in WorldShip. It works fine, but I'd prefer not integrating with a 
Windows application.

WorldShip is not new, and I've seen no indication it's going to replace 
other options. If anything, I think UPS probably wants to steer people to 
its web services/XML integration options. They probably aren't excited 
about handing out rate files anymore since it makes it harder for them to 
change things, and know who's using them. I'd guess that the customer 
service person who wrote to you didn't even know the old-style rate files 
still exist.

Jon

--
Jon Jensen
End Point Corporation
http://www.endpoint.com/