News Letter

Save $$$$ By Automating Your Mail

Sample Postage Permits

Postage Cost

Address Endorsements

National Change of Address

International Mailings

Mail Solutions Home Page

N C O A

    National Change of Address

NCOA is the only service that can provide address changes before you mail.  By submitting your list to us we can submit your list to a licensed vendor who compares addresses on your list to the national database of address changes.  The national database contains 3 years of address changes and links people or companies who have moved and changes the old address to the most current address.

COST:

        $6.50 per 1000 records ($65.00 minimum)
        $5.00 per 1000 records for files over 50,000

TIME:

        1 day

FILE REQUIREMENTS:

    PC Formats:

    ASCII or text file format

    EXCEL

    ACCESS
    DBF format
    Label-Image text format

    AND MANY OTHERS
    Pkzip files acceptable
    Transfer file to us via EMAIL

    MAC Format: (IF ON FLOPPY DISK)

    Text format, on High Density Diskette

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:  

1. Files where first name and last names are in one field will be split into 2 fields.

2. City, State, and Zip codes will be split into 3 fields.

3. International records will be ignored and left unchanged.

4. Along with CASS certification, address formats will be standardized.

Will you be able to re-import the new file back into your software program?

    You cannot update or change your file while it is "out" for NCOA unless you are able to overlay records when the file returns.   If you are not able to overlay the changed records, you must wait for the file to return before you can make any modifications to it.  Many point-of-sale programs do not allow for this "down time" and are not capable of overlaying changed records.  In cases where you cannot be "down" for several days, or where you cannot re-import the new file, you will need to get a hard copy of the captured move updates and manually update your file. 

What else do you get?

When your file is returned from NCOA, a code filed will have been added.  the codes denote whether the record was updated from an individual move, a business move or a family move.  There are also codes to note records which were close matches, but not close enough to allow a change to be made to your file.  These records are called "nixies".  Nixies occur when there is a spelling difference in a name or company name, or when exact addresses cannot be matched (a typo in the street address).  Other codes note moves without forwarding addresses and people or companies which have moved out of the country.  All these codes arm you with information you can use to update your mailing list.