NCOA - 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
$.005 per record ($10.00 minimum)
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
- Files where first name and last names are in one field will be split into 2 fields.
- City, State, and Zip codes will be split into 3 fields.
- International records will be ignored and left unchanged.
- 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.