Move Update Integration
As people and businesses move, mailing lists quickly become out of date. To receive First-Class Mail® automation discounts,
the USPS requires that lists undergo an approved Move Update process within six months of a mailing. (This requirement is
eventually expected to extend to Periodical and Standard Mail® shipments, as well.)
Regardless of USPS® requirements, periodic list-updating makes sense: without it, mail addressed to an old address will
be delayed at best and wasted at worst. Change of Address (COA) processing is an integral part of any modern mailing process;
your software should provide flexible and seamless Move Update capabilities.
Recently, proactive processes that update addresses prior to mailing went through a transition phase. The two longtime
methods, National Change of Address (NCOA) and
FASTforward, compare addresses
against the USPS NCOA database: lists are sent to a licensee, who updates them with COA information and returns the lists to
their owner. The main difference between the two is that NCOA accesses the last four years of COA data, compared to the last 13
months available through FASTforward.
These services were replaced by NCOALink™, a new USPS product now available that promises greater access
and improved data security and overall results. (NCOA was no longer offered after September 30, 2004, and
FASTforward service followed suit exactly one year later.) See the following page for more information.
Other methods include the USPS Address Change Service (ACS™) or certain special endorsements on the mailpiece.
In the semi-automated ACS process, special information on the mailing label is captured electronically by USPS scanners; if
an addressee is no longer at a given address, mailers receive a hard-copy or electronic file that includes the new address,
if available. Mailers must apply to use ACS, and charges for the service are based on how many addresses require updating.
Delivery may be delayed with this system.
Using special endorsements is a manual process for mailers and the USPS. If an addressee has moved or is no longer at an
address, the piece is either forwarded or returned to the sender (depending on the endorsement used), and mailers receive
new address data (or the reason for non-delivery, if COA information is unavailable). Mailers may be charged for forwarded
or returned pieces. Further, in order to meet
First-Class™ Move Update requirements, mailers must manually update the original
mailing list with the move information and remove any records that cannot be forwarded.
Mail Manager 2010 supports all USPS-approved Move Update methods. One click of an onscreen button grants access to BCC MOVE
Update services, a time-saving feature that provides this required list updating processes — along with other
list-enhancing BCC Data Services — with minimum downtime and cost. Alternately, labels can include required ACS
Participant Code and Keyline information: if you elect to receive updated address data from the USPS in electronic form,
Mail Manager 2010 will even process the file and update the original records for you.
Mailers with high address-updating demands often choose to add one of BCC’s MOVE Manager options, USPS-approved
software interfaces that allow Mail Manager 2010 users to perform their own in-house Move Update processing.
NCOALink: The Future of Move Update Processing
New to mailers is NCOALink, the next-generation USPS technology product that, like NCOA and FASTforward, updates mailing-list
data with COA information for improved mailpiece deliverability. BCC Software was one of two companies to be first certified
by the Postal Service as developers of this technology, and thus to offer products “powered” by NCOALink.
BCC now offers NCOALink in two different ways: as the foundation technology in Mail Manager 2010’s MOVE Manager premium
options (for in-house, on-demand address-updating), and as one of our popular and value-added BCC MOVE Update services
(delivering fast, efficient COA processing at minimal upfront cost). For the latest information about this new technology,
including rates, call BCC Data Services at (800) 337-0372.
Effective October 1, 2005, the United States Postal Service
discontinued its FASTforward Mailing List Correction service.
Instead, BCC offers NCOALink Limited Service Provider (LSP) and NCOALink Full Service Provider (FSP),
these next-generation USPS address-updating technologies offer
improved matching results, greater reach back into the USPS COA
database, and faster turnarounds. Visit our NCOALink page for
more information.
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