In order to submit a mailing to the USPS and pay discounted postage rates certain mandatory USPS database processing steps need to be completed:
- CASS certification-basically this adds ZIP+4, carrier route, diagnostic data to help decide if an address is mailable, and standardize address information. We CASS certify all databases in-house.
- Move Update-the USPS wants to significantly reduce the amount of undeliverable mail so they devised an integrated plan of:
- endorsements on the mail to capture changes of address once they occur for some customers
- electronic updates that occur when old addresses are detected on the processing equipment
- Adding "Or Current Resident" at the end of each name in your mailing list
- pre-processing of database between mail is addressed. Most mailers elect to have their mailing service send their databases out for National Change of Address (NCOA) processing.
Most customers and mailing service providers select NCOA processing at the start of a mailing. We run NCOA processing with a 48 month check back for old addresses on almost all customer databases.
There are a number of optional processing available for mailing databases
- Walk sequencing-databases with a dense concentration in postal carrier routes can benefit from presorting the mail into the exact order the postal carrier delivers it. This can save up to $0.06 each in postage for PRSRT STD mail but involves an additional step. We have proprietary software to calculate your exact savings in Walk Sequencing so you don't have to pay for an unneeded step. We can process most walk sequencing same day.
- Address Resolution Service (ARS)-this helps correct some records deemed unmailable by CASS into mailable records
- Deceased Processing-compares your database against the Social Security Death List to determine deceased records