Time Customer Service Inc., Tampa, FL, a Time Warner company, said yesterday that the U.S. Postal Service certified it as a non-exclusive full-service provider of NCOALink.
On Oct. 1, NCOALink replaces the National Change of Address and FASTforward mailing list correction products. The NCOA and FASTforward products let mailers comply with the postal service's Move Update requirement to qualify for First-Class mail automation and presort discounts.
NCOALink will release address information in a format that is a mathematical, 11-digit representation of the new address. The USPS has said this will provide licensees access to sensitive address data in a more convenient, secure format while reducing USPS oversight. The USPS also said NCOALink will let it expand its distribution of NCOA data, which will improve address quality and reduce the amount of undeliverable-as-addressed mail.
The week of Sept. 20 will be the last time NCOA data is provided to licensees, and Sept. 30 will be the final date for the use of current NCOA data.
The postal service will license the product in three categories: full-service providers, limited-service providers and end-user mailers. Full-service providers receive the full 48-month data while limited-service providers get an 18-month data set.
Time Customer Service also said that on Oct. 1 it will offer Auto-Move, an automated process that lets clients submit files for “on-demand” NCOALink processing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
