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News and Information about NCOALink™ The success of the NCOALink™ process is heavily dependent on the accuracy and format of the Name and Address information contained on the Client file submitted for processing. NCOALink uses very strict matching algorithms with the objective of insuring that all “matches” to the COA database are accurate. The Postal Service™ would prefer that we fail to make a valid match rather than matching to the wrong record and incorrectly changing an address. The success of the NCOALink process is heavily dependent on the completeness, accuracy and format of the input file. Be sure to provide an accurate file layout. A quality file with accurate and complete name and address information will yield the greatest number of NCOALink hits. The U.S. Postal Service® would prefer that we fail to make a match rather than make an invalid one and misdirect your mail piece. They conduct regular audits of all Licensees to monitor the accuracy of the matching process. The Licensee must run Audit files through the NCOALink process and return the results to the Postal Service™ within 24 hours. The USPS® staff scores the audit results and if the Licensee makes even a single incorrect match they can fail the audit. The audit procedures ensure that the software being used by the Licensee conforms to the accuracy standards set out by the Postal Service™. At least once every two years, representatives of the Postal Service™ will arrive at the License location to audit license compliance. In part, they verify that we have all Processing Acknowledgement Forms (PAF) and other documentation required by our License Agreement. The point is that the logic used in matching the Client file to the NCOALink database is fairly strict and requires that both the Client and the NCOALink data be as complete and as accurate as possible. Virtually all Name and Address data should be present and properly identified in order to insure the best possible results. Here are some helpful documents to help you with NCOALink™ processing: File Prep Guidelines NCOALink™ Return Codes Identifying Multi and Single-Family Dwelling Units Using NCOALink™ and DSF-2 The TCS Link Newsletter Fall '05 PDF (496k) Winter '05 PDF (367k) Summer '06 PDF (768k) Winter '06 PDF (392k) You will need Adobe's Acrobat Reader to open and print the PDF files. It can be downloaded here.
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The following trademarks are owned by the United States Postal Service®: United States Postal Service, USPS, U.S. Postal Service, Postal Service, NCOALink, |
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