Data Services

Quicksilver Data Services can help you control and direct your data. These services include standardizing addresses for postage discounts; merging multiple lists and removal of duplicate addresses; file conversion; data input; application development and database management. Quicksilver is also a gateway for the United States Postal Services data products and services.
 

NCOA^Link

National Change of Address (NCOA) is a database owned and updated by the United States Postal Service (USPS), containing approximately 160 Million permanent change of address records filed with the USPS over the last 48 months.

Prior to mailing, companies can have their list(s) matched against the USPS NCOA Database to identify individuals, families, and businesses that:

• Have moved and completed the USPS change of address form.
• Have moved without providing a change of address form to the USPS
• Have addresses that almost match the NCOA database.

NCOA^Link has two service levels:

1. NCOA^Link LSP (Limited Service Provider) This service offers same day processing, 3 to 4 hour turnaround. It matches your list to the most recent 18 months of NCOA data and provides an indicator (called ANKLink) if an address may have matched to the full service database.
2. NCOA^Link FSP (Full Service Provider) This service offers next day processing. In by 5pm EST back by 8am the next day. It matches your list to the whole 48 months of NCOA data.
    

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Walk Sequence - DSF Processing

DSF stands for “delivery sequence file”. Matching your mailing list to the U.S. Postal service’s DSF file is required for your mail to qualify for standard class/non-profit high-density and saturation carrier route rates. Matching to the DSF file allows your addresses to be sorted by the mail carriers walking sequence.

In addition, DSF processing also provides delivery point validation (DPV). The United States Postal Service’s DSF electronic database, containing every deliverable address in the country, helps keep mailing lists current by identifying deliverable addresses and specific address attributes. With more than 135 million addresses currently on file, it is the most complete address database available, and offers detail that allows validation for both correctness and completeness of addresses. If records cannot be matched with DSF, they are probably undeliverable.

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Suppression Services - Better List Targeting, for Better Mailing Results

To ensure maximum mailing potency and minimum mail piece waste, every edge counts. Don't stop at updating your addresses with change of address data: Quicksilver’s Suppression Services take list enhancement an important step further.

These services help you reach the optimal audience for any mailing, by flagging addresses that matches key criteria. By knowing which addresses to hold back from a mailing, you'll improve per-piece response rates, cut back on production overages, and improve your overall profitability.

BCC’s Suppression Suite includes:

• Mail Preference Service (MPS) -  Managed by the Direct Marketing Association, this list includes people who have opted not to receive advertising mail.
• Deceased Master File Suppression - Flags addresses whose primary residents have died, based on a data file reaching back nearly 20 years.
• Prison Suppression - Compares list data against a national directory of addresses identified as prisons.
• Pander Files - Uses written requests from outside organizations to have a name and address removed from mailing lists.
• Business/Shopping Center Addresses - Compiled from regional White Pages listings.
• College Addresses - Compares addresses in your lists to a database of approximately 220 ZIP Codes™ assigned to colleges or universities.
• Military ZIP Codes - Flags addresses featuring ZIP Codes corresponding to military installations.
• Nursing Homes - Matches addresses against those that have been identified as nursing homes.
• Relative Input of Another’s Death - Similar to Deceased Master File, but consisting of written do-not-mail notifications from a relative of a deceased person.
• Retirement Homes - Similar to Nursing Home Suppression, this service isolates addresses that have been identified as retirement homes.
• Trailer Park - Flags mobile home/trailer park addresses.
   

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Residential/Business Delivery Indicator

Unlike the USPS, some shipping companies charge a higher price for delivery to a residence. The Residential/Business Delivery Indicator service option with Quicksilver Mailing Services helps you take control of your data — quickly and easily — to get the postal discounts you deserve.

Designed and certified by the USPS, RDI is smart — as a package shipping tool, and a business choice. Cross-referencing against the most up-to-date USPS data, it flags residential addresses that can cost you extra, depending on your shipper. Keeping “work” and “home” separate helps you make informed carrier choices, for maximum economy and effectiveness.

Better manage your list data, streamline your mailings, and enjoy reduced overall costs. RDI with Quicksilver Mailing Services makes it possible.

What are the benefits of using RDI?

• Reduce residential delivery surcharges by validating delivery type.
• Provide analysis of parcel shipping patterns and costs.
• Reducing returns due to incorrect addresses by using RDI in conjunction with CASS software.
• Enhancing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) by demonstrating efficient and accurate shipping practices.
• Identifying shipping patterns to improve operational efficiency.
• Providing online rate-shopping services for others.
   

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Address Conversion LACS^Link Processing

The United States Postal Service’s LACS^Link database checks address lists against areas that have undergone permanent address conversions. The LACS^Link database consists of address changes, obtained and verified by the USPS, that have been made primarily to enhance Emergency 911 system response in local areas. These permanent address conversions typically involve the renumbering and renaming of existing city-style addresses or the changing of Rural Route and Highway Contract addresses to city-style addresses, to increase the speed of potential emergency response.

The LACS^Link database holds approximately five million records, and continues to grow with monthly file replacements from the USPS National Customer Support Center in Memphis, TN.

Input address information provided by a mailer to the LACS^Link licensee is first standardized according to postal requirements outlined in Pub 28 (Postal Addressing Standards). Then an attempt is made to match the address against the LACS^Link file. If a match is made with the old address information on the LACS^Link file a permanent new address conversion is provided.

LACS^Link benefits include:

• Reducing undeliverable mail by providing the most current address information for matches made to the LACS^Link file
• Preventing the need for duplicate mail pieces or re-mailings after address corrections are received (because the address correction is applied prior to the mailing)
• Lowering mailer costs by reducing the number of undeliverable and/or duplicate mail pieces by using the most current address information
• Providing the opportunity for faster product/service marketing through accurate mail delivery
   

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