New Hampshire Mailing Services FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
General Information
- How many names do I need to do a mailing?
- For presorted standard (bulk), including Non Profit, you need 200 pieces. For presorted first class you need to have 500.
- What are our postage payment options?
- Postage can be applied to the Mailpiece in three ways: Permit Imprint (Indicia), Meter or Stamp.
- If I want to use your indicia, what should it look like?
- Can I use my own indicia and have you deliver it to the Post Office?
- Yes, we deliver mail to the Manchester and Concord Post Offices daily at no extra cost but can deliver to other Post offices for a nominal fee.
- How fast can you get a mailing done?
- Most mailings can be completed within three or four business days after everything is at our facility.
- Do you provide printing services?
- We have partnered up with local print vendors to provide a seamless process between printing and mailing.
- How big can a postcard be?
- Postcards can be as big as 4 ¼” x 6”. Only first class mail has a postage rate for postcards. In standard mail a 4 ¼” x 6” card or a 5 ½” x 8 ½” card mail at the same postage rate. For more information, visit the USPS Website.
- Why is a 6 ½” x 9” envelope more in postage than a 6” x 9” envelope?
- The maximum height for a letter size piece is 6 1/8”. An envelope 6 ½” becomes a flat size piece and costs more in postage. For more information, visit the USPS Website.
- What do I need to know when designing a flat size mailer like a catalog?
- For first class mail there are few restrictions except the size requirements for all flats,
| Minimum* | Maximum |
| Length | 11-1/2 inches | 15 inches |
| Height | 6-1/8 inches | 12 inches |
| Thickness | 1/4 inch | 3/4 inch |
Presorted Standard mail has additional requirement as to where the address can be on the Mailpiece. If you are designing a flat self mailer the spine or final fold must be on the right when looking at the address and the address must be in the upper half of the Mailpiece. For more information, see the Commercial Flat Size document
- Do you provide fulfillment services?
- Yes. Please call for more information.
- What do MLOCR, NCOA, PAF, CASS and IMB mean?
- MLOCR (Multi-Line Optical Character Reader) - This is a computer and camera system that captures address information so a barcode can be printed on the Mailpiece.
NCOA (National Change of Address) - This database is maintained by the Post Office and contains up to 4 years of change of address information.
PAF (Processing Acknowledgement Form) - This form needs to be completed once a year to use NCOA.
CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) - This software checks the deliverability of your addresses.
IMB (Intelligent Mail Barcode) - A barcode used by the USPS for tracking and special services.
- What is Move Update compliance?
- To reduce the number of undeliverable addresses the USPS requires that an address be updated within 95 days of it being mailed. Move update does not apply to mailings paying full first class postage or to periodicals.
- What are my options for complying with move update?
- Using an Ancillary Endorsement will make an address compliant for the next 95 days. Using NCOA before mailing or adding “Current Occupant or” to the address block will make an address compliant.
INSERTING
- Can you insert any type of envelope?
- Commercial envelopes without a pointed flap as small as a #7 up to a 9” x 12” Booklet envelope can be inserted by machine.
Envelopes with a pointed flap like Baronial style envelopes, Announcement envelopes with large rectangular flaps, or Catalog envelopes, with the flap on the short side, need to be inserted by hand.
- How many inserts can go in an envelope?
- Up to 6 pieces can be machine inserted.
OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
- How many pieces of mail do I need to use your MLOCR service?
- An average of 200 pieces daily.
- How does your MLOCR service work?
- This process takes advantage of the volume discounts that the USPS provides. One company on its own may not be able to qualify for the discounts but by commingling mail from many companies everyone gets the opportunity for savings. NH Mailing will pick up your mail and deliver it to our facility in Concord NH. In nearly all cases your mail is delivered to the Post Office the same day we pick it up.
FOLDING
- Can I send a printed piece to you to be folded?
- Yes, our Stahl folder can handle sheets up to 17” x 22”.
- Can you fold at right angles?
INKJETTING
- Can you print True Type fonts?
- Can you print UPC and other barcodes?
- Yes, we can print UPC, 3 of 9, 2 of 5 and others. If you have a need for a specific barcode please contact us.
- Can you print images?
- Yes, we can print black bitmapped images.
- Can you print the indicia on a Mailpiece?
- Can you print my return address on the Mailpiece?
- Do you have to put on a barcode?
- You do not need to put on a barcode to get postage discounts. But using a barcode will speed up the delivery of your mail and if there is not one on it the Post Office will put one on themselves.
DATA PROCESSING
- Do you provide mailing lists?
- We do not maintain any consumer or business lists but we do have access to large databases were individuals or businesses that fit your criteria can be pulled from.
- How do I get my data files to you?
- Most files can be emailed to us or large files can be sent to our ftp site. We can also pull data from your ftp or secure email.
- What format can my data files be in?
- We can take data in delimited or fixed length text files (.txt), Comma Separated Value (.csv), Dbase (.dbf), Excel (.xls, .xlsx) or Access (.mdb).
- Are you able to find duplicate records?
- Yes. We can do an exact name match, match by household or match by address.
- Can you determine which addresses are undeliverable?
- Using CASS and NCOA we can help you determine which addresses may not get delivered as addressed.
- Will NCOA tell me who lives at a certain address?
- No, NCOA matches names with people who have moved. The Post Office does not provide name to match with addresses.
- I have an old database how far back can you go to find people’s new addresses?
- Our standard NCOA look up is for the last 18 months but it is possible to go back 48 months with NCOA.
- I have an old database how far back can you go to find people’s new addresses?
- Our standard NCOA look up is for the last 18 months but it is possible to go back 48 months with NCOA.
- My names in the database are Last, First can you make them First Last?
- We can split the name into individual components and reorder them or extract the first name to use in a salutation.
- Some of the addresses are in UPPERCASE and others in Mixed Case can you make them all Mixed Case?
- We can make your addresses all UPPERCASE or all Mixed Case.
- Can you combine list with different layouts and formats?
- Yes, we can combine lists and give them a uniform layout and format.
- Is it ok if the city state and zipcode are in the same field?
- We can split apart the city, state and zipcode.
