SmartMover V3:FAQ

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How to get started with Smartmover

Change of Address data is licensed directly from the USPS© or CanadaPost agencies and we are required to keep track of all users. To that end, to begin processing, the individual or organization that will be using the service must have a processing form filled out:

• US - Users for US change of address must fill out a Processing Acknowledgement Form (PAF).
• CA - Users for CA change of address must fill out a processing form. This form requires the Term of User ID (TOUID) that is assigned by CanadaPost.

Your CSR will provide you with the forms you need to fill out. After the form is filled out, your CSR will enable the Smartmover service and assign you a license key to use. Once you get the license key, you can go ahead and start processing!

What are the requirements to use NCOA data through Smartmover?

The expressly stated sole purpose of the NCOA™ data is to update your mailing list before you send a mailing. As such, the requirements for end users are:

• The data is to be used to update mailing lists of at least 100 unique names and addresses.
• The NCOA data is to be used for mailing and not for other purposes.

What is the difference between JobID, ExecutionID and PAFID?

JobID (Used by Everyone)

This indicates the mailing list you are processing. With JobID, you can process records from different lists at the same time without co-mingling your reports. *Important* Do not put a GUID or unique identifier in here. That will make your account look like you are processing thousands to hundreds of thousands of separate lists, which is a big red flag during USPS audits.

ExecutionID (For high volume multi-thread users)

ExecutionID are for high volume users who send a lot of concurrent requests. In some situations, it is possible that a request will take a bit longer than usual. The client might time out that request and resend the same one. However, the Melissa server will still finish processing the first one and then process the same request again. This can result in the same records being duplicated in the counts for the NCOA or CCOA reports. An executionID tagged to each individual processing thread will allow us to hash the input and prevent double counts.

PAFID (Only for Brokers)

If you are a broker with sub-clients, you can use this field to identify your end users.

Why am I getting result codes indicating that move has occurred but the address is not updated?

Not all declared moves will be accompanied with an address. The USPS can sometimes confirm someone did in fact move from a particular location but there are some cases where they do not have the new address. In this case the records that return a “1” in the move return code field are foreign moves. The USPS contains no addresses outside the United States as the NCOA file is strictly national. Other countries also work differently in terms of data distribution and postal environments compared with the USA. Here are some examples of codes written back for flagged moves. Some contain moves and others do not based on definition.

Code	Description
A	COA Match - A Business, Individual or Family.
91	COA Match - Secondary Number Dropped from COA.
92	COA Match - Secondary Number Dropped from Input.
01	COA Match - Foreign Move.
02	COA Match - Moved Left No Address.
03	COA Match - PO Box Closed No Forwarding Address.
05	COA Match - A New Address cannot be provided.
14	COA Match - New Address would not convert.
19	Found COA - New Address not ZIP+4 or DPV Confirm.

Why is Smartmover only available as a web service?

Change of Address data is very sensitive as it contains PII data for millions of people. They do not want anyone to try and data mine this information or use it to generate lists. This is why USPS and CanadaPost requires all users to have a form filled out and Melissa undergoes periodic audits from them. We are not allowed to put this data on client machines and must certify all the servers and environments that the data is hosted under.

Can I license the NCOA data directly from USPS?

You are allowed to license the NCOA data directly from the USPS but it is rarely worth the requirements that come along with it.

• Companies who purchase the data for their own internal use can only access 18 months of data. You are required to become a Full Service Provider (which means you must resell the service) in order to access 48 months of data.
• You must undergo testing and certification.
• You will have to pay to license the data at a level likely close to or equal to what you would pay to license Smartmover.

Can I get a new move address if I have just an address input or a name?

No. You must demonstrate that you have a relationship with the individual or organization by providing the name/company as well as their previous address. Only if those pieces match will a new address be provided.

What Speeds can I expect from Smartmover?

There are a number of factors that can affect the speed of your list processing. In general, good addresses are better than bad addresses. Additionally, you can run multiple threads to increase your speed. Lastly, when and where you are processing from will also affect the speed you get. More users will slow the average speed and the travel distance between servers can have a material impact. With all of this said, we expect the following throughput estimates:

• 1-3 threads: 500K-1 million records per hour
• 4-10 threads: 1 million-3 million per hour

If you need higher throughput, please contact Melissa and we will work with you to adjust our available infrastructure as needed.