DocuForward – NCOA service

All documents mailed through DocuSend are processed electronically through the National Change of Address (NCOA) database maintained by the United States Postal Service. There is no charge for this additional service, called DocuForward. Your mail pieces will be updated with the new addresses before being printed and mailed. It’s an automatic mail forwarding process.

In addition, DocuSend uses cleansing software to convert your addresses to USPS formats, fix incorrect ZIP codes, resolve typos in street names, and use fuzzy matching to find the most accurate address possible. Other USPS processes meet postal standards but don't correct the address before it's mailed. You have to wait until it's returned and then correct it for the next mailing. DocuForward’s process is very effective because it corrects your addresses utilizing the NCOA database before sending your mail pieces, and then notifies you to go to your portal (not applicable for HIPAA documents) to review the updated addresses and correct your records in your database.

Why are we adding NCOA (DocuForward) to our mailing process?

Over 40 million individuals, families, and businesses move every year in the United States and register their new addresses with the United States Post Office. DocuForward helps our users keep their databases clean and delivers the following benefits at no additional charge:

Updated databases will diminish undeliverable mail.
Prevents businesses from losing touch with their most loyal customers.
Reduces the expense of processing and resending returned mail.
Decreases delayed payments and helps maintain original net payment terms.
Allows organizations to focus on growth as opposed to trying to reestablish contact with clients who have moved.
Accelerates payments resulting in increased cash flow.

Access this link for more information on NCOA from the USPS. We are excited to offer this DocuForward service to our DocuSend customers as just one more way that we make mailing your important documents more efficient.

Use these steps to access NCOA data for your addresses:

Sign in to your DocuSend portal.
Select the Report tab.
You will see an NCOA column.
It will reflect the number of addresses that were changed by NCOA.
If you select the number under NCOA, it will take you to the detailed list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is NCOA (National Change of Address)?

According to Wikipedia, NCOA is "a secure dataset of approximately 160 million permanent change-of-address (COA) records consisting of the names and addresses of individuals, families and businesses who have filed a change-of-address with the USPS." It is maintained by the United States Postal Service, and access to it is licensed to service providers and made available to mailers.

What is DocuForward?

DocuForward is a service provided by DocuSend to automatically and electronically update your documents with the new recipient mailing address for those addresses that have registered a move with the United States Post Office within the past 48 months. All addresses are run through the NCOA database, and your documents are updated with the new address. Corrected addresses are listed in your portal* so you can access and update your database with the revised addresses. This service replaces the yellow forwarding label that the USPS places on envelopes.

*Not applicable for HIPAA documents