Using Our NCOA Services

-> 1. Fast-Track's web services include a direct HTTP customer account folder system for files up to 3 MB. These account folders are maintained on our web server computer. For larger files, we maintain an SFTP/SSL server, which connect users to ancillary customer account folders installed on our office server computer. These two file uploading and downloading systems are maintained at no additional charge for the convenience of customers both for Fast-Track Listmail NCOA mailing list move updates and other list services, and/or for Fast-Track Data mailing lists.

-> 2. In order to utilize our web services, either for Fast-Track Listmail or Fast-Track Data, click on the link at the bottom of this paragraph, either to sign up for a new account or to sign in if you already have an account. We need the account information both for billing purposes; and if you are using our Fast-Track Listmail NCOA mailing list move update services, we must register for you a USPS-mandated Processor Acknowledgment Form (PAF). Your account enables you to upload and download your data files to and from your folder each time you send us a job order. Sign in or create an account.

-> 3. At the sign-in information screen, click on "Credit Card Form". For your security, we keep no credit/debit card account numbers and related information on our computer system. Instead, after you enter that information, it is sent to us as an email which we print and keep in a non-computerized file. If we are to do regular change of address update jobs for you, please provide us fresh payment card information whenever the account number, expiration date or other credit/debit account information changes.

-> 4. Make sure your list or lists include at least the following data: name (either full name in fname +initial + lname format such as "John A Smith", or parsed names in separate fields or columns); address, city, state, zip, even if your list has other names for these fields. All street addresses should be in a single data field, but if unit or suite information is in a separate field, we can concatenate that to the street address field. Our program also can simultaneously process personal and business or organizational names. These fields must be fully and correctly populated with data, or the matching process will not work correctly. You can leave other data fields where they are; they will pass into the output file. Our software can read in DBF (data base) or CSV (comma-separated values).

-> 5. We can also read system-delimited TXT files, for which you must supply us a file layout. We return finished files in both DBF and CSV format, and with special arrangements, we can return files in other formats such as TXT. If you send us files in CSV format which originated as Excel or Access files, make certain that all five of process-specific fields (name, street address, city, state and zip), are character data, rather than numeric data. This is especially important for zipcodes, some of which have a leading zero, which, if stripped off, renders the zipcode for that record meaningless.

-> 6. If you are processing a number of small files each day, each with the same file format, you can assemble a number of small files into a single file, in order to save money on job setup and minimum file charges. Just make sure you have each record coded in order to identify its source file. We return all records, and we do not change the order of your records, so you will be able to resplit the file. The data in your original files must all be in similar format in order to combine such files.

-> 7. Upload your file to our site, using our built-in uploading form. We do not require a separate job order for each job once you set up an account folder and have provided us credit/debit card information or other means of payment for our services.

-> 8. You will receive an automated email indicating your job is complete. At that time, go into your account folder and download your finished file bundle with its job-related attachments.

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