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Looking for Virtual Mailbox Services
Features and functionalities of virtual mailbox services: Top considerations when choosing a virtual mailbox service are the physical address options the company offers, whether you need a local or international address, access to your incoming mail via mobile app, whether the service includes check deposits, how long the firm stores your physical mail and digital mail scans, and the fees charged for exceeding your plan’s caps on incoming mail. You will also want to consider if there will be additional costs for mail content scans, adding mail recipients, letter and package storage beyond the free-storage period, shredding, shipping, and packaging. Some plans include these features but many offer them as add-on services.
Virtual mailbox services typically convert mail scans into PDFs that you access via your online account. They may also let you integrate your incoming mail with productivity tools, CRMs, project management software, accounting tools, and other business systems. The services forward your physical mail – letters and packages – to the address of your choice, and offer secure disposal of your mail, including shredding and recycling.
Availability of customer support and service quality: All the virtual mailbox services in our round-up except IPostal1 and BusinessAnywhere provide searchable knowledge bases that help their customers find answers to their questions and solutions to problems. They all offer FAQs and support via chat, web form, and email, usually during extended business hours on Monday to Friday. Telephone support is available from US Global Mail, Earth Class Mail, IPostal1, Anytime Mailbox, PhysicalAddress.com, and PostScan Mail, the latter two firms extending telephone support to limited weekend hours.
A primary consideration in choosing a virtual mailbox service is the time required to scan your incoming messages and upload the images to your account. Some vendors promise to post your mail to your account within one business day, but a more typical time frame for mail uploads is within three business days. The services typically send you a notification via email or text when new mail is ready to be viewed.
Security measures and privacy policies of virtual mailbox services: One of the greatest benefits of virtual mail services for many individuals and businesses is the ability to safeguard your mail and packages once they’ve been delivered. Digitizing your mail helps protect your private information by storing the information on secure cloud servers and enforcing strict security and access controls, including data encryption and two-factor authentication. Most of the services require your explicit permission before opening and scanning the contents of your mail. They also ensure that your mail is securely shredded and recycled or otherwise safely disposed of. Most virtual mail facilities are protected by 24/7 surveillance, and the companies perform background checks on new hires.
While most virtual mailbox services operate their own facilities for mail processing and storage, some outsource their mail-handling operations to third parties, such as UPS Stores and FedEx Stores. The safest virtual addresses are usually at the vendor’s primary hub, which also facilitates picking up your mail and packages if you happen to live nearby. The security of the services can be boosted by tracking and auditing mail processing, such as with Earth Class Mail’s use of barcodes to create an audit trail for all received mail.
Additional services or benefits offered by virtual mailbox services: One useful add-on service available from many virtual mailbox services is check deposits, which are offered by Earth Class Mail, IPostal1, US Global Mail, and some Anytime Mailbox locations. The services also forward your mail and packages to your choice of address, often with shipping discounts. For example, IPostal1 provides discounts of 40% to 50% on international shipping, and US Global Mail’s shipping rates are discounted up to 60% with its Basic plan, and as much as 80% with its Plus and Business Plans.
In addition to virtual mailbox services, IPostal1 sells several virtual office packages that combine a virtual mailbox with international and domestic phone and fax services. Other add-on features of virtual mailbox services include multiple addresses, extended mail and package storage, and integrations with online storage services and other business processes. BusinessAnywhere also sells registered agent services, business registrations, and online notary services.
Contract terms and cancellation policies of virtual mailbox services: While none of the virtual mailbox vendors on our list offer free trials, PostScan Mail, PhysicalAddress.com, and Anytime Mailbox provide 30-day money-back guarantees. PhysicalAddress.com also lets you cancel your service at any time because its plans require no contracts. However, IPostal1’s 30-day money-back guarantee applies only if you haven’t used the service to receive any mail or for any other purpose. Similarly, BusinessAnywhere’s terms of service state that the company offers no refunds, and cancellation of services takes effect at the end of the current contract period. US Global Mail’s terms also state that prepayments are non-refundable.
PostScan Mail’s refund policy returns funds remaining in your account balance within 45 days of closing the account, except when service is terminated due to misuse, such as spamming or fraud. Refund requests received more than 120 hours after you create the account, or after you’ve received mail to the account, will cover the account balance, but not monthly fees or activation fees. Earth Class Mail charges a $50 cancellation fee when cancelling within six months of active use, unless you close the account at the end of the current billing cycle.
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