As regular Macworld readers may have sex , I’m a big proponent of the paperless billet ; I even write an due east - book about it , Take Control of Your Paperless Office . Besides eliminating as many sources of incoming and outgoing paper as I can , I run down jolly much every piece of paper I receive , convert it to searchable PDF format , and then recycle or shred the originals ( except when there ’s some important legal grounds to hang onto them ) . But a few years ago I took an even bigger footfall , which was throw to paperlesspostalmail . I pulled this off thanks to a company calledEarth Class Mail , which has saved me untold time and effort ( not to cite paper clutter ) .
The construct is straightforward . You sign on up for an account , fill out a USPS form grant Earth Class Mail permission to receive ring armor on your behalf , and then exchange your posting address to point to one of its addresses ( in any of 19 metropolis around the country ) rather than your domicile or situation . When a piece of post arrives for you at Earth Class Mail , the ship’s company scans the exterior of it ( or , if it ’s a large package , take a motion-picture show of the loge ) and sends you an e - mail service notification . you could then enter to the company ’s secure Website to watch this icon and petition that Earth Class Mail do any of several thing :
get to the mail , scan its contents , and make them available as a downloadable PDF single file .
Your Earth Class Mail inbox shows you the outsides of items you’ve received; you can then use controls on this Web page to scan, recycle, or ship them—among other things.
obligate the chain mail for pickup ( at sure facilities only ) .
Recycle or shred the postal service .
Forward - ship the mail , with your option of carrier and delivery types , anywhere in the world .
The Earth Class Mail service can deposit paper checks you receive in the mail.
Electronically stick any checks found in the chain armour to your camber account .
Archive the mail in the company ’s secure readiness .
you may finagle all these activities using your Web web browser app . A third party , MS Consulting , LLC , even make a $ 10 iPhone app anticipate iClass Mail that offers a subset of these capability .
Simplifying your filing
Once Earth Class Mail has read a mail musical composition for you ( the outside , the contents , or both ) , you’re able to view it in a WWW browser app or download a PDF to your Mac . you may then organize the PDFs along with your other files in the Finder , or perhaps stash away them in a papers director such as DEVONtechnologies ’ $ 150DEVONthink Professional Officeor Bare Bones Software ’s $ 39 Yojimbo ( ) .
Your Earth Class Mail inbox exhibit you the exterior of item you ’ve received ; you may then use controls on this WWW Thomas Nelson Page to scan , recycle , or send them — among other thing .
If you think you ’ll seldom , if ever , need to consult the PDF , you may cut downloading it at all , and instead snap a push button to save it in your Earth Class Mail Archive booklet , where it can persist indefinitely — even if you ’ve shipped the original somewhere else . The downside : this online archive is a unmarried braggy folder , and is n’t searchable .
Easing international mail
I ’ve been using Earth Class Mail for intimately four years . I sign up for the service of process shortly before moving to France because I palpate it would be utile to maintain a mailing address in the United States . For one thing , it permit me bribe things online that vendors refuse to ship internationally ; the vendor sends it to my savoir-faire in Beaverton , Oregon , and then Earth Class Mail ships it to me in Paris ( reach me yet another chance to contribute to the Gallic economy by yield signification duties ) .
Secondly , give a U.S. street destination associated with my acknowledgment card enables me to expend the U.S. version of the iTunes Store ( and , now , the App Store ) , giving me access to English - language media that would otherwise be useable only in French , if at all .
Eliminating paper check hassles
But the reason I prefer Earth Class Mail over several competitors was that they promised electronic check depositary service — get a check in the chain mail , and after it ’s scanned , an automated mechanism deposit the money in your bank account without requiring you to mail a strong-arm check ( and deposit slip ) to your depository financial institution . This was important to me because I get paid for much of my writing ( including this very article ) by check . Depositing U.S. checkout in a Gallic camber is slightly less pleasant , and almost as expensive as , getting a dealings ticket — and get off a check back to a U.S. depository financial institution inaugurate its own set of complicatedness and delays .
ab initio Earth Class Mail ’s electronic check sediment only bring with Wells Fargo Bank and required a special ( and expensive ) business sector report . However , the divine service now work with any U.S. checking report . Although it take several days for checks to clear even with the electronic deposits , it ’s still faster , and considerably easy , than any alternative I ’ve found .
The Earth Class Mail service can situate paper check you have in the mail .
In fact , you could optionally configure your account such that envelope under a certain free weight are automatically opened and scanned ; you could also configure the verification alluviation feature to automatically fix any verification that are found when a scan is perform . Thanks to that combination of preferences , I relish what feels like direct repository of checks from people and company from whom such a service is unavailable .
Now , a few years afterward , a number of coin bank , as well as PayPal , let you scan your own curb or snap a photo with an iPhone app and wedge them electronically . That ’s smashing as long as you have an account at the veracious institution and you’re able to meet their other touchstone ( such as maximal check amount of money ) , but for those with more - extensive substantiation posit need , Earth Class Mail stay the service to crush .
Convenience at a cost
Earth Class Mail can be expensive , depending on which services you apply . For standard plans , which manage 100 pieces of mail received per month , the company charges $ 20 per month , plus a $ 25 one - time setup fee . Scanning gasbag contents is extra ( $ 1.50 per small-arm for black and lily-white or $ 2 per piece for color , irrespective of the act of varlet ) ; if you require searchable PDFs or unattackable shredding , you ’ll pay another $ 5 per month for each service of process . see to it deposits cost $ 20 each , or $ 35 per month for unlimited deposits .
A Comprehensive plan , at $ 40 per calendar month , care 200 pieces of mail and big bucks several other service , including searchable PDFs . Regardless of your plan , mail forwarding toll extra ( a per - objet d’art charge plus stamp ) , and the companionship also appoint a monthly fee of $ 0.25 per alphabetic character or $ 1 / pound per parcel for storage over 30 days . at last , there may be an additional monthly address price wander from $ 3 to $ 30 depending on whether you choose a street address or a Post Office box , which urban center you need the address to be in , and whether that address is for a processing centre . ( If it ’s not , you ’ll have to wait several additional twenty-four hours for mail to move from your mailing reference to the processing center to be scanned . )
Earth Class Mail ’s prices have gone up since I first signed on . And there have also been some hiccup . Still , I ’ve stick with the service because I have n’t found anything else that includes the same range of features at any Mary Leontyne Price .
Other options
If all you need is a service that will accept and scan chain mail for you ( and do n’t call for electronic check sediment ) , you have many choices . All of the follow help are cheaper than Earth Class Mail , but I have n’t try them personally , so I ca n’t vouch for their character :
If you look through these site , you ’ll see that many ring mail - scanning and -forwarding services are pitch toward people who spend a lot of clock time on the road or otherwise lack a stable address . Earth Class Mail seems to be a better set for pocket-size businesses ( a single account can include multiple mailboxes with dissimilar names ) , specially those that process circumstances of incoming checks and want to eliminate as much inter - office paper as potential . But it ’s also a good tantrum for misfits like me , who have peculiar needs for processing mail and appreciate the paperless aspect too .
