These are some of the most frequent questions of our customers. Please click on any of the following to find out more. If your question is still not answered you can E-mail us and we'll be glad to answer it.
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How can I distinguish the regular statements from the second notices?
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How long does it take for each cycle of statements to be mailed?
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What happens if the we accidentally send you the wrong information?
How do I get more information about your billing services?
You can call us at 800-399-5536 and one of our representatives will be happy to answer your questions; you can e-mail us your questions at michael@prestoservices.com; or you can fill out the information request form and send it to us. Whichever way you choose, we would do our best to provide you with the right literature, samples and over the phone consultation.
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How many templates do I have to choose from?
We are currently using 3 pre-designed templates in the following sizes: 8 1/2" x 11", 6 1/4" x 8 1/2" and 6 1/4" x 11", one or two sided. With the right modifications (logo and other company information) any of these forms can become your statement. You can click on any of the above links to see the forms.
If you do not like any of the existing templates, you can choose to have a new form designed especially for you at your own specifications. We can electronically download your logo and other company information and include it in all of your statements and envelopes.
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What size and color are best for me?
The size you choose depends partly on the amount of information you want to include in your statements and partly on your own preferences. Whether you like a bigger or smaller size, one or two printed sides, we can design and print your statements at very low costs.
Color also is an individual choice. Most of our customers use one color (red, blue, green...) for the form, and black for the variable data. The most important thing is a well designed and easy to read form and color is there to enhance the data presentation.
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How can I distinguish the regular statements from the shut-off notices?
You can print your shut-off notices on different size paper; you can use the same size paper, but a different design or color; or you can choose to use the exact same form and color but print a different heading on the form, for example: "Late Notice", "Cut-Off Notice", "Shut-Off Notice", "Delinquent Account" or "NOTICE".
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How long does it take to establish a new account?
Normally it takes 2-4 months to design your statements and envelopes, convert your customer data file to the right format and establish a postage account. This time frame varies according to the design you choose and your approval time and also on how the data is presented to us.
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Do I have to include a reply envelope? What is the difference between business reply and courtesy reply?
No, you do not have to include an envelope but it is to your benefit to do so. A self addressed, barcoded reply envelope speeds up your payment returns and reduces the time lost for misdirected or lost mail.
Most business include a Courtesy Reply envelope, which means that the customer would supply the postage (stamp). The difference with a Business Reply envelope is that is postage paid or no postage necessary, which means that you have to supply the postage through a business reply postage account. Whether you choose one or the other depends on your particular situation and budget.
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What is an OCR line and a barcode?
An OCR (Optical Character Recognition) line is a special constructed line of numbers that helps automate your receiving process. The OCR line includes important information about the customer like: account or customer number, amount due and due date. This line can be automatically read by the machines of your lock box operation resulting in shorter time and fewer errors entering the information in your system.
If you are receiving the payments in house rather than using a lock box operation we can replace the OCR line with an informational barcode. The barcode, just like the OCR line would include the appropriate account information and would be read by a scanner.
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How would I forward the customer file to you?
You can send your data file to us as an e-mail attachment; or we can pick it up through direct modem hook up.
Once the file has been received, we will send you an E-mail or telephone message to confirm that we received the data and the number of records received.
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How long does it take for the statements to be mailed?
We normally print and mail your statements within hours of receiving your data file. The time frame for completing the job depends on the size of the file and the time of the day the file was transferred.
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What happens if we accidentally send you the wrong information?
We all hope that never happens, but if it does we can stop it before it goes out in the mail stream. You can call us and we will pull out the incorrect statement (s) and either correct it on our end or withdraw it from that mailing and allow you to correct it and send it out with another billing cycle.
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Revised: April 08, 2010 .