If you often go on business trips or plan to leave for a long vacation soon, you need to find a way to manage your mail while you are gone. Just leaving your letters, packages, and other shipments in the mailbox or at your doorstep can lead to loss, theft, or damage, and you do not want any of that to happen especially if you are expecting documents or parcels that contain important, confidential, and sensitive information.
Fortunately, virtual mailboxes exist, and they can help get your mail to you safely and securely while you are away.
What is a virtual mailbox?
A virtual mailbox is a service that provides you with an online or digital mailbox where scanned copies of your mail are stored so that you can get access to them via your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. It acts like a mail receiving service, mail scanning service, and mail storage service all in one.
If you get one, you are presented with a list of available addresses and you choose one that you can use as your virtual mailing address. Every time you have mail, the virtual mailbox service will scan and upload the contents so that you can view it on your device whenever and wherever you are.
Who needs a virtual mailbox?
There are certain types of people who can hugely benefit from having a virtual mailbox. If you are any of the following, it is best that you get even just a cheap virtual mailbox to make receiving your mail while traveling easier:
- Professionals who often go on business trips
- Home-based business owners
- Freelancers who work from home
- Digital nomads and RVers
How do you choose the right virtual mailbox service?
Because there are several virtual mailbox services available these days, picking one might be difficult for you. Should you go with a cheap virtual mailbox that offers only basic features or a more expensive one with functionalities that you might not really need? To help you make the right decision, below are some key factors to consider when choosing a virtual mailbox service:
Services offered
Different virtual mailbox services offer different features and functionalities, however most usually provide the following basic services:
- Mail receiving service – All mail sent to your chosen address is received by them.
- Mail notification service – You are notified every time you get mail.
- Mail scanning service – Your mail is scanned and uploaded to your virtual mailbox.
- Mail storage service – All mail in your virtual mailbox is stored for a particular time period depending on your chosen subscription.
- Mail disposal service – As per your instructions, your mail can be shredded, recycled, or disposed of.
Costs
The fees charged by these virtual mailbox companies vary. To find out which one is the most cost-effective for your needs, you should compare their prices and the services that come with them. You should also do a bit more digging about extra fees and additional charges if you want to avail of the more advanced features.
Reviews
The experiences of other people can help you decide whether or not a particular virtual mailbox service is worth your money.
