LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
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When mail arrives at your virtual mailbox provider, the envelope is photographed and the image appears in your app, usually the same day. You then choose per item: open and scan the contents, forward it, archive it, or shred and recycle it. Many providers run OCR so the scan text is searchable. The provider opens mail only under your signed USPS Form 1583 authorization.
The day's mail is received at the provider's facility and sorted to your account. The outside of each envelope or package is photographed, and that image shows up in your dashboard or app, sender and return address visible, like an email inbox for physical mail. This step is automatic and usually included in the plan. The important legal detail: the provider's staff are opening your mail, which is why USPS requires the notarized Form 1583 authorizing the agency to receive and handle mail for you. Without that form on file, they cannot legally touch it.
| Action | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Open and scan | Staff open the envelope and scan every page; the PDF lands in your app | Bills, legal notices, anything you need to read or keep |
| Forward | The physical piece is re-mailed to an address you specify | Checks, cards, items you need in hand |
| Archive | The piece is stored unopened at the facility for a set period | Mail you might need later but not now |
| Shred and recycle | The piece is destroyed on a documented schedule | Junk mail, catalogs, obvious solicitations |
Most providers charge the scan and the forward as separate line items on top of the monthly fee, so heavy mail months cost more. Shredding is typically the cheapest option and often bundled. A practical habit: shred junk the same day it arrives. Letting it pile up in your virtual inbox defeats the purpose.
Usually yes. Most providers run optical character recognition over content scans, which turns the images into searchable text. That means you can type a vendor name or an invoice number into the app's search and find the right piece months later. The quality depends on the scan resolution and the original print: clean laser-printed letters search well, handwritten notes and faded dot-matrix print less so. If you run a business through a virtual mailbox, this searchability is one of the real productivity wins: the paper archive becomes a queryable one. Ask providers about scan retention before you sign up: some keep scans for years, others purge them after a set period unless you download them.
Be clear-eyed about the arrangement: human staff photograph and, at your request, open your mail. Reputable providers address this with background-checked staff, cameras in the mailroom, encrypted storage, and documented destruction schedules. Less obvious risks are worth asking about: who has access to your scans, whether scans are stored in a specific country, and whether the company has ever had a breach. For genuinely sensitive documents (medical records, legal filings), some people route those to a home address or a trusted person instead and keep the virtual mailbox for everything else. There is no single right answer, but the question is worth asking before you commit.
Packages follow different rules than letters: most plans accept them, but oversized, heavy, or perishable items may be refused or surcharged, and forwarding a package means paying real postage plus a handling fee. Registered and certified mail can be a wrinkle too, since someone at the facility must sign for it; most providers handle this, but confirm yours does. And remember the asymmetry with a service like LetterAgent: LetterAgent sends letters out for you, while a virtual mailbox receives and digitizes what comes in. They solve opposite directions of the same problem.
Ready to mail it? Send your letter with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it is printed and mailed.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
Need help? Ask your assistant: it can check a job's status any time. If it ever can't handle something: hello@getletteragent.com