What Is a DX Address?
Business-to-business (B2B) mail makes up a significant part of the letters and packages that come into and go out of companies each day. Given the importance of these B2B communications, it makes sense that companies would want a secure method of sending these letters and packages. This is where DX comes into play. Companies rely on DX to get their business-to-business letters and packages to their destinations quickly and securely because DX only delivers B2B mail.
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DX stands for Direct Exchange. It's a business-to-business mail service offering next-day delivery of letters and parcels to customers within the exchange.
DX is a UK-based business-to-business courier service. It handles letters, packages, confidential documents, samples and more for its customers, delivering either directly to the intended recipient or to one of a number of DX Exchange locations across England and Ireland. DX operates as a subscription service, with companies needing to sign up for a subscription before they can use the service. Because it is a business-focused courier service, DX targets next-day delivery of parcels unless specific delivery instructions were given that specify a different time.
DX has been providing its services for over 40 years and claims a number of major corporations and agencies as clients. Businesses from a variety of different economic sectors choose DX to handle their secure shipping needs. Lawyers and other legal clients were among the earliest to use DX to handle confidential legal documents, and a significant portion of the company's customer base still comes from the legal sector. DX also services health care providers, pharmaceutical companies, retailers, banks and has even had a contract to service a number of government agencies since 2004.
Due to the confidential nature of some shipments processed by DX, specialized identifiers known as DX numbers are used instead of standard street addresses on shipments. Though the DX address is typically a series of numbers only, some contain both numbers and letters within the address sequence. Some DX numbers are as short as two or three digits while others are six, seven or more digits long. When shipping to a DX subscriber, the business sending the parcel includes both the DX address and the local DX Exchange for the recipient business.
When sending a parcel, the sender first addresses the parcel and either drops it off at a DX Exchange or arranges a pickup with a DX courier. The letter or package is delivered to the local DX Exchange of the recipient for processing; depending on the shipping service that the sender used, it may go out again for direct delivery with a DX courier or may be kept at the Exchange until a representative of the recipient comes to pick the parcel up. For some items, an additional crew member may accompany the courier to the delivery site to assist with setup and any other special delivery needs as well.
Since some businesses receive a number of packages and other shipments through DX on a regular basis, they may prefer to simply pick up their parcels at their local DX Exchange at a convenient time instead of having multiple couriers come to their offices. To facilitate this, DX offers text and email alerts that clients can sign up for. After providing basic information such as their name, contact information and DX number, the client can receive email alerts, SMS text alerts or both when parcels are scanned in at the DX Exchange. While the alerts typically go out as soon as a parcel is scanned, the notification system doesn't send alerts before 8 a.m. to prevent them from disturbing clients before they arrive at work.
If a business needs to send a parcel but doesn't know the recipient's DX address, the DX Directory on the company's website allows users to search for addresses using a number of different search options. Users can search by company name, post town, local DX Exchange, postcode or DX number to find the information they need to properly address the parcel. If that wasn't enough, there is also an option to search by profession via a handy drop-down list. Once the recipient is located, the DX Directory allows the searcher to easily copy the business name, DX number and local DX Exchange to the clipboard for ease in saving or labeling.