Address Collection - How to Make Sense of Your Data
Address collection can be a daunting task. It's important to collect clean information, regardless of whether you're collecting data for weddings, holiday cards or even for parties.
A valid address can save businesses time and money. Incorrect addresses can result in returned mail, fees, and missed opportunities. Address verification tools reduce the cost of these issues by ensuring that addresses are entered correctly.
ArcGIS Solutions for State and Local Government
Address collection is essential for local government and is an essential component of geospatial data management. Many governments have difficulty managing authoritative address repositories. They need simple workflows that allow for the capture of the physical location of an address earlier in the development process, standard map products to inform decision-makers and the general public about the quality of their addresses, as well as tools for sharing authoritative addresses with other agencies.
To meet these requirements local government employees are employing Esri solutions. These pre-built maps and applications are designed around specific workflows, making it simple for local governments of all sizes and levels of expertise to use them for better efficiency and insight.
According to Scott Oppmann, State and Local Government Solutions Team Lead, Esri, solutions are organized into categories that represent "the most common needs in state and local government." Click here to see the full list of capabilities.
For example, a solution known as Maintaining an Authoritative Address Repository includes a series of tasks to help you create a site address layer from a list of verified sites that are collected using an online form or captured in the field by using Address Field Inventory. These feature layers can be used to create USNG Coordinates as well as a mailing address. The solution allows you to split a street at any specific point, calculate a municipal boundaries, and then update address attributes in the master road table.
Managing Address Field Operations is another Esri solution that can be used to help address authority staff collect inaccurate or missing information from internal and outside stakeholders. It lets office staff assign a task to their field workers to utilize the address crowdsourcing application on their mobile devices. They can then verify the submitted addresses and capture any new addresses they find when they are out in the field. The information is automatically entered into appropriate database tables to be processed and then published.
The solution also allows office staff to assign a task with the option of validating an existing set of address information using an established accuracy threshold which helps them identify mistakes, such as duplicates or incorrect addresses in the database. The information is then imported into the master address database to enhance data quality and make the database more accurate.
Reverse Geocode Geoprocessing Tool
Reverse geocoding is a method to make sense of data regardless of whether you're trying to find the location of a company or just want to find out which area is the most profitable. Many mobile apps, such as Uber or Lyft, rely on reverse geocoding to convert raw GPS coordinates into something that drivers can read. Retail chains use it to understand the habits of their customers when shopping, and urban planners can link address data with the density of people to determine the best location to build new public infrastructure.
The Reverse Geocode tool turns point locations within a feature class into addresses by searching for the nearest intersection or address based upon the search distance. It can be used to reverse geocode single points or multiple points in batches. Its output is structured and ready for integration into other systems and tools.
It supports standard formats and custom formats for address data. This includes the standardized attributes X and Y from a Point Address feature as well as the identifiers for POIs (Points of Interest). You can also specify what kind of geometries the location is. This Webpage could be a routing location (a street-side location that can be used to route) or the parcel centroid or rooftop of an address.
Additionally you can make use of the tool to create a composite locator by linking two or more existing locators together. The resultant locator will be back to the ArcGIS World Geocoding service if it cannot find an address matching your own personal information.
Reverse geocoding can be costly, particularly if you're working with large amounts of coordinates. You'll need to keep your usage under Esri's free usage threshold--which is approximately 200 thousand monthly requests or you'll incur charges. this hyperlink is to buy a service that will convert coordinates into addresses in bulk for you.
In conclusion, it's important to verify the accuracy of any address information you get from customers using reverse geocoding. This can be accomplished by using an address verification API that is CASS certified, such as PostGrid. This will ensure the addresses you use for direct mail campaigns are delivered and to your customers.
Data Assistant Add-in
The Data Assistant add-in contains a set of tools designed to aid you in transferring data from one database to another with distinct data structure. These tools allow you to accomplish a variety of tasks, like concatenating several source fields into a single target field, or splitting a string into several fields of target.
Installing the Data Assistant is required before you can use it. Click Start and select Control Panel, then Add or Remove programs. Then, search for Microsoft Data Assistant 1.0 and follow the instructions on screen to uninstall it.
Once the Data Assistant add-in is installed You can set it to create an source-target configuration file and load or replace data from the file. The Data Mapping tool also includes several methods that you can use to transform data between different formats and to handle specific characters.
Read How to use Data Assistant Add-in to learn more about how it can assist you with your address collection requirements. This solution explains how to use the Data Assistant add-in and how to perform workflows to collect and update data on parcels and populate layers of community.
Data Validation Tool
A reliable tool to verify addresses is an effective tool that helps companies maintain accuracy of their data and operational efficiency. It ensures that mail gets to the correct address, invoices are delivered to the right customer, and marketing campaigns reach their intended audience, thereby driving precision in delivery systems and improving the overall user experience. When choosing a validation tool be sure to choose one with comprehensive country coverage and seamless integrations into business processes. Be aware of the pricing structure and choose tools that offer a high return on investment.
It is important to make sure that the initial entry of addresses is correct regardless of whether it's on handwritten forms at a retail store or digitally when you check out online, or integrated data from CRM systems. This will help reduce shipping errors and returns, and ultimately increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. This goes beyond a simple postal code or ZIP lookup. It requires a thorough process of address collection and validation.
This process starts with a sophisticated data parsing program that breaks the address into its individual elements, including street name, city name, and postal code. The tool then compares these pieces with commercial databases to verify their accuracy. It then standardizes an address to be in line with international postal standards. For instance, it converts extended forms into standardized abbreviations or capitalization.
The address is geocoded to verify its location. This step is particularly important for companies operating globally. It allows them to calculate shipping costs accurately, and to provide transparency to customers. This decreases the chance of costly delays resulting from inaccurate or incomplete information. A robust geocoding API will aid businesses in complying with international shipping regulations and avoid issues with customs.
After the address has been verified, it is automatically updated in CRM and enterprise resource planning software to ensure that each customer contact, shipment or service delivery is based on accurate information. Precise address data can also simplify the logistics side of operations by simplifying logistics and procurement processes, which saves time and money.