Address Collection - How to Make Sense of Your Data
Address collection may seem like a daunting task. When you're collecting addresses to be used for weddings, parties, or holiday cards, it's essential to have clean data.
Businesses can save time and money by using legitimate addresses. Incorrect addresses can lead to delayed mail, additional charges, and missed opportunities. Address verification tools help reduce costs by ensuring addresses are properly entered.
ArcGIS Solutions for State and Local Government
Address collection is essential for local governments. It is also a key component in geospatial management. However, many governments face challenges with managing authoritative address repository. They require simple workflows to allow for the capture of the physical location of an address early in the development process, standard map products to inform decision-makers and the general public about the quality of their addresses, and tools to share authoritative addresses with other agencies.
To meet these requirements Local government officials are making use of Esri solutions. These pre-built applications and maps are designed to work with specific workflows. This makes it easy for local government staff of all sizes and levels geospatial knowledge to use them.
Scott Oppmann is the State and Local Government Solutions Team Leader at Esri. According to him, solutions are organized in categories that represent "the common requirements of state and local governments." To see the full list of solutions available, click here.
Address Field Inventory, for instance, comes with a set of tasks to help you create an address layer that is based on a list of verified sites that are taken from an online form. These feature layers can be used to generate USNG Coordinates as well as an address for mailing. Additionally this solution allows you to split the road at a specific point, calculate the municipal boundaries and update the address characteristics in the master road name table.
Another example of an Esri solution is Managing Address Field Operations, which is designed to help address authority personnel collect missing or inaccurate address information from external and internal stakeholders. Office staff can assign a task for their field workers to make use of the address crowdsourcing app on their mobile devices. They then can verify the submitted addresses and capture any new ones they observe when they are out in the field. This information is then entered into the appropriate databases for further processing and publication.
The solution allows office staff to assign tasks with the option of validating existing set address database using the specified accuracy level. This helps them identify mistakes, such as duplicate addresses or incorrectly matched addresses in the database. This information can be imported into the master address database to enhance data quality and make the database more precise.
Reverse Geocode Geoprocessing Tool
Whether you're looking for the location of a specific company or find out which location is the most lucrative, reverse geocoding can assist you to make sense of your data. Many mobile apps, like Uber or Lyft rely on reverse geocoding to turn raw GPS coordinates into something that drivers can read. Retail chains use it to analyze customer shopping habits, while urban planners can connect the address data to the density of their population to decide the best location to build new public facilities.
The Reverse Geocode tool turns point locations in a feature class into addresses by searching for the nearest intersection or address based upon the distance to search. It can be used to reverse geocode individual points or multiple points in batches. Its output is structured and ready to be integrated 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 which geometries match the type of location it is. It can be an address location for routing (a street-side location that can be used to route) or the parcel centroid or rooftop of an address.
You can also make use of the tool to create composite locators by connecting together two or more locators. If it fails to find the address using the local data, then the locator will fallback on ArcGIS World Geocoding.
Reverse geocoding is costly, particularly when you're working with huge quantities of coordinates. You'll need to keep your usage under Esri's free usage threshold--which is around 200 thousand requests per month, or you'll incur costs. Another alternative is to purchase an application that converts coordinates into addresses en masse for you.
It's important as a final step to check the accuracy and completeness of any address information that you receive from customers using reverse geocoding. This can be done by using an address verification API that is CASS certified, such as PostGrid. This will ensure that the addresses you use in your direct mail campaigns are delirable and can be delivered to your customers.
Data Assistant Add-in
The Data Assistant website addin contains a set of tools that will help you migrate data between datasets with different data structures. These tools can be used to perform a wide range of tasks, including combining several sources into a single target field, or splitting strings into multiple fields of target.
The installation of the Data Assistant is required before you can use it. Click the Start button and select Control Panel, then Add or remove programs. Then, locate Microsoft Data Assistant 1.0 and follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall it.
Once the Data Assistant add-in is installed you can set it up to create a source-target configuration file and then load or substitute data from that file. The Data Mapping tool also includes an array of methods you can employ to convert data between different formats and to handle special 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 make use of the Data Assistant add in and how to carry out processes to collect data from parcels and update the parcel data and populate community layer.
Data Validation Tool
A reliable address validation tool is a potent tool that aids businesses in maintaining the integrity of their data and increase operational efficiency. It ensures that mail is delivered to the correct location and that invoices are delivered to the correct person and marketing campaigns are delivered to their intended audience, thereby increasing the accuracy of delivery systems and increasing overall user satisfaction. When choosing a validation tool, look for one with comprehensive country coverage and seamless integrations into business processes. Take into consideration the pricing structure and select tools that offer a high return on investment.
When it comes to collecting addresses on handwritten forms in a retail store, or during digital inputs during an online checkout or via integrated data flowing in from CRM systems, precise initial data entry is vital in reducing shipping errors and returns, ultimately boosting customer satisfaction and loyalty. This requires more than just using a traditional postal code or ZIP code lookup; it involves a process of thorough address collection and verification.
The process starts by using an advanced data parsing program that breaks down the address into its constituent components, like street name, city name, and postal code. The tool then compares these pieces to commercial databases to verify their accuracy. It then standardizes an address to meet global postal norms. For example, it converts extended forms into standardized abbreviations or capitalization.
Finally, the address is geocoded to verify its place of residence. This is particularly important for companies that operate globally. It allows them to calculate shipping costs with accuracy and provide transparency for customers, minimizing the possibility of costly delays caused by inaccurate or incomplete information. A robust geocoding API will aid businesses in complying with international shipping regulations and avoid customs issues.
Once the address has been verified, it's automatically updated in CRM and enterprise resource planning software to ensure that each customer contact, shipment or delivery is based on accurate data. Precise address data can also streamline the logistical side of operations by simplifying procurement and logistics processes, thereby saving time and money.