Address Collection - How to Make Sense of Your Data
Address collection can be a challenging task. Whether you're collecting addresses for weddings, parties or holiday cards, it's important to have clean data.
Valid addresses help businesses save time and money. Invalid addresses can lead to delayed mail, additional charges, and missed opportunities. Address verification tools can help reduce costs by ensuring addresses are entered correctly.
ArcGIS Solutions for State and Local Government
Address collection is essential for local governments and is a key component of geospatial data management. However many governments have difficulties in managing authoritative address repository. They require simple workflows to allow for the capture of the physical location of an address early in the process of development 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 needs local government employees are making use of Esri solutions. These pre-built maps and apps are designed around specific workflows, which makes it easy for local governments of all sizes and levels of geospatial knowledge to use them for better efficiency and greater insight.
According to Scott Oppmann, State and Local Government Solutions Team Director, Esri, solutions are classified into categories that cover "the most common needs in state and local government." To see the full list of the capabilities available click here.
Address Field Inventory for instance, comes with the following tasks that help you create an address layer built on a list or verified sites that are collected through an online form. These feature layers can be used to create USNG Coordinates and an address for mailing. In addition this solution allows you to divide the road at a specific point, calculate municipal boundaries and update the characteristics of addresses in the master road name table.
Another example of an Esri solution is Managing Address Field Operations, designed to help address authorities collect missing or inaccurate address information from both external and internal stakeholders. It enables office personnel to assign tasks to their field workers, who make use of the address crowdsourcing tool on their mobile devices to verify submitted addresses and capture new ones observed while in the field. The data is automatically added into the appropriate database tables to be processed before being published.
Resource allows office staff to assign tasks by giving them the option of validating an existing set of address data with the specified accuracy level. This helps them identify errors, like duplicates or mismatched addresses, in the database. This information can be imported into the master database to improve the data quality and ensure it is more accurate.
Reverse Geocode Geoprocessing Tool
Whether you're looking for the exact location of a certain business or just want to find out which location is the most profitable, reverse geocoding can help you get the most out of your data. Many mobile apps such as Uber and Lyft use reverse geocoding to transform raw GPS coordinates into information drivers can comprehend. Retail chains utilize reverse geocoding to better understand their customers' habits of shopping. Urban planners can also connect address data with population density to determine the best location to build public facilities.
The Reverse Geocode tool turns point locations in a feature class into addresses by searching for the nearest address or intersection based on the distance of search. It can be used to reverse geocode single or multiple points. Its output is organized and ready for integration into other systems and tools.
It supports both standard formats and custom formats for address data. This includes the standard attributes X and Y from a Point Address feature, as well as the identifiers of POIs (Points of Interest). You can also specify the location type of the geometry that matches it. It could be a routing location, which is an area on the street that can be used to route or the rooftop or parcel centroid of an address.
You can make use of the tool to create composite locators by linking to two or more different locators. The resulting locator will fall back on the ArcGIS World Geocoding service if it fails to find an address that matches your own local data.
Reverse geocoding can be costly, particularly when you're working on large amounts of coordinates. You'll need to stay under Esri's free usage limit, which is around 200 thousand monthly requests or you'll be charged. Another option is to buy an application that converts coordinates into addresses en masse for you.
As a final note it is crucial to confirm the accuracy of any address information you receive from customers through reverse geocoding. This can be done by using an address verification API that's CASS certified, such as PostGrid. This will ensure that the addresses used in your direct mail campaigns are delirable and can be delivered to your customers.
Data Assistant Add-in
The Data Assistant addin contains a collection of tools to aid you in moving data between datasets with different data structures. These tools allow you to complete many tasks, like concatenating several source fields into a single target field, or splitting a string into several target fields.
To utilize the Data Assistant add-in, you must first install it. Click the Start button, choose Control Panel, then Add or Remove programs. Then, search for Microsoft Data Assistant 1.0 and follow the on-screen instructions to remove it.
Once the Data Assistant add-in is installed You can set it to create an source-target configuration file and then load or substitute data from the file. The Data Mapping tool includes a number of methods for converting data to different formats and handling special characters.
To learn more about the Data Assistant add-in, including how it can assist you with your address collection needs, read How to use the Data Assistant add-in. This solution explains how to work with the Data Assistant add-in and how to perform workflows to collect and update parcel information and populate layers of community.
Data Validation Tool
A reliable tool to verify addresses is a powerful tool that helps companies maintain accuracy of their data and operational efficiency. It ensures that mail is delivered to the right place, invoices are delivered to the right customer and marketing campaigns reach their intended audience, thereby improving the accuracy of delivery systems and improving the overall user experience. When selecting a validation tool pick one that provides seamless integration into business processes and comprehensive country coverage. Be aware of the pricing structure and select tools that provide a good return on investment.
When it comes to taking addresses from handwritten forms in a retail store, or during digital inputs during the checkout process online, or from integrated data that is flowing into CRM systems, precise initial data entry is crucial in reducing shipping errors and return and ultimately increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. This goes beyond an easy postal code or ZIP lookup. It requires a thorough approach to address collection and validation.
The process starts with a sophisticated data parsing tool that breaks down an address into its individual components, such as the street name, city, and postal code. The tool then compares these pieces with commercial databases to verify their accuracy. It then standardizes an address to meet the global postal standards. For instance, it converts extended forms into standardized abbreviations or capitalization.
The address is then geocoded to confirm its place of residence. This is especially important for businesses that operate globally. It lets them determine shipping costs with accuracy and provide transparency for customers, minimizing the risk of costly delays caused by inaccurate or incomplete information. Additionally, a reliable geocoding API can help businesses adhere to international shipping regulations and avoid issues related to customs.
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 information. Accurate address information can simplify the logistics side of operations by simplifying procurement and logistics processes, thereby saving time and money.