Address Collection - How to Make Sense of Your Data
Address collection can seem like a daunting task. When you're collecting addresses to be used for weddings, parties, or holiday cards, it's crucial to have clean data.
Valid addresses help businesses save time and money. Invalid addresses can lead to returned mails, extra fees, and missed opportunities. Address verification tools help 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 governments. It is also a crucial element in geospatial management. Many governments have difficulty managing authoritative address repository. They require simple workflows to capture the physical location early in the process of developing an address, standard maps that inform decision-makers and the public about the quality and accuracy of their addresses, as well as tools to share authoritative address with other agencies.
To meet these requirements, local government staff are making use of Esri solutions. These pre-built maps and applications are configured around specific workflows, making it simple for local governments of all sizes and levels of geospatial knowledge to adopt them for increased efficiency and understanding.
Scott Oppmann is the State and Local Government Solutions Team Director at Esri. According to him, solutions are organized in categories that represent "the common requirements of state and local governments." Click here to view the complete list of capabilities.
Address Field Inventory for example, includes the following tasks that help you create an address layer based on a list or verified proposed sites that are taken from an online form. These feature layers can be used to create USNG Coordinates and a mailing address. The solution allows you to split a street at any specified point, calculate municipal boundary, and update address attributes in the master road table.
Managing Address Field Operations is another Esri solution that can be used to assist address authority staff gather missing or inaccurate information from both external and internal stakeholders. It allows office staff to assign tasks to their field workers, who use the address crowdsourcing tool on their mobile devices to verify submitted addresses and record any new ones observed while in the field. The information is then automatically inserted into the appropriate database tables for further processing and publication.
The solution permits office personnel to assign tasks using the option of validating an existing set of address data with an exact accuracy level. This allows them to identify errors, such as duplicates or mismatched addresses, in the database. This information can be transferred to the master address database to improve the data quality and make the dataset more precise.
Reverse Geocode Geoprocessing Tool
Reverse geocoding is a method to interpret data, whether you're trying to locate the location of a business or simply want to know what area is most profitable. Many mobile apps, like Uber or Lyft, rely on reverse geocoding to turn raw GPS coordinates into something drivers can read. Retail chains use reverse geocoding to understand their customers' buying habits. Urban planners can link address information to population density to determine the best location to build public infrastructure.
The Reverse Geocode tool turns point locations within a feature class into addresses by searching for the closest intersection or address based on the distance of search. It can be used to reverse geocode single or multiple points. The output is well-structured and ready to be integrated into other systems or tools.
It allows both custom and standard formats for address data, such as the standardized attributes X and Y of a Point Address feature, as well as identification codes for POIs (Point of Interest). You can also specify the kind of geometries the location is. It could be a routing location (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 your local data, then the locator will use ArcGIS World Geocoding.
Reverse geocoding can be expensive, especially if you're working with large quantities of coordinates. Esri has a free usage limit of around 200 million requests per month. If you exceed this limit, you'll be charged. You can also buy a service to convert coordinates into address in masse.
In closing, it's important to verify the accuracy of any address information you get from customers via reverse geocoding. This can be done by using an API for address verification that is CASS-certified like PostGrid. This will ensure the addresses that you use for your direct mail campaigns are delivered to your customers.
Data Assistant Add-in
The Data Assistant add-in contains a set of tools designed to help you migrate data from one dataset to another with distinct data structure. 주소모음 can be used to perform various tasks, like merging multiple source fields into one target field or dividing a string into several fields to be used as targets.
To use the Data Assistant add-in, you must first install it. Click the Start button, choose Control Panel, then Add or Remove programs. Uninstall Microsoft Data Assistant 1.0 by following the steps on screen.
After the Data Assistant add-in is installed you can set it up 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 employ to convert data into different formats and to handle special characters.
To find out more about the Data Assistant add-in, including how it can help with your address collection needs, read How to make use of the Data Assistant add-in. This guide explains how to make use of the Data Assistant add in and how to use tasks to collect data from parcels, update parcel data, and populate community layer.
Data Validation Tool
A trusted address validation tool is a powerful tool that aids businesses in maintaining the integrity of their data and increase operational efficiency. It ensures that the correct address is used to mail and invoices go to the right person and marketing campaigns are sent to the intended recipients. When choosing a validation tool make sure you choose one that has broad coverage across all countries and seamless integrations into business processes. Consider the pricing structure and select tools that have a high return on investment.
It is important to ensure that the initial data entry of addresses is correct whether it's written on handwritten forms in stores, or entered digitally at the time of online checkout or integrating data from CRM systems. This will reduce shipping errors and returns, and ultimately boost customer satisfaction and loyalty. This involves more than just the simple postal code or ZIP lookup. It requires a thorough process of address collection and validation.
The process starts with a sophisticated data parsing program that breaks the address into its constituent components, like street name, city name and postal code. The tool then compares these components with commercial databases to verify their accuracy. Then, it standardizes the address in order to conform to the global postal norms, such as the conversion of extended forms to standard abbreviations and capitalization.
The address is geocoded to verify its location. This is especially important for businesses that operate globally. It helps them estimate shipping costs accurately and arrange transparency for customers, reducing the chance of costly delays caused by inaccurate or incomplete information. A robust geocoding API can also help businesses comply with international shipping regulations and avoid issues with customs.
Once the address is verified, it is automatically updated in CRM systems and enterprise resource planning systems to ensure that every contact with a customer or shipment delivery is based on accurate information. Precise data on addresses can also speed up logistics operations by simplifying procurement, logistics and service delivery processes.