Address Collection - How to Make Sense of Your Data
Address collection may seem like a daunting task. It's important to collect clean information, whether you're collecting data for weddings, holiday cards, or even for parties.
Businesses can save time and money by using legitimate addresses. Incorrect addresses can result in returned mails, extra fees, and missed opportunities. Address verification tools can cut expenses by ensuring addresses are entered correctly.
ArcGIS Solutions for State and Local Government
Address collection is crucial for local government and is a key element of geospatial data management. However, many governments face challenges in managing authoritative address repository. They require simple workflows to capture the physical location at an early stage in the development of an address, standard map products 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 needs local government employees are making use of Esri solutions. These pre-built maps and apps are designed around specific workflows, making it easy for local governments of all sizes and levels of geospatial expertise to adopt them for improved efficiency and understanding.
Scott Oppmann is the State and Local Government Solutions Team Director at Esri. According to his team, solutions are organized in categories that reflect "the common needs of state and local government agencies." Click here for the full list of capabilities.
Address Field Inventory for instance, contains an array of tasks to assist you in creating an address layer based on a list or verified proposed sites that are collected via an online form. This feature layers can then be used to generate USNG coordinates and a related 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.
Another example of an Esri solution is Managing Address Field Operations, which is designed to help address authority staff solicit addresses that are not correct or incomplete from external and internal stakeholders. It allows office staff to assign a task to field workers, who can utilize the address crowdsourcing tool on mobile devices to check submitted addresses and capture new addresses they see out in the field. The information is automatically entered into appropriate databases tables to be processed and published.
The solution also enables office staff to assign a task with the option to validate an existing set of address information using a specified accuracy threshold, which helps them spot errors, such as duplicates and incorrect addresses in the database. The data can then be imported into the master database to improve the quality of data and improve its accuracy.
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 make sense of your data. Many mobile apps, such as Uber or Lyft, use reverse geocoding to turn raw GPS coordinates into something drivers can read. Retail chains employ reverse geocoding to learn about their customers' buying habits. Urban planners can also connect address data with the density of people to determine where to construct public infrastructure.
The Reverse Geocode tool turns point locations within a feature class into addresses by searching for the closest intersection or address based upon the distance of search. It can be used to reverse geocode individual points or multiple points in the form of a batch. The output is well-structured and able to be integrated into other systems or tools.
It allows both custom and standard formats of address data, including the standard attributes X, Y of the Point Address feature, and the identifiers for POIs (Point of Interest). You can also specify which kind of geometries the location is. It could be an address location for routing (a side-of street location that can be used to route) or the parcel's centroid or rooftop of an address.
You can also use the tool to create composite locators by linking to two or more different locators. If it fails to find the address with your local data, then the resulting locator will fallback on ArcGIS World Geocoding.
Reverse geocoding is an expensive process, especially when you're working with huge amounts of coordinates. You'll have to keep within Esri's free usage limit, which is about 200 thousand requests each month--or you'll incur costs. You can also purchase a service to convert coordinates into address in a masse.
It's crucial, as a final point, to verify the accuracy and completeness of any address data you receive from customers using reverse geocoding. You can do this by using an API for address verification that is CASS-certified like 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 add-in contains a series of tools designed to help you click here migrate data from one database to another that may have an entirely different data structure. You can use these tools to perform many tasks, including merging multiple source fields into a single target field or dividing the string into multiple fields to be used as targets.
Installing the Data Assistant is required before you can use it. To do this, click Start and then choose Control Panel, and then choose Add or Remove Programs. Uninstall Microsoft Data Assistant 1.0 by following the steps on screen.
Once the Data Assistant add-in is installed, you can configure it to create an source-target configuration file and load or replace data from that file. The Data Mapping tool includes a variety of options for converting data between formats and handling special characters.
To learn more about the Data Assistant add-in, including how it can assist you with your address collection requirements, read How to use the Data Assistant add-in. This solution explains how to work with the Data Assistant add-in and how to set up workflows to collect and update data on parcels and populate community layers.
Data Validation Tool
A reliable address verification tool is an effective tool that helps businesses maintain data accuracy and operational efficiency. It ensures that mail is delivered to the correct location, invoices are delivered to the correct customer, and marketing campaigns reach their intended audience, thus driving precision in delivery systems and increasing overall satisfaction of users. When selecting a validation tool be sure to choose one with comprehensive country coverage and seamless integration into business processes. Be aware of the pricing structure and select tools that provide a good return on investment.
It is essential to ensure that the initial data entry of addresses is correct regardless of whether it's on paper forms in a retail store or digitally during an online check-out or the integration of data from CRM systems. This will help reduce the chance of errors in shipping and return and ultimately increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. This is more than the simple postal code or ZIP lookup. It requires a thorough method of address collection and validation.
This process begins by using an advanced data parsing program that breaks the address into its constituent elements, including street name, city and postal code. The tool then compares these parts with commercial databases to confirm their accuracy. It then standardizes the address to be in line to international postal standards for example, the conversion of extended forms to standard abbreviations and capitalization.
The address is then geocoded to confirm its location. This step is particularly important for businesses that operate globally. It allows them to calculate shipping costs accurately and arrange transparency for customers, minimizing the chance of costly delays due to inaccurate or insufficient information. Additionally, a robust geocoding API can help companies comply with international shipping regulations and avoid issues related to customs.
Once the address has been verified, it is updated in CRM and enterprise resource planning software to ensure that each customer contact, shipment or service delivery is based on accurate information. Precise data on addresses can also speed up logistics operations by simplifying procurement, logistics and service delivery processes.