StrikeIron provides an address verification Web service
that utilizes data from the USPS (United States Postal Service) to
ensure that addresses are not only standardized correctly, but they do
indeed physically exist according to the post office (they can deliver
mail to it). We are continually updating this massive data store of USPS
data within our data center so our customers don't have to deal with
the complexity of ongoing data updating and maintenance to ensure the
greatest possible accuracy of address data (as well as the associated
software, hardware, and human costs that will be experienced when
internally managing address reference data for an organization).
Using the most recent USPS data is necessary (new housing and business construction creates new reference data to be used every day) when integrating address verification into Web forms, e-commerce processes, managing customer data, or any other place where address data is collected and the accuracy of that data is important. Simply by integrating our Web service, usually with just a single line of PHP, C#, Java, or any language that can invoke a Web service (can be auto-installed with Salesforce.com), inaccurate or non-existent address data becomes a thing of the past.
Not only are our customers saving postage costs on undeliverable addresses (the USPS estimates at least $2 billion USD is spent on postage annually for undeliverable mail), but also the cost of wasted print and marketing materials. And even that doesn't include missed sales and revenue opportunities and poor customer service as a result of mis-shipped products or not-received printed communications, the hard-to-measure costs of which can very well be several times higher than postage and materials.
But with all of that address data goodness the Web service provides, another primary reason customers use our address verification API is because of the latitude and longitude coordinates that can be obtained along with the validation of an address (for a complete list of data elements returned by our US Address Verification product, many of which even some of our current customers don't realize they have access to, click here). There are some obvious use cases for this kind of geocode data such as plotting customers and prospects on a map, but we have a long list of other use cases such as calculating distances between addresses from a certain business, legal uses of address proximity (many law firms use this service), proximity to certain types of equipment, geo-related business intelligence, product distribution maps, satellite-related navigation, nearest store locators, assigning appropriate representatives in call center scenarios, and many more.
One thing to understand before utilizing geocodes, as there are several different ways to obtain them via the Web, is the level of granularity of a given geocode and whether or not it suits your purposes. For example, zip code centroid or block level geocodes might be useful for finding the nearest pizza shop, but at least rooftop coordinates for residential properties are necessary for calculating the distance of a sex offender from a school. And even a finer granularity still is needed to find the exact location of buried underground equipment. Educate yourself in geocode granularity before putting them to work as part of any business process.
The use of latitude, longitude and other geocode data is becoming more and more prevalent, especially with the more sophisticated mapping and navigational technology available these days. When it is so easy and cost-effective to put to use, and in the case of StrikeIron completely platform-independent because of our use of SOAP and REST XML-based API's, any businesses or organizations looking to capitalize on these technologies can now do so with a great deal less complexity than ever before.
Using the most recent USPS data is necessary (new housing and business construction creates new reference data to be used every day) when integrating address verification into Web forms, e-commerce processes, managing customer data, or any other place where address data is collected and the accuracy of that data is important. Simply by integrating our Web service, usually with just a single line of PHP, C#, Java, or any language that can invoke a Web service (can be auto-installed with Salesforce.com), inaccurate or non-existent address data becomes a thing of the past.
Not only are our customers saving postage costs on undeliverable addresses (the USPS estimates at least $2 billion USD is spent on postage annually for undeliverable mail), but also the cost of wasted print and marketing materials. And even that doesn't include missed sales and revenue opportunities and poor customer service as a result of mis-shipped products or not-received printed communications, the hard-to-measure costs of which can very well be several times higher than postage and materials.
But with all of that address data goodness the Web service provides, another primary reason customers use our address verification API is because of the latitude and longitude coordinates that can be obtained along with the validation of an address (for a complete list of data elements returned by our US Address Verification product, many of which even some of our current customers don't realize they have access to, click here). There are some obvious use cases for this kind of geocode data such as plotting customers and prospects on a map, but we have a long list of other use cases such as calculating distances between addresses from a certain business, legal uses of address proximity (many law firms use this service), proximity to certain types of equipment, geo-related business intelligence, product distribution maps, satellite-related navigation, nearest store locators, assigning appropriate representatives in call center scenarios, and many more.
One thing to understand before utilizing geocodes, as there are several different ways to obtain them via the Web, is the level of granularity of a given geocode and whether or not it suits your purposes. For example, zip code centroid or block level geocodes might be useful for finding the nearest pizza shop, but at least rooftop coordinates for residential properties are necessary for calculating the distance of a sex offender from a school. And even a finer granularity still is needed to find the exact location of buried underground equipment. Educate yourself in geocode granularity before putting them to work as part of any business process.
The use of latitude, longitude and other geocode data is becoming more and more prevalent, especially with the more sophisticated mapping and navigational technology available these days. When it is so easy and cost-effective to put to use, and in the case of StrikeIron completely platform-independent because of our use of SOAP and REST XML-based API's, any businesses or organizations looking to capitalize on these technologies can now do so with a great deal less complexity than ever before.
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