Posts tagged ‘DOTS Address Validation – US’
Why Google Maps Isn’t a Good Substitute for Address Validation
What is the difference between Address Validation and Google Maps?
Deliverability, deliverability, deliverability. Okay, there are a few others, but that’s the big one. Just because Google Maps places a marker on a map when you input an address, does not mean that you can deliver mail there, nor that a property even exists at that marker.
Take the following “address”:
4130 Calle Real
Santa Barbara, CA 93110
View Larger Map
As you can see, Google Maps says this is a valid address and puts its marker next to an empty field with no buildings. As you’d expect this is not a deliverable address and will be returned to sender.
The reason for this discrepancy is that Google Maps is not an Address Validator, it is a Geolocation Estimator that uses addresses to aid in its estimation.
Imagine two people each holding a ruler with the numbers 1 – 12 printed on it. One of them is blind-folded. If they were asked to point to the number “6″, how would each one go about it?
The one who could see all the numbers would just find the 6 and point to it. The one who was blind-folded would probably guess that 6 was printed right in the middle of the ruler and point there.
But what if the ruler was missing the number “6″? Well, the person who could see all the numbers would state that the number was invalid, and the blindfolded person would point to an empty space in the middle of the ruler.
Google is blindfolded. They know street names, and the numbers on the endpoints, but very little about the numbers in-between. Often they assume a continuous and evenly-spaced number line and point to where they’d guess your number is.
Admittedly, this is an extreme example. But what it demonstrates primarily is that Google Maps does not have a strong knowledge of valid primary numbers within street segments and therefore cannot be used to determine deliverability of an address. The only thing that can reliably determine deliverability is a CASS-Certified Address Validation Engine that can match an address against the USPS database of valid addresses.
Posted: by Donnie K.
Why Cross Checking is Important When Using a Contact Validation Web Service
I have been working with web services for over 6 years now and have helped many companies both big and small to resolve their frustration with the online world of bogus lead chaos and bad affiliate programs.
With all of the information and services available to help validate your inbound leads you need to make sure that it is doing more than just a simple check for validity. There are a lot of Lead Validation services out there claiming that they are the best, but let’s really ask ourselves, what are they doing that is so unique? How will they really be able to assure you that they are catching your bad leads?
Good Question.
February 17, 2010 at 3:04 pm serviceobjects2001 Leave a comment
Direct Mail Marketing Isn’t Going Anywhere Yet
While many industry experts are calling 2010 the year that will “kill marketing as we know it”, some feel that we shouldn’t be so quick to write off some of the good ole’ tried and true methods. I just read an article in the Wall Street Journal that further convinced me. The article, “Firms Hold Fast to Snail Mail Marketing” talks about several companies who made a shift away from their direct mail campaigns and found their business suffered direct losses from eliminating this type of communication with their customers and targets.
Direct mail marketing can still prove to be a very effective way to reach customers and prospects. Especially for small businesses with a unique offering who are looking to stand out and continue a dialog with their audience. I think the main issue with Direct Mail though is that it needs to be done smartly, with consideration that people are constantly being bombarded with messages, offers and promotions through other mediums. Direct mail should not equal waste. It should not be a waste of time for the recipient, environmental resources or budget dollars.
Businesses who plan to use Direct Mail as a part of their marketing efforts in 2010 might consider committing to make their campaigns more effective and less wasteful by putting in place “greener mail” initiatives. Each year, the US postal service attempts to deliver billions of pieces of mail that will never reach their intended recipient due to being undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA). Using tools that verify and standardize addresses is a quick and cost effective way to reduce the impact of direct mailings.
Check out our best practices tip sheet “Greener Mail: 6 Tips Simple Tips for More Eco- and Budget Friendly Mailings” for more information.
Posted by: Gretchen N.
January 13, 2010 at 8:37 am serviceobjects2001 Leave a comment
Tired of Returns: Santa Claus Resolves to Validate all Addresses in 2010
Every year Mr. Santa Claus faces enormous pressure to deliver billions of presents around the world. He has just one 
night—just one chance to ensure delivery of all the toys to children all over the globe. In recent years Claus has turned to technology to aid him in his annual quest. Said Claus, “While Rudolph’s nose may guide the sleigh, I still need all the help I can get. This year we received a lot of returned packages and gifts – mostly from incomplete or incorrect addresses. While maps and on-board computers lend a hand on the sleigh we just don’t have all the information we need.” Looking for answers and new tools for 2010, Claus began his search for something to help him verify addresses for his deliveries.
Luckily for Claus he found a real-time web service which offers Delivery Point Validation, CASS/USPS Address Standardization, and even RDI (Residential Delivery Indicator) for all the addresses on his “Nice” list. By using DOTS Address Validation by Service Objects, Clause estimates he will increase his delivery efficiencies by 40% and dramatically reduce the number of toys which need to be returned to the North Pole each year. When asked about his new services Claus could barely contain his excitement. Old Saint Nick stated “Now with Service Objects’ web services I will be able to almost guarantee that all the presents will be delivered. Not only will the addresses be validated and entered into my on-board computer in real-time, but the reindeer will know if they will be landing on a residence or business thanks to the new RDI filter.”
The North Pole is now giddy with excitement over the implementation of their Address Validation Web Services. In addition to Santa being more efficient on the big night, his elves will also not have to collect, sort, and re-stock returned toys like they have in the past. Santa added, “My workshop costs are going to go down and I can reinvest that money into developing new toys and hiring more elves. In other words, Christmas came early for me this year. This is one new year’s resolution I know will stick!”
How have you resolved to improve your business efficiencies in 2010?
Posted by: Will E.
DOTS Web Service Improvements
At Service Objects, we are constantly improving our DOTS Web Services. Some services automatically improve themselves, like DOTS IP Validation. This service has over 45,000 listening posts worldwide that dynamically record the IP addresses of malicious or fraudulent activity. Some services, like DOTS Address Validation, are manually updated every month to guarantee that we use the freshest data available.
Other improvements to our DOTS Web Services occur on a less regular basis, usually when a client needs a feature that we are not currently offering. We recently added an operation to DOTS Address Geocode – US, in order to return state and county FIPS codes, Census tract data, and block numbers. We have also greatly increased the performance of DOTS Email Validation in order to handle a much larger transaction volume. In the near future, we will be deploying changes to DOTS Phone Append, which will greatly increase our match rates for businesses.
We are always thinking of ways to improve our DOTS Web Services. If you have an idea how we can serve you better, please let us know!
Alex P.
Residential Delivery Indicator (RDI) Coming to Service Objects
We have some exciting news for you. Service Objects has started the integration of RDITM to a few of our different DOTS Web Services. RDI is a data product offered by the United States Postal Service®, and is primarily used for determining if a delivery address is classified as residential or business.
As you can imagine, RDI will be used in both our DOTS Lead Validation and DOTS Address Validation Web Services. We plan on having RDI built into DOTS Lead Validation as early as July 1st, with availability in our DOTS Address Validation Web Service shortly there after.
What does RDI mean to our DOTS Lead Validation Web Service? Well, having the ability to determine if an address run through our services is residential or business is a big deal. It is yet another check that we will be able to perform in order to ensure our customers’ leads are valid and deliverable.
At Service Objects we are constantly working to improve our DOTS Web Services. We look forward to continuously providing our customers with new features to our DOTS Web Services, and RDI is definitely an exciting one.
As always, thanks for reading!
Alen D.
DOTS Address Validation FAQ
Figuring out the basics of what DOTS Address Validation does is simple — messy address comes in, clean address comes out! And yet of all our services we probably get the most questions about DOTS Address Validation. Here are the most common:
Sales Tax and Address Validation: The Easy E-Commerce Solution
The economy is forcing many stores to close their doors, and as a result, we are seeing more and more businesses move to the internet. What was once a cash and carry nation, has evolved into a PayPal™ and UPS™ standard way of life.
With e-commerce redefining the business world, the little fish finally get to swim in the same pond as the big fish. Anyone with a budget and a vision can launch an online store front, and that’s where we can help.
Service Objects offers fast and easy solutions to help merchants successfully run their online businesses. Our DOTS FastTaxSM Web Service calculates sales tax and use tax, based on street address, zip code, or simple city/state/county information. It can easily integrate into your shopping cart, so the correct tax rate will auto-populate during checkout. We host the tax data and update it monthly, so you don’t have to waste time looking up tax rates or pay a third party to audit your books.
Along with calculating correct sales tax, another critical component to running an online business is verifying customer mailing addresses. DOTS Address ValidationSM is our most popular service – it corrects and standardizes U.S. addresses, as well as determines whether an address is deliverable or not. By using DOTS Address Validation to correct shipping and billing addresses at the point-of-entry, you can prevent the hefty cost of returned packages. We are one of only a few companies that the USPS® trusts with their data, and with monthly data updates, you get only the most accurate mailing information every time.
Combining the power of DOTS Address Validation and DOTS FastTax offers online merchants a simple and effective e-commerce solution. For less than the price of a latte each day, you can calculate tax rates and correct addresses for all of your online customers.
Service Objects offers a diverse range of products to help your online business run smoother, faster, and more efficiently. Give Service Objects a call today, to find out how we can build an affordable solution for you. You can also find out more about our solutions by visiting our Web site.
Thanks for reading,
Marissa B.
February 26, 2009 at 6:58 pm serviceobjects2001 Leave a comment
How Can You Lower Risk, Cost, and Grief with Online Credit Card Transactions?
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Unfortunately, there isn’t a bullet-proof solution when it comes to avoiding online credit card fraud. Fraudulent transactions take place on a regular basis, by the millions. Not even PayPal* or Amazon can eliminate fraud. Address Verification System** (AVS) checks the inputted address against the credit card billing info that the consumer has provided at checkout. But if this person is using information from stolen credit card information, then the billing info and credit card number provided will still be correct. And then there is debit card and gift card fraud! |
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| You likely stumbled upon this blog while researching fraud detection solutions. Some of you have probably been researching for some time now, and are reaching the stage of ultimate frustration and confusion. Or maybe you have already implemented a fraud detection process or service that isn’t quite cutting it. Transaction fraud is still occurring. | ||
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| Service Objects, Inc. has an easy solution to strengthen your online business process. We offer a real-time web service called DOTS Lead Validation. Yes, it does take many processes to create a highly secure online shopping cart and to detect fraud, but Service Objects can add that extra insight and integrity to your processes.Why not try it out right now for free? We can quickly assess your current processes as well as help with the implementation process. Go ahead, save yourself some time, money, and grief; take a look at DOTS Lead Validation and give us a call. Let’s get those mean people out of your online shopping cart. | ||
| Talk to you soon!
Ericka J. Do you have questions or comments for Ericka J.? Email her at communications@serviceobjects.com. *Wikipedia keyword: Paypal 12/02/08 |
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New Undeliverable-as-Addressed (UAA) Standards
As a marketer I am always keeping a watch on industry news that will affect the bottom line of my sales and marketing campaigns. I think that this story is of particular interest to my field, especially since I will be able to utilize my company’s products to counteract the potential pitfalls associated with the new USPS UAA standards.
Beginning on November 23, 2008, USPS will begin to act on its pledge to reduce UAA mail volume by 50 percent by the year 2010. While in the past USPS has kept strict UAA guidelines for all Presorted First Class Mail, Standard Mail has never had to meet those same guidelines. However, beginning in November every piece of mail that passes through the Post office will be required to pass new UAA standards for deliverable mail.
Mailers that do not take action to scrub the addresses in their mailing lists and CRM databases clean will now face the threat of:
- Losing their mailing automation discounts
- Paying penalty fees for each piece of mail returned
As I mentioned earlier, Service Objects has a solution that can eliminate the threats associated with the new UAA standards. DOTS Address Validation – US removes the worry of undeliverable mail by checking every address on your mailing list or in your CRM database, right down to the mailbox level. Our service will even match the consumer or business name to the address, ensuring that your customers exist where you think they do.
DOTS Address Validations – US can help keep sales and marketing professionals compliant with new industry and government regulations while simultaneously enabling us to watch the bottom line of our campaigns, making sure that our dollars are being spent where we want them…bringing in the best possible leads for our companies!
Thanks for reading this week and if you have any questions feel free to email me at communications@serviceobjects.com.
Thanks again,
Dara F.
October 1, 2008 at 12:15 am serviceobjects2001 Leave a comment
