Seriously, we know where you live. Meaning we could find it with just a GPS device.
In addition to our already very capable address verification tools, we have just added the ability to determine the geographic coordinates of any US address. This service is known as “geocoding” and it gives the latitude and longitude for each address. It is available (at no additional cost) for all our products, LiveAddress API as well as LiveAddress for Lists.
Who uses geocoding?
I’m glad you asked. It is a very handy tool for anyone that needs to see quickly pinpoint addresses on a map or determine distance between multiple locations.
Here are a few examples of organizations that benefit from geocoding:
SCHOOL DISTRICTS – They use it to help ensure that students are directed to the school that pertains to their address.
DELIVERY COMPANIES – pizza companies as well as flower shops use geocoding to help them determine what addresses are within their delivery area.
RETAIL STORES – using just customers addresses, they can determine how far people drive to visit their store. They can figure out where their customer-base is located.
VOTER REGISTRATION – you can only vote in the district in which you live. Geocoding helps get votes to the right voting stations.
EMERGENCY CREWS – you certainly want the fire department and rescue services to know where you are. Geocoding helps them to get to you faster.
So, there you have it. Geocoding helps you better serve your customers, clients, students, members… (whoever you are working with), and it’s now included with our services.
Don’t forget, if you work at a nonprofit organization, our address verification services are available at no cost.
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Best-kept secrets: Our REST LiveAddress API endpoint
January 12, 2012 by mike-whatcott
NOTE: This post is somewhat technical but very important for all users of our LiveAddress API–please forward it to your IT people and programmers!
A few months ago we released a new method for accessing the LiveAddress API – a REST-based endpoint. This endpoint is superior and easier to use than our old XML web service endpoint. With this release we have officially deprecated our old XML web service. Please take note and begin to use the new REST API…no really, right now! You’ll thank us later!
The benefits of this new method are many:
- JSON response (as opposed to the cluttered XML you’re used to)
- Queries can be executed much more easily, with fewer lines of code, from many more languages, without any extra libraries or supporting code. Just roll your own HTTP request.
- More detailed output (see examples below).
Here’s some sample code links to get you started:
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Free Address Verification for the Masses
by mike-whatcott
One of the great things about working at SmartyStreets has been offering our great services to non-profits at absolutely no charge. But this was just an initial step. We’re now pleased to announce an absolutely free subscription to our LiveAddress API! No really, we’re not joking! We recognize that for many small businesses, address verification is just not high enough on the priority list, or is too expensive to merit attention. We hope to change all that by offering a free monthly subscription that includes 250 lookups.
The only thing to be aware of is that the subscription can only be renewed once per month. If your usage goes above 250 address lookups per month you’ll need to purchase a paid subscription that allows higher usage and will automatically renew when you run out of lookups.
So you may be wondering why we would do this. Are we out of our minds? Short answer: yes. Honestly, we imagine a world in which all data points are standardized, verified, and a benefit to the organizations to which they pertain (rather than a hindrance)…a world where you don’t have to wonder whether a proposed shipping address is deliverable…a world where all the addresses have 12-digit Delivery Point barcodes and a ‘Y’ for the DPV code…
Basically, we’re hoping to make the world a better place, 250 addresses at a time.
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Case closed
November 9, 2011 by mike-whatcott
We’ve had hearings, seen the evidence, heard testimony, and after cross-examination and long deliberation, the jury is now in.
The case was a hard one to unravel. The prosecution’s main argument came from Section 212 of Publication 28 of the USPS, which states: “Uppercase letters are preferred on all lines of the address block”. It was hard evidence to overlook. We want our customers to get what they’re paying for in terms of convenience, and it seems convenient for addresses to be returned ready to go.
But we weren’t satisfied with the answer. Something wasn’t right, and we knew it. We had to get to the bottom of it. We dug into the problem with full force, willing to go wherever we needed to get the solution. After all, that’s our job, right? And we’re proud to say that, after some strong detective work, SmartyStreets was able to solve the information output mystery. The verdict is in, and the truth is that people just think that ALL UPPERCASE TEXT HAS A TENDENCY TO APPEAR ROBOTIC and lacks a personal touch. Hmm… we agree.
In light of this discovery, we are taking a new approach. Our address verification service will now be returning your information in an easier-to-read, softer, mixed title case. We think you will prefer to read the information this way. Head on over to your account and scrub a list to see the results.
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“All your address are belong to us”
October 21, 2011 by mike-whatcott
Every once in a while our users need to analyze their addresses at a very granular level. While it’s true that our “everything” file contains a lot of data, it groups all of the street address data into a single field. Did you know that street address line can contain elements from about 9 smaller components? So, now we’re providing one more output file that includes all address information, broken down into as many meaningful components as possible. We’re calling it the components file, and we hope it will be useful to you as you do address verification.
Important Note: For those of you tasked with storing address data in a database or spreadsheet we recommend against storing the individual street address line components without storing the entire delivery line as a separate field. Believe us–there isn’t a good way to get these components back into a format that is appropriate for mailing because of the various ways addresses are formed (PO Box, Rural Routes, street addresses, PMB’s, military addresses, etc…). So, always store the entire delivery line (street address). Once you’ve done that you can also safely store the components as separate fields.
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