Our DOTS Address Insight is a highly versatile API that is very informative in many aspects for US addresses. At face value, it can inform the user of an address’ quality, validity, latitude/longitude, time zone, Congress code, and more. However, one easily overlooked aspect of our location accuracy service is its note codes. The note codes offer information that can be just as useful as the other outputs, and can be used to great benefit if they are understood well.
Geocoding note codes
There is a group of note codes in Address Insight that are dedicated specifically to geocoding within the system. Most of them focus on the centroid of the address’ ZIP code, where:
- IsZipMatch matches the first 5 digits of a ZIP code (e.g. ‘93101’)
- IsZip1Match matches the 5 digits plus the first digit of ZIP+4 (e.g. 93101-1xxx)
- IsZip2Match matches the 5 digits plus the first two digits of ZIP+4 (e.g. 93101-12xx)
- IsZip3Match matches the 5 digits plus the first three digits of ZIP+4 (e.g. 93101-123x)
- IsZip4Match matches the entire ZIP+4 (e.g. 93101-1234)
All showing the latitude and longitude of the centroid of the locations they matched, respectively.
There is also a more imprecise note code, IsCityMatch, where the latitude and longitude match the centroid of the city and state, and then there is the most precise code, IsLocationMatch, where the latitude and longitude match represents the property level. Lastly, there is IsUnincorporated, which shows if the address is not within a city boundary. This code is helpful for specific areas, as whether a place is unincorporated can affect things like tax rates and other physical location requirements, not just mail. These codes help reveal more information regarding geocoding in an area, and these can even be used for things such as target marketing.
Resident Type note codes
There are two note codes that are very informative for businesses: IsBusiness and IsResidence. These let the user know whether the address in question is a business or if it is a residence. These codes can help a business identify the right customers, whether that business’ target customer base is consumer or businesses. There are a few other note codes that reveal more information, such as IsHighRise, which determines that the address is a multilevel apartment or business building, and IsStreetAddress, which determines that the address is standalone.
Mail note codes
Several note codes deal specifically with mail, and these can be used to gain insights for businesses that specifically send mail. IsPOBox lets the user know if the address appears to be a PO Box, and similarly IsCMRA indicates if the address is a commercial mail handling facility, such as the UPS Store or Mail Boxes Etc. Finally, IsUniqueZip determines if the address appears to be a unique ZIP Code, which is an area, such as a university, where mail is delivered to a central location and then distributed outside of the original deliverer. This means that only a ZIP Code would need to be valid, as once the mail is delivered to this unique ZIP Code it will be distributed within the organization.
Address Status codes
There are two note codes that specifically deal with the status of the address. The first one is IsVacant, which lets the user know if the address entered is vacant. This can prevent unnecessary mailing to addresses that do not have any residents at the time, saving paper, money, and time. It can also help prevent fraud, in cases where packages get intercepted at vacant homes. The other note code, IsReturningMail, lets the user know that the address appears to be currently returning mail. This can help to show more active addresses and can be used by marketers to target addresses that are more likely to respond.
Address Insight’s note codes are a powerful feature that increases the level of Location Intelligence that this service provides. Whether the user is looking for accuracy in geocoding, the type of address, or the status of the address, it is always worth their time to take a look at the note codes.
