Small parcel audit companies serve businesses that ship small parcels via package delivery companies. They serve a valuable purpose, helping to optimize shipping procedures, reduce costs and reduce billing errors. In this article, we will discuss how Service Objects can help these firms deliver even more ROI to their clients and improve their bottom lines even further.
Service Objects has many APIs that can be used to help with some of the pain points small parcel audit companies have. Here are some of the key ones:
- Address Validation – US 3 can help with address validation, correction and standardization as well as USPS carrier routes, address fragments and identifying high risk addresses;
- Address Geocode– US can help with delivery strategies based on latitude and longitudes of locations;
- GeoPhone Plus 2 can help with data enrichment, cross-referencing data points for data integrity, and ensuring that delivery recipients receive notifications.
Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail:
Address Validation – US 3
Address Corrections
This API helps ensure the existence and correctness of an address, to substantially improve deliverability. These corrections are made with precision using continually updated USPS data, and we only make corrections when we are 100% sure we are making the most accurate updates. We can easily correct items like the following:
- Typos and directionals
- Missing cities, states and ZIP codes
- Streets with alias names
- And more.
Address Validation
This service also helps with completing deliveries using the USPS Delivery Point Validation capability. It determines if the address is a valid, mailable USPS address, as well as whether any part of the address is missing, incomplete or out of range.
With our DPV Codes, you can determine whether an address has larger issues or if it is good. These codes are quantitative values that you can process through your business logic:
- A DPV score of 1 will show that the address is a good valid mailing address. (This does not mean that the original address itself was 100% correct. This simply means that there was enough information in the input address such that we were able to make corrections and return a 100% valid mailing address. For that reason, when using our service, it is imperative that our clients save and use OUR version of the address returned from validation.)
- A DPV score of 2 means that the address is not in the USPS list of mailable addresses.
- A DPV score of 3 or 4 indicates that the unit or apartment number is missing or out of range for the building.
Standardized Addresses
We return USPS-standardized addresses that help engineer data hygiene, integrity and trust in your systems. We also standardize individual address fragments, such as returning ST instead of Street or RD instead of Road, pre and post directionals, and more.
Carrier Routes and Delivery Strategies
Carrier routes can be taken advantage of to help group addresses for increased delivery efficiency to help reduce costs.
One example of this is the power of the FragmentStreet data point we return, which can be sorted on. If you were to merely sort full street addresses, you would end up with a list sorted by numbers first and then by street names like this:
- 101 Main ST
- 101 Pleasant ST
- 246 King ST
- 345 Main ST
- 356 Pleasant ST
- 789 King ST
Instead, if you sort by FragmentStreet you would get your addresses back in this order:
- 101 Main ST
- 345 Main ST
- 101 Pleasant ST
- 356 Pleasant ST
- 246 King ST
- 789 King ST
In a case like this, for example, sorting first by state, then by ZIP or city, and then by FragmentStreet can help you develop better delivery strategies.
High Risk Address Identification
Responses from our service can flag high risk addresses for further review, to help prevent fraud or other issues. These include:
- Freight Forwarders – While not all freight forwarders are fraudulent, flagging these helps you investigate further for those with a reputation for delivery issues such as delays, damages and disputes.
- Prisons – We identify prison addresses to help small parcel audit firms determine the legitimacy of a shipment.
- Hotels – In certain product or delivery scenarios, hotel addresses can be flagged for further review.
- Vacant – Flagging an address as vacant will help reduce shipping costs as well as helping to prevent mail fraud situations.
- Returning Mail – This indicator can also reduce shipping costs.
- Unique ZIP Code – Lastly, identifying that an address is flagged as a unique ZIP code can also help make a decision about if a shipment should be sent out or not – particularly in cases such as universities or medical campuses, where an address will pass USPS validation based on the ZIP code alone, while the delivery itself (to a specific building, floor, etc.) will be up to the receiving organization.
Address Geocode – US
Not all locations are USPS deliverable address, but may still exist as physical locations. Address Geocode – US can help with both physical and mailable addresses by retrieving latitude and longitude coordinates for an address, and also by returning the level the address matched at, such as a street level property match or a ZIP plus four level match. This, in turn, can help with delivery strategies and reducing shipping costs.
Geophone Plus and Geophone Plus 2
Reverse phone look up can obtain contact information that can help with cross-referencing delivery addresses. When phone contact information does match address data, it can provide extra certainty as to the validity and mailability of an address. Communication is also very important in small parcel delivery, so that delivery recipients can get timely messages and alerts, and Geophone can check the validity of a phone number.
In conclusion, small parcel audit companies play a crucial role in optimizing shipping procedures, reducing costs, and minimizing billing errors for businesses that rely on package delivery services. By leveraging Service Objects’ validation APIs, these firms can enhance their capabilities and streamline their auditing processes.
From comprehensive address validation to precise geocoding and reverse phone lookup, Service Objects’ APIs offer valuable tools to address common pain points in the auditing process. By integrating these APIs into their operations, small parcel audit companies can improve data accuracy, enhance delivery strategies, and deliver exceptional service to their clients. With Service Objects as a trusted partner, small parcel audit firms can navigate the complexities of shipping logistics with confidence, ensuring efficient and cost-effective shipping solutions for businesses of all sizes.
