Address Collection - How to Make Sense of Your Data

Address collection can be a difficult task. Whether you're collecting addresses for weddings, parties or holiday cards, it's important to keep your data clean.

Businesses can save time and money by using correct addresses. Incorrect addresses can result in returned mail, extra fees and missed opportunities. Address verification tools can cut costs by ensuring that addresses are properly entered.

ArcGIS Solutions for State and Local Government

Address collection is crucial for local government. It is also an essential element in geospatial management. Many governments struggle to manage authoritative address repository. They need simple workflows that aid in capturing the physical location of an address earlier in the development process Standard map products to inform decision makers and the general public about the quality of their addresses, as well as tools for sharing authoritative addresses with other agencies.

their website to meet these requirements. These pre-built applications and maps are customised to specific workflows. This makes it easy for local government personnel of any size and level of geospatial competence to adopt them.

Scott Oppmann is the State and Local Government Solutions Team Director at Esri. According to the team leader, solutions are arranged in categories that represent "the common requirements of state and local governments." To view the complete list of the capabilities available, click here.

For example, a solution called Maintaining an Authoritative Address Repository comprises a set of tasks that help you create a site address layer from an inventory of verified sites that are collected using an online form or captured in the field with Address Field Inventory. The feature layers can be used to create USNG coordinates and a related mailing address. The solution allows you to divide a street at a particular point, calculate the municipal boundary, and update address attributes in the master road table.

Managing Address Field Operations is another Esri solution that can be used to help address authority personnel collect inaccurate or missing information from both internal and external stakeholders. It allows office staff assign tasks to their field employees to make use of the address crowdsourcing app on their mobile devices. They can then check the addresses submitted and record any new ones they observe while out in the field. This information is automatically inserted into the appropriate database tables to be processed before being published.

The solution also allows office staff to assign a task with the option to validate an existing set of address data using a specified accuracy threshold, which allows them to identify mistakes, such as duplicates or incorrect addresses in the database. The information is then imported into the master address database to enhance data quality and make the dataset more accurate.

Reverse Geocode Geoprocessing Tool

If you're searching for the location of a specific business or just want to find out which location is the most profitable, reverse geocoding can help you get the most out of your data. Many mobile apps, including Uber and Lyft use reverse geocoding to transform raw GPS coordinates into information drivers can comprehend. Retail chains employ it to study the habits of their customers when shopping, and urban planners can combine address data with the density of people to determine which areas to build public facilities.

The Reverse Geocode tool turns point locations in a feature class into addresses by searching for the nearest intersection or address based upon the distance to search. It can be used to reverse geocode single points or multiple points in the form of a batch. The output is well-organized and ready for integration into other tools and systems.

It supports both standard formats as well as custom formats for address data. This includes the standard X and Y attribute values from the Point Address feature, as well as the identifiers of POIs (Points of Interest). You can also specify the geometries match the type of location it is. It could be a routing location (a street-side location that can be used to route) or the parcel's centroid or rooftop of an address.

In addition, you can make use of the tool to build an integrated locator by linking two or more existing locators together. The resultant locator will fall back to the ArcGIS World Geocoding service if it is unable to locate an address with your own personal data.

Reverse geocoding is an expensive process, especially when you're working with huge amounts of coordinates. Esri offers a no-cost usage limit of around 200 thousand requests per month. If you exceed this limit, you'll be charged. You can also buy a service to convert coordinates to address in a masse.

It's crucial, as a final point to check the accuracy and completeness of any address information you receive from your customers through reverse geocoding. This can be done by using a CASS-certified address verification API such as PostGrid. This will ensure that the addresses that you use in your direct mail campaigns can be delivered and will be delivered to your customers.

Data Assistant Add-in

The Data Assistant addin contains a set of tools that will aid you in moving data between datasets with different data structures. You can use these tools to accomplish a variety of tasks, like merging multiple source fields into a single target field or dividing the string into multiple fields to be used as targets.

To make use of the Data Assistant add-in, you must first install it. To do this simply click the Start button, select Control Panel, and then choose Add or Remove Programs. Uninstall Microsoft Data Assistant 1.0 by following the directions on the screen.

Once the Data Assistant add-in is installed, you can configure it to create a source-target configuration files and then load or substitute data from that file. The Data Mapping tool also includes several methods that you can use to transform data between various formats and handle special characters.

Learn about the Data Assistant Add-in to learn more about how it can help you in meeting your address collection needs. This solution explains how to work with the Data Assistant add-in and how to perform workflows to collect and update data on parcels and populate layers of community.

Data Validation Tool

A trusted address validation tool is a potent tool that can help businesses maintain the integrity of their data and increase operational efficiency. It ensures that mail goes to the correct address and that invoices are delivered to the right customer, and marketing campaigns reach their intended target audience, thereby improving the accuracy of delivery systems and improving overall satisfaction of users. When selecting a validation tool be sure to choose one with comprehensive country coverage and seamless integrations into business processes. Be aware of the pricing structure and select tools that provide a good return on investment.

It is important to ensure that the initial data entry of addresses is accurate, whether it's on handwritten forms at the retail store, or electronically when you check out online or integrating data from CRM systems. This will help reduce the chance of errors in shipping and return and ultimately boost customer satisfaction and loyalty. This requires more than just using a conventional postal code or ZIP code lookup; it requires thorough address collection and verification.

The process starts with a sophisticated data parsing tool that breaks down an address into its individual components, including the street name, city name, and postal code. The tool then compares these components with commercial databases to confirm their accuracy. The tool then standardizes the address to be in line with the global postal standards. For instance, it converts extended forms into standardized abbreviations or capitalization.

Finally, the address is geocoded to verify its place of residence. This is particularly important for companies operating globally. It helps them calculate shipping costs accurately and to be transparent to customers. This helps reduce the risk of costly delays caused by inaccurate or incomplete information. Additionally, a reliable geocoding API can help businesses comply with international shipping regulations and avoid issues related to customs.


Once the address has been verified, it's automatically updated in CRM and enterprise resource planning software to ensure that every customer contact, shipment or delivery is based on accurate data. The precise information about addresses can also streamline logistics operations by simplifying procurement, logistics and delivery of services.