Posts Tagged ‘gis’

Address Verification Software For Business Will Reduce Costs And Increase Profits

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

The implementation of address verification software for business is a great investment with real benefits to your organization. By using web service technology address verification modules can be easily integrated into your current software applications. There are a number of advance features that can increase productivity, profits and reduce costs.

Data entry errors account for the majority of inaccurate address data. Address verification software will identify these mistakes as the data is being entered. Entering data on forms can be partially automated by using intellisense and auto-complete functionality which will reduce the amount of typing needed to enter data. Productivity will improve as data entry becomes much faster. Zip codes will no longer have to be manually looked up and the spelling of cities and street names will not have to be manually verified. Even old data can be corrected by scheduling regular maintenance jobs.

For businesses that have route sales or delivery services a package that includes map coordinates can be very useful. Drivers can have a GPS Navigation system in their vehicles which can receive map coordinates. Another way that map coordinates can be used is in the assignment of sales leads. Sales representatives can be associated with zip codes. Sales prospects can then be assign to the appropriate sales staff based on the customer’s zip code. Potential customers will be contacted faster.

Undeliverable mail can be quite costly. There are costs in supplies, postage and wasted manpower. Address verification can significantly reduced returned mail. Customers invoiced will be received much faster so you can receive your payment sooner. This will have a positive impact on cash flow. Customer satisfaction will improve as delivery times improve.

Modules that gather and organize customer demographic information can be used to target advertising based on Zip+4, bar code data, congressional district or census blocks. Make your address data work for you and not just sit idle in your database. When sales staff contact potential customers they can design their pitch based on the prospects demographic information.

Address validation can even be used to fight fraud and abuse. You can quickly identify false or suspicious data. Phone notification features will call a phone number to verify both the number and location. The Social Security Death Index can be accessed to prevent phony credit applications.

Google, USPS, and major delivery services like UPS already have application programming interfaces and subscription web services available for address verification. These services are low cost and sometimes free. For organization that have more advanced need there are many fine software packages available with the advanced features discussed here. You can take advantage of trial offers and demo versions to preview specific packages.

In order to compete in today’s business environment an address verification software for business is necessary. The benefits are tangible: improved customer service, reduce costs and improved cash flow. Systems can be easily integrated into a web site. Today’s packages use the latest web application technology such as XML Web Services and AJAX function calls.

Canadian Coporate provides leading location content and software solutions to solve key business challenges. Location intelligence solution consisting of the most relevant location content which includes: address validation, address databes, geocoding software, postal code map, address verification and Spatial data.

A Look At A Postal Code Map

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Countries throughout the world use a postal code map in their postal stations. These maps are compiled for each country, state, country, and region and are kept in a centralized location where they are scanned into scanning machines that are used in postal stations throughout the world.

The kinds of scanners that are used for postal stations are often very large. Letters are collected from villages, towns, and small cities and transported to large, centralized distribution centers where the scanners read bar codes that have been placed on envelopes and parcels.

Many of these scanners also are made to reach the handwritten numbers and letters on envelopes. These letters are often more difficult for the scanner to read appropriately and, when it is not possible to discern the number or letter, the machine passes the letter or parcel to a human for review. The individual reviewing the letter will then direct the item to its appropriate distribution point.

People will find a postal station in almost every small town or city. Mail is distributed to, and collected from, the residents of the town. In most cases the mail is collected by services on a daily basis and transferred to the centralized station where it is sorted and shipped to distribution points in other regions.

The main scanning machines that are used in centralized stations are very large. When mail is dumped on the link chain conveyor it moves very quickly through an ever narrowing group of sorters that lead to the main point for scanning. As the mail is scanned, it is then directed to bins for local, national, and international distribution. When hand written letters or numbers cannot be read, the scanner sends the letters to a human who has a small handheld scanner. The code on the letter is scanned with the handheld scanner and the data is transmitted to the main computer. This allows the main scanner to read the numbers and letters when they come through again.

When the wrong postal code is placed on a parcel, it can be directed to the wrong country very easily. Many people put codes on their letters they are unsure of, when this occurs the letter or parcel can be missing for several years before it finally is returned or ends up at the correct address.

Scanning machines use a global postal code map that is built in to the hard drive of the system and updated regularly. An individual who does not put a postal code on a parcel will find that the postal station will put a label with the correct postal code on it so that the parcel will be sent to the proper location.

In many cases people are able to get maps that contain postal codes for their region or area. However, some large regions have several codes for cities and use many maps simultaneously in their distribution centers.

GPS systems are getting cheaper everyday. It’s not hard to find where you need to go using address validation, address verification and spatial data

Practical Applications of Geographic Information Systems

Monday, January 25th, 2010

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a system used to gather data and incorporate it in order to store, scrutinize, distribute, and show geographic information. GIS data displays actual world features such as elevations, terrain, and transportation networks, in a digital format. Images that are displayed come from the area where the information was retrieved. Users can take the information for such purposes as analyzing the digitally displayed data, mapping the data, and editing the data. A GIS will include application software for aerial photography, surveying land, extensive geographical mapping, remote sensing, and much more. It is often used to study global problems in an effort to find solutions much more quickly.

Recently, Geographic Information Systems have been developed to be used by the public. For instance, Bing Maps and Google Maps are GIS applications now used by millions of people around the world. Through interactive web mapping, the public now has access to large volumes of geographical information. Another important use of GIS is its use when studying climate change. It is now used in the tracking and analyzing of data regarding the impact of climate change. For example, GIS is used to study the ice melting in the Arctic.

Earthquake mapping is another way one can use GIS. One can map tectonic shifts in high risk earthquake areas for public safety planning and business development such as determining insurance rates. In regards to business marketing techniques, a business can use GIS to analyze demographic data to find regions where they will likely sell their products or services. Governments can utilize GIS to analyze census information such as health and education statistics. This is helpful for creating or modifying public policies and government spending. It can also provide health research assistance such as analyzing heart disease research data. As well, it can help with the creation of jobs in the appropriate regions which can give a boost to the economy.

Not only is GIS technology used for climate change research, it can be used for security and law enforcement logistics, urban planning and development such as selecting where to develop communities and roads that will have the least environmental impact, business marketing and evaluating a potential business market, cartography, management of natural resources, natural resource mapping, archaeology research analysis, and tracking and analyzing natural disasters with the intent of improving emergency response time. As well, GIS technology can be used as an educational tool for technology schools and universities for such studies as geography, science, and mathematics. Even high school students can make use of GIS in their curriculum.

Mapping where places and objects are located will help people find places that have the attributes they are searching for, and if there are problems, they can then identify what needs to be done and put together an efficient and effective problem solving strategy. As well, they are able to see important patterns emerging. The objective of GIS is to identify new trends from the analyzed research. Studying data using the Geographic Information System will help one learn and understand information much quicker and easier.

It is without a doubt that geographic information systems are becoming widely used in a variety of circumstances. GIS also play a role in health sciences research in analyzing medical conditions.