PostCoder Batch Address database cleaning
What is it?
A standalone product that can validate address records within your database and lets you update incorrect ones automatically. The software uses our advanced Address Matching engine, finely tuned over many years based on our experience of using and developing with PAF®. Manual editing of addresses is possible and suggestions are given for the most likely matches. Duplicate addresses can also be detected and removed.
A licence of PostCoder Pro, worth £320 per year, is also included free with your purchase of PostCoder Batch to help keep your addresses up-to-date on an ongoing basis.
Who uses it?
Commonly used by IT Managers, Database Managers and Data Analysts in a wide range of industries including healthcare, government and direct marketing.
Why should I use it?
The main benefit of PostCoder Batch is that it will clean your existing databases as frequently as you wish so you can be sure your address data is up-to-date and de-duplicated. This ensures that you don't mail a recipient more than once, wasting money. It also allows databases to be merged and shared more easily across departments, meaning you can use your data effectively for your business. Depending on the options you set, the cleaning process will run unattended through to completion at a rate of around 875,000 address records per hour (optimum performance depends on the quality of your address data, coupled with hardware capability).
What data is used?
- Royal Mail's Postcode Address File (PAF®) - 1.7 million Postcodes and 28 million Delivery Points including UDPRN
- Royal Mail's Alias Data - Former Postal, Administrative and Traditional Counties
- Postzon - 100m Grid References, NHS Health Authority codes and names, Local Authority information, OSGB36 and ETRS89 Longitudes and Latitudes
- Current County from Allies®
- National Statistics Postcode Directory from ONS - Primary Care Trust codes and names
- Up to monthly data updates
Performance levels
Address matching capabilities can be tweaked and controlled by you. Matches approximately 875,000 addresses per hour and has automatic failure recovery to resume the job where it left off in the event of a power failure.
What data formats can be input?
The software can work with data in a variety of formats including dBase, ASCII, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, Microsoft Access databases, fixed-length record text files and delimited record text files (e.g. comma-separated CSV). Also, if access to your data is available through tools such as ODBC, PostCoder Batch can work with UDL and DSN connections too.
How do I pay for it?
PostCoder Batch can be purchased on an annual per user licence with or without Postzon. This allows unlimited use per licensed PC.
More Details
What are the four categories an address can be sorted in to?
During the cleaning process, PostCoder Batch will assign each address into one of four categories:
- Checked - the Postcode was found to be correct, and the rest of the address was an unambiguous match. There may have been minor corrections but the address is essentially correct.
- Altered - the Postcode was missing, or large parts of the address did not match the input Postcode. However, an unambiguous match was made with another Postcode and the address has been corrected.
- Doubtful - the address could not be unambiguously matched to a single address, and there are several possible matches (listed).
- Poor - no likely matches could be found.
Can I add extra information to addresses?
Yes. As well as cleaning an address, PostCoder Batch can add on extra information. For instance, you can add on Ordnance Survey 100m grid references to each address (if you have a Postzon licence), a country name or text of your own choice. Many people add "The occupier" to the beginning of each address for a mailshot.
Can I include my original address beside the cleaned address?
Yes. The output files containing the cleaned data can contain any combination of address fields including the input addresses or any of the other fields from the input file. This is useful if you want to view the results of the clean side by side with the original data.
Will the software output addresses into a single file?
It is possible to output the addresses into a single file, or into different files in combinations of your own choosing. You might want to have all of the Checked and Altered addresses in one file, and the Doubtful and Poor addresses in another for example. It is also possible to sort the addresses within each category.
How long will an address clean take?
The software is fast, but some factors will affect the overall time taken to clean a database, including the speed of the machine and the quality of the input address file. The software is available as a trial version (with limited output) to test the performance on your own system.
Can I use Batch to produce a data extract?
The software does require an input file to work from and licence restrictions mean it is not possible to use the software to generate a list of addresses from scratch.
What file types does PostCoder Batch support?
PostCoder Batch can process files in the following formats: Fixed length record text files, delimited record text files, Microsoft Access databases, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and dBASE databases. You can also work with DSN and UDL files to create links to other external data sources.
Can I print my cleaned addresses onto labels?
Yes you can and further guidance can be found in the Help File. You can test the label printing functionality as part of your free trial. For Mailsort options please contact us.
