Enterprise Wide Address Validation Service

28 November 2003

Terralink International has developed a new service which ensures addresses being used by companies for direct mail-outs or other communication, including emergencies, do exist and are accurate.

Its new address point database, containing New Zealand's 1.6 million addresses, can validate both rural and metro addresses. It eliminates unused and incorrect addresses and others, which no longer exist by applying its store of aerial images and personal checking to validate the data.

"We found a lack of comprehensive sources for multi-purpose addressing in New Zealand. We have the most comprehensive, accurate and up to date addressing data in New Zealand that can be used for mailing, asset management, transport, property management and client databases," says Terralink's Business Development Manager, Julian Grainger.

"Many companies are using address information derived from official sources in their customer databases. We went through these data sets and found we had to correct more than half of these addresses. Many are either unused, incorrect or do not exist in the real world.

This means whenever the address set is applied for a different purpose, like invoicing electricity bills from the meter address, something invariably goes wrong, often resulting in lost mail. Terralink International, New Zealand's most innovative property data information company, has produced an address point database that has validated locations.

"Other companies use postal address data sets for validation. Not every property receives mail and, as a result, many companies cannot place their clients on the ground for service, logistical or analytical purposes," says Julian Grainger.

By capturing the x and y coordinate of the address, Terralink then uses aerial images to identify conflicts or sends people out to validate the address. But the key differentiator is that the database is maintained on a daily basis with data being captured from over 100 sources. Terralink also uses building consents as an early warning system for change.

"We can tell you if an address is on a street corner or if it is unused, such as an empty lot. Our service is currently solving problems in areas such as fraud detection, direct mail and meter reading," says Julian Grainger.

"Terralink's database can support address validation right across the organisation. This means one data source for many purposes, thereby providing the efficiency and consistency required for an enterprise wide system."

Terralink's CEO, Mike Donald says the address validation is a costly process with Terralink employing a Data Acquisition Officer and a team of eight for data maintenance. He says it is a significant investment but one that works. Many of New Zealand's blue chip companies and the emergency services' communications centres are clients.