Melissa Data, a developer of high performance data quality and address management solutions, has announced expanded coverage for its GeoCoder Object. Available as a multiplatform API or as part of WebSmart Services, GeoCoder Object now provides accurate location-based information on 95% of all rooftops in the U.S.
To deliver the most complete rooftop coverage available, Melissa Data partners with NAVTEQ and TomTom (formerly TeleAtlas). The location intelligence that Geocoder Object provides can help organizations make informed decisions about risk exposure, tax jurisdictions, sales clustering, marketing segmentation and demographics, new markets, and logistics to name a few.
GeoCoder Object assigns latitude and longitude coordinates with precision, based on the ZIP + 4 (the 9-digit postal code) or the ZIP + 4 + Point of Delivery (the 11-digit code for the exact rooftop of the street address) when available. The partnership with NAVTEQ along with the existing partnership with TomTom provides Melissa Data with more data points for its geocoding product, "but we have also added in interpolated data as well," Greg Brown, director of marketing for Melissa Data, tells 5 Minute Briefing.
Because GeoCoder Object provides highly accurate address-level geocoding, it helps customers make more intelligent business decisions, says Brown. The verified accurate address tied to the most accurate latitude and longitude that is possible becomes the starting point for many different uses of the data, he explains. "Once you have an accurate latitude and longitude, you may want to plan your routing or your logistics based on that. It also allows you to present some overlays as topographical maps or things of that sort to chart out tax jurisdictions, or hazardous zones for insurance policy purposes. Any number of types of uses of mapping are made available once you have an accurate and verified latitude and longitude," he notes.
"We really call it an enrichment tool because once you have that information there is really no end to the types of ways that you can put it to use. And, in turn, you are enriching your whole data set that way," Brown observes.
Additional information on GeoCoder Object can be found here.