Supporting multiple address verification APIs is a unique feature of our product. It is also one that at times causes confusion as many of our customers and prospects ask us which API is the best for them to use. So, we thought it was fitting to provide some insights regarding that differentiate the various Address Verification APIs that we support to help you select the one that works for you.
Standard Connectors
The standard connectors are the ones that are usually well known: Google Maps, Bing Maps and more recently Azure Maps.
These solutions demonstrate great performance, global address data coverage and often user-friendly user interfaces. In Google for example, you can simply look for a place by its name, and it will return the address of the said place.
While all of these features are great, the standard connectors are a different story when it comes to address accuracy. They are map-based address verification APIs : they plot points on the globe where the address would exist, even if it doesn’t exist.
Standard connectors are not verified or cross-checked with services such as USPS, Canada Post (or any country-specific authoritative reference data source). As such, some of the information returned by standard connectors is incomplete (apartment or suite numbers), and there is no guaranty that the address exists or is deliverable. It is important to note that this may or may not be an issue for lots of organizations where shipping or service delivery is not a core part of the business.
Standard connectors are a great fit for organizations:
that want to offer a quick and simple way to enter address data in Dynamics 365/Power Apps.
that want to standardize how addresses are stored in Dynamics 365/Power Apps.
that do not ship mail to address entered in Dynamics 365/Power Apps.
that do not send individuals (service agents, taxi drivers, sales reps etc.) to address entered in Dynamics 365/Power Apps.
The main advantage is that addresses would be standardized, easier to enter and would be accurate without some level of precision.
Premium Connectors
Our supported premium connectors are Canada Post Autocomplete, Melissa and Informatica. Premium connectors’ addresses are verified against authoritative reference data source (USPS CASS, Canada Post SERP etc.). Not only do they provide proprietary user-friendly address auto-complete features, but they also return addresses that are verified, deliverable and include lots of additional data points such as apartment or suite number, Zip+4, PO Box, rooftop level geocoding and more.
Premium connectors are recommended for organizations:
that want to offer a quick and simple way to enter address data in Dynamics 365/Power Apps.
that want to standardize how addresses are stored in Dynamics 365/Power Apps.
that ship mail to address entered in Dynamics 365/Power Apps.
that send individuals (service agents, taxi drivers, sales reps etc.) to address entered in Dynamics 365/Power Apps.
that need to add/enrich address information for various internal requirements (shipping, telemetry, statistics, identify confirmation etc.)
In short, the more accurate you need your address information to be, the better it is to work with a premium connector.
In closing
We have a good volume of customers using both Standard and Premium connectors. Organizations in field services, in customer good shipment and delivery tend to all work with premium connector to reduce cost at two levels: drivers sent to wrong or non existent locations (time, SLA and gas consumption), mail returned and having to be checked and shipped again.
Companies that use standard connectors typically want to have a way to standardize their addresses and provide an easy and fast way to enter address information for their end-users.