Been asked to do some research on mail presorting software. I've already looked at Melissa Data, whose API is a mess (luckily its also very terse).
I'm interested in hearing your experiences with software for verifying and presorting addresses.
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137answers:
4
A:
Have you looked into the options offered by the USPS? We're planning on using them for an application we're working on now.
http://www.usps.com/shippingassistant/welcome.htm
http://www.usps.com/webtools/welcome.htm
I believe tha UPS and DHL also offer web service APIs and software, but the USPS versions are free, and direct from the people we'll be using.
David Stratton
2009-08-25 15:45:42
This doesn't apply. They aren't offering anything I can integrate into an application (dll) that sorts addresses for postal discounts.
Will
2009-08-25 20:16:19
+1
A:
I messed with this a few years ago. Most of the solutions I found were applications geared towards scrubbing an entire database, or for integrating with Word or Outlook. I didn't have much luck finding anything that had an API that I could integrate into my software. The only .NET solution I found worked, but was poorly implemented and documented. I distinctly recall that their order page was not even served over https. I wish I could remember the name of the company.
The USPS tools, I think, are not useful for bulk operations. If you're only doing them on-demand, then it might be a good choice. Most of the USPS tools I've used (or tried to) were pretty byzantine in their implementation.
This may help:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/291728/open-source-address-scrubber
Ha! I just realized that the company mentioned in that link, Semaphore, is what I used 5+ years ago. And in 2009 their order page is still served over a non-secure connection!
Jason
2009-08-25 15:53:27
+1
A:
We use Satori Software's MailRoom Toolkit Architect for address validation and MOVE updates. Their API was very easy to integrate with and we are vary happy with them so far.
idophir
2009-10-27 19:20:59
A:
Use http://pb.com/addressrightnow. It has an easy interface a a website to upload you address files and process lists in realtime. The processed filed with updated Address and Moveupdate information can be downloaded in few minutes.