Address verification glossary

Address autocomplete

A web form feature that suggests street addresses to users as they type an address into a form. Because an autocomplete function reduces the number of keystrokes & mistakes that a user types, it can make data submission faster and more accurate.

Address cleansing

Is the collective process of standardizing, correcting, and then validating a postal address. Before an address can be validated, it must first be structured in the official postal format for the appropriate country, and any missing or incorrect information must be added or fixed.

Address correction API

Address correction is the process of taking improperly formatted addresses or addresses with typographical errors and matching them with the standardized, validated version in an official or authoritative address database.

Address database

When most people refer to an address database, what they usually mean is an address point dataset or list of addresses within a database. People seeking a national address database are often looking for the most complete address list possible for a certain country, such as those provided by Smarty.

Address enrichment API

An API that appends additional data points about the address. Data like congressional districts, FIPS Codes, vacancy status, address geocode, or any additional data that the local post authority may provide.

Address geocoding

Also referred to as “address matching" and “forward geocoding”, address geocoding is the process of identifying the geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) for street addresses.

Address lookup

An address lookup is the process of checking an address against an authoritative database to verify if the address is real and mailable. Performing an address lookup may also provide additional data points, like whether the address is residential or commercial, is vacant, or is incomplete.

Address metadata

Address metadata is secondary information related to an address such as a ZIP Code, FIPS Code, county name, longitude, latitude, etc. Address metadata is simply information about an address. Smarty provides up to 55 points of metadata for every address.

Address normalization

The process of converting an address into the correct format of the national postal authority and is the first step to verifying an address. The USPS is the authority that determines the format of addresses in the United States.

Address parsing

Parsing takes place when dividing a street address into individual or grouped components. Since the word “parse” means to divide something into components, some refer to address parsing as the process of dividing a street address out of or “extracting” an address from a string of text.

Address standardization

The process of changing addresses to adhere to USPS standards. The USPS defines a standardized address as "one that is fully spelled out, abbreviated by using the Postal Service standard abbreviations . . . or as shown in the current Postal Service ZIP+4 file." (Publication 28 Section 211, USPS)

Address validation

Address validation (or verification) is the process of checking a mailing address against an authoritative address database. If the address matches an address in the official database, the address "validates meaning it's real. Non-matching addresses are marked "invalid meaning they don't exist or aren't registered with the official database.

Address validation API

Address validation API or verification API is an application programming interface (API) that verifies postal information automatically. US address validation APIs normalize addresses to match the standards of the USPS. Address validation APIs efficiently integrate with websites, databases, CRMs and other software to enhance address data quality.

Address verification (also known as address validation)

Address verification (or validation) is the process of checking a mailing address against an authoritative address database. If the address matches an address in the official database, the address "validates meaning it's real. Non-matching addresses are marked "invalid meaning they don't exist or aren't registered with the official database.

Address verification system (AVS)

AVS (address verification system) is designed to prevent credit card fraud. During a purchase, it ensures the billing address of a credit card matches the one on file at the card company.

Address-only lists

Smarty only needs an address file in order to parse, standardize and validate addresses. We don’t need any PII to validate an address and companies don’t want to share it either. Smarty is serious about security, and we encourage users to send only necessary data.

Addressee

The name of the person or company at this address. This value is taken directly from the addressee input field. Very rarely, this field might be filled automatically based on the USPS address record.

Administrative area

The lowest level of geocoding accuracy. The location in question can only be parsed to be in a particular state or province.

Append carrier route

A postal carrier route is a group of addresses that receive the same USPS code to aid in efficient mail delivery. Appending means attaching more addresses to a pre-existing carrier route.

Application program interface API

Short for "application program interface an API is a set of programmatic instructions that allow one program, or part of a program, to interface with another program.

Army Post Office (APO)

All military addresses are treated as domestic mail, even if the actual destination is a foreign country. It's similar to how mail is delivered to unique ZIP Codes; USPS delivers the mail to military post offices, which then perform the final delivery. A military address must include the unit designation and APO/FPO.

Asset tracking

Some companies have physical assets, like servers or internet equipment, in various offsite locations. What if the company is multi-counting assets at alias addresses? It happens. National address lists with a persistent unique identifier for each delivery point make accounting for assets easier and more accurate.

Autocomplete API

An address autocomplete API is an application programming interface (API) that provides programmers with options for type-ahead search functionality inside their applications. Because the program sends queries while the user is entering an address the API provides real-time address predictions with each keystroke.

Bad address

Any address that cannot be reliably matched to a USPS deliverable address due to missing information, incorrect information, vacancy, or inactivity. There are 6 main reasons an address may return as a bad address. Address is: Incomplete, Incorrect, Improperly formatted, Invalid, Outdated, or a Duplicate Address.

Batch processing

No, we're not talking about cookies, we're talking about computers processing requests. These are often quick, but when given multiple requests things can get slow. Baking a batch, or batch processing is key. This is done by any tool or function that allows a user to dump a whole mess of requests on a computer all at once, leaving the machine to sort it out and process the batch.

Bulk address validation

Bulk Address Validation is the request for a large group of addresses to be verified or validated using a bulk address validation tool. With access to our Web Interface, a person can process lists of addresses in only a few minutes. Our tool can process up to 25,000 US addresses or 2,500 international addresses at once.

Caching

Caching involves storing frequently used information from a website, so that it doesn't have to be requested and retransmitted upon successive visits to the site. It's kind of like a portion of the website is already preloaded onto your web browser, and it does a lot to speed up browsing on the internet.

Callback

The callback function will be invoked to handle the JSON response, which is passed in. The timeout callback will be invoked if the request times out, and is passed the original input. The timeout callback is entirely optional, but recommended.

Candidates

A candidate is what you get back from our system after you submit an address for validation. Candidates will always be valid addresses. There are many factors that affect candidates and suggestions.

Candidate index

An input address can match multiple valid addresses. This ties the candidates to the input index. (e.g., "1 Rosedale Street Baltimore Maryland" will return multiple candidates.)

Carrier route

A USPS code assigned to a group of addresses to aid in efficient mail delivery. Postal carrier route codes are 9 digits: 5 numbers for the ZIP Code, 1 letter for the carrier route type, and 3 numbers for the carrier route code; 92019C005 is an example of a carrier route.

CASS™

CASS stands for The Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS). It's a certification tool created and used by the USPS to ensure the accuracy of validation and standardization software that taps into the USPS database.

Change of address form

This is a form notifying the USPS that there has been a change to your home mailing address. There is both a temporary or permanent form request. When done online there is a small identity validation fee.

Clean data

The opposite of dirty data. Data that is entered and needs no correction. Clean data is important and can make a world of difference in the time and energy consumed verifying information.

Coding accuracy support system (CASS)

CASS stands for the Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS). It's a certification tool created and used by the USPS to ensure the accuracy of validation and standardization software that taps into the USPS database.

Comma seperated value (CSV)

CSV stands for comma separated values. A CSV is a delimited text file that uses commas to separate each value. CSVs are used in bulk address verification and other tool.

CMRA

A CMRA (commercial mailing receiving agency) is a private company that provides mailbox rental services to individuals and companies such as The UPS Store.

County

A political and administrative division of a state, providing certain local governmental services. Learn how to perform a county lookup by address or ZIP Code

FFIEC geocode

FFIEC geocode refers to the FRB Census Geocoder, a system that helps US financial institutions meet their legal reporting requirements, specifically reporting on mortgage, farm, and business loans.

County FIPS Code

FIPS Codes are the numbers used to identify geographic regions like countries, states and counties. The use of FIPS codes facilitate interoperability across government agencies, contractors, and technical communities.

Customer intelligence

Collecting data to better understand and connect with customers. This is often used to better existing relationships with a company's customers. Because they include addresses for customers and non-customers, companies use national address lists to extract valuable customer and prospect insights for marketing, operations, and other departments.

Data enrichment

Data enrichment is the process of taking known data and merging it with third party data sources. The third party data is then appended to the known data to improve business intelligence.

Data governance

Data governance is a set of principles and standards that dictate the organization and unification of data within an organization. Institutions achieve high caliber governance by establishing data management systems, policies and processes.

Data management

Data management is the process of facilitating data control and flow, from the data's creation to processing, accessing, and deleting it. Everything from research statistics to the contact information for employees is governed and facilitated by data management. Data management is one of the most important components of data governance.

Data quality

Data quality is the validity, timeliness, accuracy, completeness, uniqueness, and consistency of data. Data quality is among the most important knowledge areas in data governance.

Deduplication

Deduplication means finding and removing duplicates. Every database or address list in the world has duplicates. If you gather or store addresses, you'll have to deal with it eventually. Many organizations choose to just ignore the duplicates so that they don't have to deal with them until later. Reduces data cluttering, bloating, and confusion.

Delivery line 1

Contains the first delivery line (usually the street address). This can include any of the following: urbanization, (Puerto Rico only) primary number, street predirection, street name, street suffix, street postdirection, secondary designator, secondary number, extra secondary designator, extra secondary number, PMB designator, PMB number

Delivery line 2

The second delivery line (if needed). It is common for this field to remain empty.

Delivery point barcode

Delivery point barcodes are made up of the 11-digit ZIP Codes with an additional number added. These are printed on the envelope or packaging when your mail is sorted at the post office.

Delivery Point Validation (DPV)

Delivery Point Validation™ (DPV®) is the process of verifying that an address is actually deliverable, meaning that mail can be sent to that address. A submitted address is checked against an authoritative database, and if there's a matching entry in the database, the submitted address is declared "valid." If there's no matching address in the database, the address is "invalid," and mail cannot be shipped there.

Diplomat Post Office (DPO)

The armed forces have their own military address format to ensure soldiers are able to receive their mail as they are moved around the world. They do this by the use of various Post Office types; Air/Army Post Office (APO), Fleet Post Office (FPO), and Diplomatic Post Office (DPO). Diplomat post offices are postal facilities that operate at a U.S. mission abroad as a branch post office of the USPS.

Dirty data

Addresses submitted for validation can have a lot of problems. Sometimes things are misspelled. Sometimes information is missing. Sometimes ZIP Codes or cities are wrong, etc.

DPV check digit

Delivery Point Validation™ (DPV®) is the process of verifying that an address is actually deliverable, meaning that mail can be sent to that address. A submitted address is checked against an authoritative database, and if there's a matching entry in the database, the submitted address is declared "valid." If there's no matching address in the database, the address is "invalid," and mail cannot be shipped there.

eLOT (Enhanced Line of Travel)

The eLot (Enhanced Line of Travel) number is a 4-digit sequence number the USPS uses to sort mail. To aid in mail sorting, eLOT® contains a sequence number field and either an ascending or descending code. The eLOT® sequence number indicates the first occurrence of delivery made to the add-on range within the carrier route, and the ascending/descending code indicates the approximate delivery order within the sequence number.

False positive geocode

A false positive geocode occurs when the address is marked as successfully found, but the provided geocode matches the wrong location. Behind the scenes, false positives are what happen when geocoders make guesses on no-match addresses.

Fleet Post Office (FPO)

Fleet post office that operates under the Department of Defense and serves those within U.S. Navy ships and installations. The Armed Forces have their own military address format to ensure soldiers are able to receive their mail as they are moved around the world. They do this by the use of various Post Office types; Air/Army Post Office (APO), Fleet Post Office (FPO), and Diplomatic Post Office (DPO).

Geocoding

Geocoding is the process of finding geographical coordinates for an address or place that is in a different format. These lat long coordinates are called geocodes. Geocodes can act as unique identifiers for entities and place names anywhere in the world. Geocodes can then be plotted on maps and have many applications, such as navigation, routing, spatial analysis, and insurance risk analytics, to name a few.

Glossary

A page with a bunch of terms and their meanings... in fact just give this page a good looking over and you'll see what a glossary is. We put a lot of work into this just so you could enjoy it, so please.... enjoy it!

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

HIPAA is the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The intended goal of HIPAA is to "make it easier for people to keep health insurance, protect the confidentiality and security of health care information and help the health care industry control administrative costs."

Inactive address

A no-stat address or inactive address indicator is used to signify that an address is not considered deliverable by the United States Postal Service. The US Postal Service labels some addresses no-stat. At Smarty, we call them inactive addresses for clarity.

Input ID

Any unique identifier that you use to reference the input address; the output will be identical to the input. This data is found within the Root section of the address metadata.

Input index

The order in which this address was submitted with the others (0 if alone)

eLOT (Enhanced Line of Travel)

An alert that is typically printed on a yellow sticker affixed to returned mail. It indicates that the mailpiece is Undeliverable As Addressed (UAA).

International address validation

International address validation is the process of comparing a non-US address against an authoritative address database for the country in which the address is located. Much like validating addresses in the United States, an international address is validated when a match is found in that country's official address database.

Interpolated geocodes

Interpolated geocodes make a guess of where an address resides based on verified points, often intersections for gridded streets. Interpolation adds speed to the geocoding process even though it is not the most accurate approach. Despite the complexity of the math involved, the concept itself is surprisingly simple, and it works like this: If we start with point A and end with point D, then point B and C must be in between.

Invalid entry

When using an address autocomplete or address validation tool, an invalid entry is an entry that is non-recognizable by the tool.

Last line

The last line of a street address with the city, state, and ZIP Code combined.

Latitude

The horizontal component used for geographic positioning. It is the angle between 0° (the equator) and ±90° (north or south) at the poles. It is the first value in an ordered pair of (latitude, longitude). A negative number denotes a location below the equator; a positive number is above the equator. Combining lat/long values enables you to pinpoint addresses on a map.

List cleaning

The process of removing bad addresses from a list. Validating that an address is correct at the time it is entered into your database and then using list processing to regularly clean, verify, and update the address list will help organizations achieve significant improvements in address data quality.

Locality

The data is verified to the level of the city or town. The reverse geocode lookup in question has been determined to be in a particular city or town, but the location cannot be specified anymore precisely.

LACS^link®

"Locatable address conversion system," LACSLink® matches addresses against a list of rural route, highway route, and box number addresses that have been renumbered or renamed and then updates the address accordingly.

Longitude

The vertical component used for geographic positioning. It is the angle between 0° (the Prime Meridian) and ±180° (westward or eastward). It is the second number in an ordered pair of (latitude, longitude). A negative number indicates a location west of Greenwich, England; a positive number east. Combining lat/long values enables you to pinpoint addresses on a map.

Ludicrous speed

This means we're fast, like really fast.... no I mean like ludicrously fast! In this comparison to other address verification company, Smarty would have to be a cheetah. Not just any cheetah, but a cheetah strapped to the side of the Voyager 2 satellite currently tearing out of the solar system at over 30,000 mph (48,280 KPH).

Mailers

These are letters or packages being sent via mail. These are sent to home or business addresses. Mailers can be anything from letters, brochures, postcards, flyers, newsletters, and postcards. They notify people of coupons, sales, or deals.

Mailing address

A mailing address is the official address where you get your mail. (10 points to you if you saw that answer coming from a mile away!) For many residential home dwellers across the United States, their physical street address and their mailing address are the same. Lucky ducks! Note, there are some situations where a physical address and mailing address won't be the same.

Mappable

An address that is not necessarily a "valid" or officially recognized address. The bottom line is this: What do you want to know about the address—where it would be if it were real, or if the address actually is real? Maps are great for showing you where an address might be; our service is great for helping you know if an address is real and deliverable.

Market saturation research

Research targeted at finding when the volume of your product or services offered will have been maximized within a market. Saturation studies help companies make better business decisions based on ROI. For example, companies are far more likely to get a good ROI when installing linear assets in densely rather than sparsely populated areas. Companies look at where the coverage and people are to identify fully saturated and underserved areas based on user population density.

National address database

The database that contains a list of addresses for delivery points within a specific country. People seeking a national address database are often looking for the most complete address list possible for a certain country, such as those provided by Smarty.

NCOA^Link®

"NCOALink or NCOA (National Change of Address) is a data set containing approximately 160 million permanent change-of-address records filed with the USPS in the last 48 months. This list consists of names and addresses of individuals, families, and businesses who have filed a change of address. To become NCOA certified, or licensed, you must be using CASS-certified address matching software with the NCOALink process.

National change of address link

A dataset of approximately 160 million permanent Change Of Address (COA) records consisting of people who have filed for a Change Of Address with the USPS within the last 4 years.

No-stat address

A no-stat address or inactive address indicator is used to signify that an address is not considered deliverable by the United States Postal Service. The US Postal Service labels some addresses no-stat. At Smarty, we call them inactive addresses for clarity.

Non-postal addresses

A "non-postal" address in the United States is a real street address that is not included in the USPS address database. Non-postals include but are not limited to: rural areas where mail delivery isn't financially feasible for the USPS, locations where inclement weather doesn't permit USPS delivery, and new construction that has not yet been added to the USPS database.

On-premise solution

With on-premise software, your company shoulders responsibility for maintaining the solution and associated processes. The deployment is done in-house using your company's workforce and tech. On-premise implementations usually take longer due to the time needed to complete installations on servers and any individual computers or laptops. Slow and steady wins the race, right? In this case, your prize is more control.

Open source

Software or code that is made available for redistribution and modification. These are often released under a license which would give the owner teh ability to use, study, change, and distribute any software.

Parcel centroid geocodes

Parcel centroid geocodes are calculated by taking the known boundaries of a property. Then, you approximate the geocode in the center of the parcel. Hence, the name “parcel centroid.” Parcel centroid geocoding tends to be more expensive than ZIP+4 or interpolated due to the additional city and county data needed to calculate the geocodes, but it still lacks precision.

Parcel data lookup

Address lookup to find data bout a property such as acreage, tax, zoning, land value, census data, boundaries, data about the structure, etc. This type of address lookup provides metadata about the address in question. For example, you can find out what county the address is in, what school district it belongs to, if it is in foreclosure, what its property lines look like, the property tax imposed on it, sales tax from its last sale, and hundreds of other data points. The applicable use cases are limitless.

People search

An address lookup that uses a person's name, city, and state in order to find matching addresses where the person may live, work or receive mail. But what if you have a name only and no address? No worries. A people search address lookup allows you to get the address you need, plus information on relatives, age, property details, and more.

Personally identifiable information (PII)

PII (personally identifiable information) is any information that permits the identification of an individual either directly or indirectly. What is considered to be PII varies based on industry, location, and how pieces of information are combined.

Physical address

A physical address designates the actual geographical location of your house, office, water park, favorite coffee shop, church, and so on. A physical address has a set geographic boundary and typically falls under the jurisdiction of an administrative area or region that has some government function.

PO Box only ZIP Codes

PO Boxes contain addresses where mailbox mail delivery is not offered. Each ZIP Code is designated with a "classification" indicator. Areas served only by PO Boxes receive a "P" classification

PO Boxes

PO Box only ZIP Codes contain addresses where mailbox mail delivery is not offered. Each ZIP Code is designated with a “classification” indicator. Areas served only by PO Boxes receive a “P” classification.

Point of delivery

A delivery point is the final destination for a letter or package carried by the postal service. It can be a PO Box, a mailbox at the curb, or a mail slot in a front door. It's the handoff point between the mail carrier and the recipient.

Postal districts

Postal district numbers started in large cities, and they started a while ago (London, for instance, was divided into 10 districts as early as 1857). WWI Europe had already seen the implementation of similar systems in cities throughout the continent. The US started using them at least as early as 1920. These district numbers were the forerunners of the modern-day postal codes.

Postal zones

Divisional boundaries that were put in place creating more accurate and quicker mail service. Postal zones are also used by shipping carriers in order to measure the distance the package would travel and could help define shipping costs.

Postcode

A variant of Postal Code; used in multiple English-speaking nations, as well as The Netherlands. A variant of Postal Code; used in multiple English-speaking nations, as well as The Netherlands. strings of numbers (and sometimes letters) that help postal services determine where a piece of mail is being sent to. They help simplify the task of bringing post to its destination.

Privacy laws

Laws built around the use of, regulation of, or storing of personally identifiable information. This includes personal healthcare information and financial information.

Private mail box (PMB)

An address that is associated with a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA), also known as a private mailbox (PMB) operator. Some benefits of a PMB include: text or email notification, as well as mail forwarding, mail tracking, mail supplies, etc.

Project US@

Project US@, (or Project USA) is a pioneering initiative with technical guidelines and standards to address the challenges surrounding address standardization processes in the healthcare industry.

Rejected address

An address that is not deliverable by the USPS. Addresses can be rejected for several reasons including vacancy, not active, or not deliverable. These address can be valid, but vacant or not active. A rejected address can also be triggered when the street, city, and ZIP are correct, but the primary number is incorrect.

Residential delivery indicator (RDI)

"Residential delivery indicator" indicates whether an address is a residential or commercial location. Since the USPS organizes and manages the authoritative address database for the US, they already know if an address is residential or commercial. And the way that they share that data is through the Residential Delivery Indicator, or the RDI.

Resource planning

Companies use lists to analyze where current and potential customers are in relation to resources like mobile towers and linear assets like fiber cable or pipelines of gas or water.

Reverse address lookup

A reverse address lookup allows you to locate information about the current resident, previous resident, current property owner, and other data using nothing but a structure's address. This makes it fast and easy to connect an address to a name for real estate, advertising, employee relocation efforts, arranging reunions, verifying online dating profiles, and much more.

Reverse geocoding

Reverse geocoding is the process of converting a set of coordinates, like latitude and longitude coordinates into the nearest street address and sometimes into the nearest place name or landmark. Reverse geocoders usually provide a list of the closest address candidates with each set of coordinates.

Rooftop geocodes

Starting with the parcel centroid geocode, it's then refined using additional data from multiple sources in order to match the geocode with the actual rooftop of the primary structure ont eh parcel

Sales intelligence

Sales intelligence is data that can be used by teams to better their outreach and understanding of customers and potential clients. Sales intelligence includes, tracking and analysis, data collection, and tools. Sales intelligence gives data driven insights into current and potential customers.

Secondary unit designator

Indicate a secondary number that identifies separate units on a single lot, parcel, or complex. apartment, suite, floor, unit, room, and department are all examples of common designators

Single field entry

Address verification via a single field entry tool. Single entry address geocode tools allow you to get geocodes just by filling out a webform. Single field entry has some great benefits including higher accuracy for address verification and allows you to copy and paste and address.

Sub-parcel geocodes

Let’s look at the geocode of 511 Walnut St, Cincinnati, OH 45202, the address of a popular ice cream shop in Ohio called Graeter's Ice Cream. 511 Walnut Street is actually a large office building, and the ice cream shop is a relatively small corner tenant. A sub-parcel geocode would be able to pinpoint the exact location of frozen deliciousness within the larger office building. What can we say except, "You’re welcome".

Suite^Link®

SuiteLink attempts to provide secondary information such as "suite" or "apartment" whenever there is a match based on address and company name. The SuiteLink Product will enable customers to provide improved business addressing information by adding known secondary (suite) information to business addresses, which will allow USPS delivery sequencing where it would not otherwise be possible.

Target market analysis

Assessing how well your products or services fit into the desired market or where it will reach the desired customer base. Additionally, national market research companies purchase national address lists to look at target-market penetration rates of various products or services.

Terminal-command prompt

The terminal command prompt is a text-based interface used to perform various tasks on a computer. It can be used to execute commands, run programs and scripts, open files, and more. The terminal is often referred to as the "command line" or "shell."

Thoroughfare

The geographic data has been verified down to the thoroughfare or street level. The exact location of the property is not identified. Rather, this level of data means that you are “close” But, its exact location cannot be verified.

Undeliverable as addressed mail (UAA)

Undeliverable as addressed mail (UAA) is mail that cannot be delivered by the United State Postal Service due to incorrect or insufficient address information. UAA includes flat-size and letter-size pieces that are returned to the sender. It can also refer to mailpieces sent using an International Service that cannot be delivered due to incomplete or incorrect address information.

Unique ZIP Code

A ZIP Code that consists of a single delivery point, pertaining to a United States Postal Service customer (like a large business or government agency) that routes all of its own mail internally. This is usually given to organizations that receive immense amounts of mail.

United States Address Management System (US AMS)

The United States Address Management System (AMS) is a tool created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to manage and maintain detailed address information for all domestic addresses. AMS includes features such as address standardization, multiple address validation processes, and integrated mapping capabilities. AMS can help businesses ensure their mailing lists are up-to-date and accurate.

USPS Publication 28

USPS Publication 28, also known as the Domestic Mail Manual, is the official publication issued by the United States Postal Service (USPS) that covers all aspects of domestic mail services. The manual provides information about what types of mail can be sent, how to properly address and label mailpieces, delivery times and standards, and pricing for various products and services. This publication is regularly updated to reflect changes in USPS operations, regulations, and standards.

USPS ZIP Code API

USPS ZIP Code APIs can perform a multitude of functions. They can verify that an address has the proper ZIP Code affixed to it. They can append a ZIP Code to an incomplete address. They can augment an address's ZIP Code by adding ZIP+4 Code data to the address, and much more.

ZIP+4 Code

ZIP+4 Codes are special 4-digit codes appended to 5-digit ZIP Codes that help the USPS to route mail efficiently. When added to mail, the last 4 digits of ZIP Code numbers identify segments of USPS delivery routes. Each ZIP+4 Code consists of about 10-20 delivery points and could indicate a building, a floor in a high-rise, or one side of a street segment.