The Address Enhancement Wizard will guide users through the key areas when preparing a file for Zip+4 Enhancement. Each step & the options available will be described in subsequent sections.
Step 1: Configuration & Settings
The Configuration and Settings window provides the user with several options to determine how they would like to begin enhancing their file:
- Use Previous Settings tells the matchIT to use the Zip+4 enhancement options from the previous run.
- Import without Enhancement will import/create the matchIT DBF for a source file, without performing any Zip+4 enhancement.
- Next will allow the user to go through each section of the Address Enhancement Wizard so that they can specify the options they would like to use on a particular file.
The Version Information section displays the expiry date for the addressIT data file. This expiry date can also be found in the Addressing tab of the matchIT options window. For this run through please select the Next button, as it will allow us to walk through each of the Address Enhancement Wizard steps.
Step 2: Headline Data Options
In the Headline Data Options window, the user will have the ability to determine which initial options they would like to apply to their data set. The list below will detail each of the options found in step 2 of the Address Enhancement Wizard. Some of these options will have a direct effect on subsequent processing, so it is a good idea to read the tooltips provided when hovering the cursor over any of the Headline Data options.
- UPPER case data is a specific option that is more likely to be used if a formatted mailing piece is being produced.
- The Add Mailing Fields to Data option allows a user to add fields useful in preparing an output suitable for mailing, such as Carrier Route Codes, Line of Travel info or Delivery Point barcodes. If this option is not selected, the Address Enhancement Wizard will not display Step 4: Mailroom.
- Use USPS unique address key as additional matchkey generates a unique key from the returned Zip+4 coding which is useful in enhancing the matching keys and results.
In this walk through, make sure to at least select the Add Mailing Fields to Data so that step 4 of the Address Enhancement Wizard is not skipped. After selecting the Headline Data options to use, please select the Next button to continue to Step 3.
Step 3: Address Data Enhancement
Step 3 in the Address Enhancement Wizard allows the user to choose whether they would like to standardize the address data, as well as append some region specific data. A description of each option can be found below.
- The Street Formatting option allows the user to select whether they would like addressIT to use their input street format, or if they would like to have the entire address format standardized.
- To update or create a Zip field, check one of the ZIP update The user can then select whether they would like to have addressIT populate their database with 5 digit zip codes, 9 digit zip codes or none.
- Add County Code will create and populate a field labeled Ccode in the users database.
- To append county names to records in a database, select Add County Name. The information will then be contained in a field labeled Cname.
- Selecting Add Congressional District will append the Congresional district information in a field labeled Congdist.
After the desired options have been selected, the Next button will take the user to Step 4 (the final step in the Address Enhancement Wizard).
Step 4: Mailroom
The options within the Step 4: Mailroom window will only be displayed by the Address Enhancement Wizard if the user selected to Add Mailing Fields to Data (in Step 2 of the Address Enhancement Wizard).
- To add a Carrier field to the data set, a user can select the Add Carrier Route Codes.
- Choosing the Add Delivery Point Barcodes option will result in the addition of a field labeled Dpbar.
- Selecting Add Line of Travel Information will create a field labeled Lot within the users database.
Once the appropriate options have been selected, the Finish button will close the Address Enhancement Wizard and allow matchIT to carry on with the importation of the source data.
The Address Enhancement Summary is a simplified report that provides the user with a quick overview of the address enhancement results, as well as the details for the Delivery Point Validation (DPV) option.
Exact figures for the address enhancement graph can be found directly beneath the graph itself. It will display how many records were coded as a success, as well as how many records were coded as failures. Failures will be organized into categories that are based on the reason for the failure.
Specific Delivery Point Validation (DPV) information can be found in the Delivery Point Verification Results section of the report. This section will display the results for the Delivery Point Validation of the addresses found within the users source file.
This reports print toolbar will work in the same way as the other print toolbars. Please use the icon to close the report preview and continue on.
Verifying the addressIT Results
When a file has been passed through addressIT, the addressIT section of the Quality Assurance Wizard will become active. This section will provide the tools necessary to Q/A check some, or all of addressIT’s results.
- The Address Processing Summary will allow the user to either preview, print, file or PDF the Address Enhancement Summary previously discussed.
- When using the Address Processing Detail option to view records, matchIT will allow the user to view either address successes or failures based on criteria selected by the user. (See Address Processing Detail for more details)
The Address Processing Detail option is the most powerful quality assurance tools for addressIT. The next section will go over some of the more common Address Processing Detail options and functionality.
Address Processing Detail
The Address Processing Detail option works much the same way as the View/Edit by Category option. A user can select one or more criteria for viewing addressIT successes or failures. Both the Coding Successes and the Coding Failures tabs offer an option to Select All records. matchIT, however, will not allow the user to Select All for both Coding Successes and Coding Failures.
In the lower half of the window, the Output Options are displayed. These options allow the user to perform several tasks that are based on the coding criteria specified by the user.
- Using the Browse on screen option allows the user to compare the input and corrected data in a side by side view.
- Selecting the Output to file option will create a separate DBF file containing records specified by the user’s selected criteria.
- The Print to report feature will send a report to a user specified printer. This report is based on the addressIT criteria chosen by the user.
- If a PDF version of the report, mentioned above, is needed – the user can select the Create PDF They can then specify where they would like the PDF to be created/saved.
The Continue button allows the user to carry on with either of the options they have selected, while the Compare button allows the user to view data side by side – regardless of the option selected. Choosing Flag Records will remove records that correspond with the criteria selected by the user. The following screen shot and descriptions will discuss the Compare option provided in the Address Processing Detail window.
The window above displays a side by side comparison of the original data and the addressIT corrected data. The records displayed will depend on the success or failure criteria specified by the user.
matchIT does allow the user to modify either the original data or the corrected data. Modifying the data, of failed records, can help increase the chances that they will be CASS certified when the records are output in a source file. Once the Close button has been selected, the changes will be saved and the user will be returned to the main Address Processing Detail window. Returning to the main Address Processing Detail window will allow the user to carry on with any other processing of CASS successes or failures. Selecting the Close button will return the user to the Quality Assurance Wizard.
The next section will discuss the use of addressIT on an output file. From the QA Dashboard window, please select the Output tab. From the Output tab, choose the Output to File button. The Produce Output window should now be displayed.
Utilizing addressIT for an Output File
The Addressing tab of the Produce Output window will become active when the user tries to output a file that has been processed by addressIT. These new Addressing options will be available in addition to the Main Options for outputting a file. The inclusion of these addressing options will allow the user to output subsets of their file depending on the CASS status of a record, while providing the ability to format the address lines and generate a 3553 CASS report for the resultant file. For more details on these options, please see the details below.
- The Select Records to Output section allows a user to determine if they would like to output all records, CASS passes, or CASS failures. This option will place a filter on the source file, so as to only output the records required by the user.
- To Generate CASS 3553 report the user only needs to specify the path of where they would like the report to be saved. Once the output file has been generated, the CASS report will be run on that file. The user can then find a TXT and PDF version of the report saved to the location they specified. If addressIT was being used for a mailing piece, the 3553 CASS report will need to be supplied to the United States Postal Service (USPS).
- To format the address lines of an output file, the user can select the drop down option located in the Select Address Output Configuration The drop down contains several options for the most common address formats.
- City, State, Zip separate
- City & State combined, Zip separate
- City separate, State & Zip combined
- City, State, Zip combined
- Do not modify the Output File Layout
Selecting any of the options in the Addressing tab, can and will modify the source file layout. If the user would like to maintain a layout that has been specified, they will need to set the Select Records to Output option to Output all records and the Select Address Output Configuration option to Do not modify the Output File Layout.