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The API whisperer: How to analyze Smarty's API output like a pro

Andrew Townsend
Andrew Townsend
 | 
December 18, 2024
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Come check out our newest webinar, where our specialists talk about how to analyze Smarty's API output like a Pro!

Smarty's US Street Address API and International Street Address API provide a lot of output. Things like Carrier Route, Congressional District, geocode, eLOT sequence, timezone, and much much more are available with every address check.

But there may be points of data that you’re not entirely sure what it means or how to use it.

In a recent webinar, we brought Lyle Durland, Head of Support, and Jeffrey Duncan, Technical Product Manager, together to outline some of the more useful points of data, and how to interpret it. Watch it now.

US Street API slide 1
Lyle began by pointing out that there are two particular properties that are extremely valuable: DPV Match Code, and Enhanced Match. These data points will answer:

  • Which addresses are valid?
  • Does an address actually exist or not?
  • Which mail carriers and delivery services will be able to deliver a letter or package to the address?
  • Is the address in the output the same one as the one in the input?

First, here are the possible values for DPV Match Code.

DPV Match Code values

So this tells you if an address is present in the USPS data and can be delivered by them. It can be handy to know if you're mailing something to discover that you're missing an apparent number.

There are some carriers that will ship to addresses that are not in the USPS address database but still exist.

This is where Enhanced Match data can come in very handy.

Enhanced match values

If an address is marked as non-postal-match in the enhanced match data, then you can likely still mail it.

To learn more about the details of these properties, you can view the full webinar recording here.

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