Interpersonal skills and how they tie to leadership, teamwork, and business growth is no cakewalk.  Yet every business knows that retention of employees is largely contingent upon quality interpersonal skills.  That's why so many organizations implement principles and techniques taught by the greats. I'm sure you've heard of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends &amp; Influence People", Steven R.  Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", or maybe even "Dare to Lead" by Dr.  Brene Brown. 

Discover the power of Meet to Learns in building stronger relationships at Smarty. Discover how this tool helps build our amazing culture now!

The Meet to Learn

Properly implemented address autocomplete can help businesses to improve conversion rates by speeding up address entry, improve address data quality by reducing typos, and reduce user frustration related to errant address data. &nbsp;But, if you choose the wrong autocomplete API or make implementation errors, those benefits can evaporate.  In our new ebook, "Magical Benefits of Address Autocomplete," where we've compiled valuable insights and implementation tips, including the best practices we'll cover here. 

Enhance your users experience with address autocomplete. Avoid common pitfalls with Smarty. Check out our address autocomplete ebook now!

Address Autocomplete Best Practices

It's often said you need two skills to find love: sales and marketing. &nbsp;You need&nbsp;marketing skills to present yourself well and gain the attention of the person you want.  Then, you need&nbsp;sales skills to lie like you're the devil himself. &nbsp;But what if you aren't conventionally attractive and (like the sales team at Smarty) aren't willing to lie? To compensate, you'll need to dial up your marketing; we're talkin' data automation, streamlined &amp; integrated data systems, time-saving and cost management, eliminating human error, and workflows like crazy. 

Meet our Marketing Operations guru, Andrew Townsend, and delve into his journey from tricky addresses to streamlined data systems. Read more now!

Inside Smarty - Andrew Townsend

Did you miss our recent webinar on how to use our new Google Sheets and Excel plugins for address validation? Don't worry; we've got you covered.  This blog post provides an in-depth summary, highlighting essential functionalities, setup processes, and answers to some pertinent questions raised during the webinar. &nbsp;The BasicsWe want to make it easier for businesses to validate addresses and retrieve necessary data efficiently.  While we do have a bulk validation tool that can be accessed as a demo or a full tool, we find that most peopel are already working with address data in a spreadsheet form, usually in Excel. 

Did you miss our address validation webinar? Simplify validation in Google Sheets or Excel with Smarty! Stay updated on plugin releases. Check it out now!

Smarty's Excel & Google Sheets Plugins for Geocoding & Address Validation

In the mystical and beloved land of Middle-earth envisioned by J. R. R.  Tolkien, we find a powerful lesson encapsulated in the gentle beings of the Shire, the hobbits.  As the world celebrates Hobbit Day today, we at Smarty take a moment to reflect upon the substantial parallels between Tolkien's humble hobbits and the fundamental principles steering the realm of address data intelligence. In the grand scheme of things, it’s often easy to overlook the small, the quiet, the unassuming.  This is one of the several clever reasons JRR Tolkien chose these garden-loving creatures as his heroes. 

Celebrate Hobbit Day with Smarty as we explore the parallel between hobbits and address data intelligence. Embrace the 'hobbit-like' spirit of address data with us.

Hobbit Day

Have you ever walked past those upside-down Smarty banners at BYU and wondered, "What's going on here? Did someone make a mistake? Is somebody getting fired?"We know it really&nbsp;shook some people up. Smarty™ isn't a company that stays inside the most standard lines when it comes to advertising.  From&nbsp;hiring the wrong Tom Cruise for our video ads, to posting ads in magazines with the tagline "don't scan this QR code," we've never really fit the standard mold. And the upside-down banners at Brigham Young University are yet another one of those moments. 

Check out Smarty's upside-down banners around the BYU campus. Explore our quirky advertising with a playful twist. Read on for the full scoop here!

The Story Behind Smarty's Upside-Down Banners at BYU

Address keys can be used to improve data blending, update and enrich addresses, reduce data processing time, and protect personally identifiable information.  In this webinar, we brought in our product marketing manager John Hickey to teach about what they are, how they work, why they're crucial for data management, the different types available, what to look for in one, and what to avoid. Ultimately, John pointed out five primary uses for address keys:1.  Update Address Changes2.  Simplify Data Blending3. 

Learn from our expert! Join the webinar with John Hickey to understand address keys' role in data enhancement, protection, and efficient management.

Address Keys: 5 Data Management Uses and How to Choose One

In today's fast-paced tech world, it's essential to gain insights from those who have been in the trenches, building, testing, and creating software that impacts our daily lives.  One such individual is Michael Whatcott, a key figure at Smarty.  Let's dive into his journey, approach, and the knowledge he's garnered over the years. But that’s just Michael's professional bio.  To know who Michael is, we’ve asked for some clarification. Explain to a 10-year-old.  What do you do at Smarty?"I work on the tools and systems that make payments, manage subscriptions, and create reports here at Smarty. 

Dive into the journey, approach, and insights of Michael Whatcott, a key figure at Smarty, as he shares his experiences and lessons from the tech world.

Inside Smarty - Michael Whatcott

Crowd-source data is a term that has gained significant traction in recent years.  In a recent webinar, we brought in our own Adam Charlton to talk about what can and can’t be trusted when using Open Source or Crowd-Sourced address data. Defining Crowd-source DataAt the outset, it's imperative to understand what we mean by crowd-source data.  It essentially refers to data that is both gathered and curated by individuals.  The distinguishing feature here is that the data's curation process isn't dictated by a centralized authority or stringent verification system but by the same community that's gathering and supplying the data. 

Explore the world of crowd-sourced data, it's reflecting nuances, global scope, and community engagement, but also facing challenges. Find out more now!

Can You Trust Crowd-Sourced-address-data

In the realm of corporate meetings that should've been an email, Smarty's staff meetings are different from what most would expect.  Employees at Smarty frequently name our weekly company-wide meeting as a highlight of their week. Like many companies, our staff meetings consist of company announcements, and updates you'd expect from any SaaS company.  What makes our meetings unique is the lively, interactive, fun atmosphere where laughter is the most common sound and hurting cheeks are the most common symptom. 

Discover the unconventional charm of Smarty's staff meetings: A blend of laughter, interaction, and camaraderie that creates highlights of the week.

Inside Smarty - Staff Meeting

August 22, 2023 - PROVO, Utah - Smarty, the location data intelligence leader, has secured its place as a finalist in the prestigious 2023 SaaS Awards program, competing in the category of Best SaaS Product for Shipping, Inventory or Vehicle Logistics. Now celebrating its 8th year, the SaaS Awards continues to recognize and honor outstanding SaaS innovations from all corners of the world.  Entries from hundreds of companies spanning North America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Australasia were received. 

Smarty: Finalist in SaaS Awards 2023! Join the celebration of innovation. Discover how Smarty's solutions excel. Come find out about why Smarty is a finalist!

Smarty Named a Finalist at The SaaS Awards for Excellence in Shipping, Inventory, and Vehicle Logistics Category

Hey, web developers! Ready to enhance your address forms and provide a seamless user experience? In our new ebook, "Magical Benefits of Address Autocomplete," we explore  valuable insights and implementation tips to transform your checkout and make address entry the easiest thing they'll do all day.   Click here to download the ebook and learn more, or read on to get a preview of what the ebook offers.   In this blog post, we discussed how reverse geocoding and address autocomplete can work together to facilitate zero keystroke autocomplete. 

We understand that when it comes to address forms, one size doesn't fit all. Come check out our tips for implementing our Address Complete API here!

Address Autocomplete API Implementation Tips

Smarty has been creating top-notch address data tools since it's inception in 2011.  A key part of providing the best location data and address data tools in the world is keeping those products at the cutting edge of the industry.  We do this by adding new features, products, and solutions that our customers can use to improve their lives as often as we can. In a recent webinar, our Chief Product Officer Berk Charlton outlined some of the newest features we've added to our US Rooftop Geocoding tool. 

A key to providing the best location data and address data tools in the world is keeping products cutting-edge in the industry. See how Smarty does it now!

Geocoding Update: Accuracy, Census Block and Tract, PUID & More

🎩✨ Imagine this: a customer visiting your site doesn't have to enter their address during checkout because your form auto-populates with valid options, without typing a single character.   It's like magic, right? In fact, it's just good tech! In this blog post, inspired by our new ebook, "Magical Benefits of Address Autocomplete," we're going to show you how to become an autocomplete magician and enchant your forms with the smoothest address entry experience imaginable.  Click here to download the ebook and learn more!      Abracadabra, Your Address is Ready! Take a moment to imagine your customer's experience when they realize their address is already there, ready for selection. 

Harness the magic of zero keystroke autocomplete. Simplify address entry, minimize errors, and maximize conversions. Download our ebook now!

Boost Ecommerce Checkouts with Zero Keystroke Autocomplete

Spend enough time as a software developer, and you learn about the existence and pain of technical debt. Understanding, managing, and communicating technical debt is crucial.  It allows us to build more maintainable software, improve our productivity, and even boost team morale. We recently hosted a webinar with one of our software development team leads, Kiersten Nelthorpe, and senior software developer Cody Robertson, where they gave valuable insights and strategies to help you deal with technical debt in your work. 

Technical debt is choosing a quick and easy solution in the short term, which results in higher costs and reduced efficiency in the long term. Find out more now!

How to Measure, Manage, and Minimize Technical Debt

World Wide Web Day on August 1 celebrates the birth of the World Wide Web and its significant impact on modern society. While the Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same (the Web refers to a web of linked pages via hypertext links while the Internet refers to the exchange of information by people on their own computers), the World Wide Web played a crucial role in making the internet accessible and user-friendly to the general public. Let's explore how the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web have improved address validation and geocoding. 

World Wide Web Day on August 1 celebrates the birth of the World Wide Web and its significant impact on modern society. Read all about it here!

Celebrate World Wide Web Day

Handling address data is such a routine occurrence for health insurance providers that it’s not the first thing that would come to mind as being a liability.  However, the reality is that discrepancies and inaccuracies in address data can have far-reaching consequences, posing serious privacy and compliance risks.  Healthcare fraud, reputational damage, and financial penalties are just a few examples of the potential hazards. In this article, we’ll delve into three common types of privacy and compliance risks resulting from incorrect or incomplete address data. 

When it comes to sensitive communications, it’s vital that the right information goes to the right person. Check out how solid address data benefits health care!

Compliance Risks of Inaccurate Address Data for Health Insurance Providers

When it comes to physical health, sometimes the smallest things can have a big impact.  A microscopic virus or a small injury can develop into a life-threatening infection before you even know it’s there — and conversely, a tiny pill or ointment can save a life. The little things matter when it comes to health data, too.  In particular, address data is a small part of a patient profile that can have far-reaching effects if it is incorrect or incomplete.  Address data is a key information point at the center of billing and communication with patients, and even a slight mistake in an address—a missing unit number or a misspelled street name—can make mail undeliverable. 

Incorrect or incomplete addresses pose significant financial risks for health plans. Find out for yourself how Smarty gives you whole and accurate data here!

The Financial Impact of Inaccurate Address Data for Health Insurance Providers

Ever since the first Blue Cross health insurance plan was provided to Texas schoolteachers in 1929 for a monthly fee of $6, health insurance providers have formed the backbone of the American healthcare system. Today, as that system faces ongoing scrutiny, health insurance providers are still at the heart of the action, striving to connect patients to the highest possible quality of care while navigating significant changes including rising costs, digital transformation, medical advances, customer expectations, and ever-present regulations. 

Healthcare thrives on accurate data and can suffer silent risks from inaccurate data, such as bad address data. Find out how Smarty provides clean data here!

The Silent Risks of Inaccurate Address Data for Health Insurance Providers

Inside Smarty - Adam Charlton  We have the luxury at Smarty of working with some incredibly intelligent, kind, friendly, and in many cases, funny individuals.  Today we showcase one of those fantastic individuals, Adam Charlton.   Adam came to us with a fantastic amount of technical knowledge.  Not only has he worked as a developer performing UI, database management, and security projects for companies such as Qualtrics, but he also comes to us with a robust data analytics background.  These experiences have given Adam the technical skills and abilities to code in Go, Java, Javascript, SQL, Python, and C++ and expertise in data visualization, including R and Tableau. 

Uncover Smarty's unique culture and meet Adam Charlton, our spotlight this month. Discover why he's admired among the amazing talent at Smarty!

Inside Smarty - Adam Charlton

Quick deliveries, instant search results, and speedy interactions have become the norm in our fast-paced world.  Efficiency in online transactions has never been more critical.  This goes double for businesses and their investors who are continuously seeking solutions that balance speed and accuracy.   Just imagine a scenario where a customer is filling out a form on your website - the more time it takes, the more likely they are to abandon the process and navigate away.   Our new ebook, "Revolutionizing Address Entry: Magical Benefits of Address Autocomplete," delves deeply into this topic. 

Efficiency in online transactions is critical. This goes double for businesses that are seeking solutions that balance speed and accuracy. Read about it here!

5 Hidden Costs of Not Using Address Autocomplete

Every July 11, technology enthusiasts, scientists, and curious minds come together to celebrate a milestone in the annals of scientific achievement - Laser Day.  On this day in 1960, Theodore Maiman first operated the laser, introducing the world to a tool that would significantly shape industries, from manufacturing to healthcare.   At first glance, lasers and processes like address validation, geocoding, address enrichment, and address autocomplete may appear worlds apart, relegated to vastly different domains. 

Join us as we commemorate Laser Day. Much like lasers, Smarty is ludicrously fast and incredibly accurate. Come find out why our tools are what you need!

Celebrating Laser Day and the Precision of Modern Technology

Without looking it up, do you know how much insurance losses natural catastrophes caused in 2022? What's your guess?  According to a report published by Swiss Re, the world's leading provider of reinsurance, "Natural catastrophes caused an estimated USD 115 billion of insured losses in 2022—coming in well above the 10-year average of USD 81 billion. " A number that large, leaves a lot of room for improvement.   One of the biggest challenges insurance providers face is accurately predicting where and when these devastating disasters will occur so that they can take appropriate measures to mitigate losses. 

One challenge insurance providers face is accurately predicting when disasters will occur so that they can take measures to mitigate losses. Find out how now!

Insurance Early Warnings + Rooftop Geocoding

You've got more website traffic than ever, but your conversion rate and sales are plummeting.  What's worse is that this is the information you've got to deliver to the executive team for the monthly report.  They're going to want to know the reasons why and the proposed solutions.   Of course, you'll make it your top priority to figure out what's going on.  You decide to map out the flow of the user's journey on your website.  You identify key points where there could be problems for the customer. 

Address autocomplete makes checkouts, forms, and location predictions simple and easy. Come find out how address autocomplete can help your business!

How Address Autocomplete Grows Your Business

In our recent webinar, we brought together two of our software engineer experts, Adam Charlton and Ryan Cox, to demonstrate how to build a working application using ChatGPT to generate most of the code.   We know what you're thinking: ChatGPT can't take our jobs; we've tried.   This is wonderfully true.  ChatGPT can pull together useful bits of information but still needs to be guided and curated by a human, preferably one with subject knowledge.   The exact working scenario given by Adam and Ryan was:  Write code in Python that takes an address and delivers the ten closest addresses to that address. 

Adam and Ryan recently demonstrated how to build a functional application using ChatGPT to generate large amounts of code. Read all about it here!

Use ChatGPT to Write Better Code, Faster

June 27, 2023 – PROVO, UTAH - Smarty, the location data intelligence leader, has teamed up with Sapiens, a global provider of software solutions for the insurance industry, to help insurers take their business-critical location data to the next level.   With access to Smarty's cutting-edge tools, Sapiens customers can now transform the way they underwrite policies, manage risk, and process claims.  Leveraging Smarty's technology allows insurers to refine risk profiles, write more profitable policies, insure properties more effectively, and improve the claims lifecycle while simultaneously reducing costs, risk, and liability. 

Smarty Has Partnered with Sapiens, Providing Insurers with Faster, More Accurate Access to Business-Critical Location Data. Check It Out Now!

Smarty Helps Insurers like Sapiens with Accurate Location Data

We have the luxury at Smarty of working with some incredibly intelligent, kind, friendly, and in many cases, funny individuals.  Today we showcase one of those fantastic individuals, Kiersten Nelthorpe.   Kiersten is one of our amazingly talented Software Engineers and is the team lead over our Backend Accounts Engineering team.   Her accomplishments include building Microsoft API services for enterprise software, developing features for supply chain tools for Vivint, and building backend reporting APIs for Imagine Learning. 

We have the luxury at Smarty of working with some incredibly intelligent, kind, and friendly individuals. Learn more about Kiersten as we spotlight her here!

Inside Smarty - Kiersten Nelthorpe

As a distinguished leader, diplomat, and explorer in the Star Trek universe, Captain Picard's legacy extends far beyond the realm of science fiction enthusiasts.  In 2007, fans decided to bring a piece of Star Trek lore into reality: Captain Picard Day.   This 'holiday', first introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Pegasus," is an annual celebration  observed on the Enterprise by its youngest crew members.   The date mentioned in the episode is Stardate 47457. 1, which translates to June 16. 

On this special day, we'll share Captain Picard's quotes and their relation to address validation.

Captain Picard Day: Validation Insights from Jean-Luc Himself

Lost packages equal lost revenue.   It’s a simple equation—if USPS or another delivery service can't deliver your products to the listed address, you’re likely out the cost of the item and the shipping, and you might even have to pay a return fee.   However, one simple addition to your workflow can get your balance sheet back to black—address verification.   Use a full address validation service that includes secondary address data like apartment unit numbers to cleanse your delivery list.  Clean address data helps you reduce costs from misdeliveries, delays, lost mail, returned mail, reshipments, and change of address fees. 

The math is simple, a lost package equals lost revenue. Ensuring that an address is valid saves you time and money. Read more or check out our ebook here!

Address Verification Reduces Overall Cost of Shipping & Routing

Did you know that something as simple as a mistyped address could open you and your customers up to potential fraud?  Fraud can take a huge bite out of your profits, as well as lead to reputation damage and other risks.  It takes most companies an average of 14 months to catch on to fraud happening, resulting in average losses of $8,300 a month.   However, you can take steps to reduce fraud, risk, and reputation damage by implementing address verification.    4 Common Types of Address-Related Fraud  1. 

Something as simple as a mistyped address could open you and your customers up to potential fraud. Find out how address verification lowers fraud now!

Reduce Fraud and Reputation Damage with Address Verification

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 are 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. 

Come check out our newest webinar, where our specialists talk about how to analyze Smarty's API output like a Pro! Check it out now!

The API Whisperer: How to Analyze Smarty's API Output Like a Pro

What’s wrong with this picture? Your quarterly web traffic is up, but sales are down.  Somewhere in your sales pipeline, friction is stopping leads from converting.  Online forms and ecommerce checkout flows are a common source of friction.   Did you know? The mean conversion rate for online forms is a mere 21. 5% 76 out of every 100 visitors abandon their cart when they’re unsatisfied with the experience Cart abandonment is responsible for $4. 6 trillion in lost eCommerce sales yearly   All the work you put into planning and developing lead generation campaigns—free trial signups, gated resource downloads, etc. 

Your quarterly web traffic is up, but sales are down. Customers in your sales pipeline are hitting friction. Find out how to move customers through your site now!

Reduce Friction in Forms | Smooth Moves Aren't Just for Dancing

Last week we participated in National Bike to Work Week! Our focus was to encourage physically beneficial commuting methods that get the air running through your hair.  We expanded our scope of vehicles beyond bikes to motorcycles, motorscooters, and even walking.  It was a transformative experience as we embraced alternative transportation to work.    Benefits of Active Commuting:  Active commuting offers numerous advantages for both individuals and the environment.  By incorporating physical activity into our daily commute, we reap the benefits of improved fitness levels, increased energy, and reduced stress. 

Check out how these Smarties and helping our community by biking to work. Read about our amazing co-workers and see why our company culture is the best.

Smarty Employees Bike to Work Week: A Sunnier Commute

PROVO, Utah--Smarty, a leader in address data intelligence, today announced that it has been named an industry leader, receiving 22 awards and top honors across address verification and e-commerce tools categories in G2's Spring Report.  Awards and rankings originate from customer feedback and reviews, highlighting the best software products for businesses.   Smarty ranked first amongst over 50 address verification services, honored with recognition in the following areas:  - Leader - Easiest To Use - Most Implementable - Easiest Admin - Best Results - Best Relationship - Best Usability - Highest User Adoption - Best Meets Requirements - Momentum Leader  G2's address verification category awards are based on customer feedback and verified reviews from nearly 1,000 customers. 

Smarty announced it has been named an industry leader, receiving 22 awards across address verification and e-commerce tools in G2's Spring 2023 Report.

Smarty Named as Data Intelligence Leader Across Address Verification and E-Commerce Categories

Your business generates data with every digital ad you run, every purchase order, every promotional mailing, and every customer survey you do.  And every time one campaign wraps up, another starts.  Developing a solid database cleansing and consolidation strategy can help prevent a database full of holes and information gaps.   Why does database cleansing matter? Your revenue will diminish if you rely on bad data to make strategic business decisions.  In our ebook, 5 Ways Companies Use Address Verification to Improve Business Results, we discuss how to use address verification software to cleanse databases and merge datasets. 

Why does database cleansing matter? Bloated databases lead to diminished revenue and bad business decisions. Read about cleansing your database now!

Go Mr. Clean on Your Databases and Reduce Risk—All With Address Verification

Picture this.   You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind.  A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination.  That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone!  Can you hear the 🎵 dee dee dee doo dee dee dee doo 🎵?    That is the familiar introduction to a show that would boggle our minds and twist reality as we know it.  Today, apparently, is Twilight Zone Day.  Celebrate how you will.   Another thing that boggles our minds and seems to twist reality as we know it is when addresses change or when they go by an alias, or when you ship something to someone's house at the exact address they told you, and it still gets returned for some reason. 

Ever-changing address data can be frustrating and can lead you to feel like you're in a twilight zone. Find out how Smarty Clears that up now!

Welcome to the Twilight Zone of Address Data

If you’ve decided to embark on a journey of data governance, you’ll want to check out the full ebook “Data Governance: An Executive’s Survival Guide. ” The following is but one chapter of the guide.    Tools Available for Data Governance  By outlining and implementing data quality control guidelines, data governance software helps organizations meet regulatory standards, improve security, and increase employee efficiency.  While some software is designed explicitly for data governance, it's also possible to find master data management and data quality software with built-in tools for data governance processes. 

If you’re embarking on a journey of data governance, you'll want our Data Governance: An Executive's Survival Guide ebook. Check it out now!

Data Governance Tools: A Selection Checklist

We have the luxury at Smarty of working with some fantastically intelligent, kind, friendly, and in many cases, funny individuals.  Today we showcase one of those fantastic individuals, Ryan Cox.   Ryan has a history of high-quality performance while problem-solving and team-building at large software companies along Silicon Slopes.  You want experience? Ryan has experience.   We're talking 61 years collectively in Java, Javascript, Typescript, SQL, Angular, AWS, and loads more.  As a key developer at each company he's ever worked at, he's keeping the ball rolling by improving the quality of work we do here at Smarty every day. 

Smarty has a unique culture, and some amazing people work here. Come learn all about Ryan Cox and why he's this month's spotlight at Smarty!

Inside Smarty - Ryan Cox

At Smarty, we pride ourselves on our unique company culture, built on three core values: outwardness, wizardry, and fun.  What does that mean? We're doing our best to build a company culture in a way that makes folks want to come to work.    Smarty's Mission   Create Great Products At Smarty, we specialize in location data intelligence, working with global address and location data in validation, autocomplete, and geocoding areas.  Our services include:  1.  International & US Address Validation: Ensuring that addresses are correctly typed and mailable prevents delayed or returned packages. 

At Smarty, we pride ourselves on our company culture, built on three core values: outwardness, wizardry, and fun. Find out what makes us successful now!

Smarty's Approach to Building Company Culture: Putting the Fun in Functional

In our recent webinar, Ryan Cox, one of our highly skilled API developers, walked through setting up and using the Smarty Go SDK.  The webinar covered various essential topics, from obtaining the SDK to understanding the ins and outs of implementation.   Ryan explained that the Smarty Go SDK is easily accessible on GitHub.  He then moved on to discuss the key differences between embedded keys and secret keys.  Embedded keys are ideal for client-side applications because they provide limited access and don’t reveal sensitive information. 

Webinar Recap: SDK in Address Verification webinar covers topics from obtaining the SDK, to understanding the implementation. Read it for yourself!

Address Verification for Fun and Profit: Using Go SDK

Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22, raising awareness about environmental issues and encouraging people to take action to protect our planet.   But have you ever considered the connection between Earth Day and clean address data?  You probably haven't.  But don't worry, because we have.   Let's take a look at the importance of maintaining clean and accurate address data and how it can contribute to a healthier environment.    The Importance of Clean Address Data  Keeping your address database clean and up-to-date is essential for businesses of all sizes. 

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22, raising awareness about our environment and helping people take action to protect our planet. Find out ways to help here.

The Connection Between Clean Address Data and the Environment

In today's data-driven world, data security is more important than ever.  Data is always at risk for attacks and misuse, and lack of security is an increasing threat.  With the rise of phishing attacks and other cyber threats, organizations must be vigilant to protect their data from unauthorized access, theft, and misuse.   The following is an excerpt from our newest ebook, “Data Governance: An Executive’s Survival Guide”.  You can download the entire guide here.   According to Forbes, in 2019 phishing attacks rose to their highest level since 2016, and the time it took to detect and resolve data breaches also increased that year. 

With the rise of phishing attacks and other cyber threats, organizations must be vigilant to protect their data from theft and misuse. Read more now!

Data Security Policies and Standards: What They Are and Why They Matter

Master Data Management is but one section of our recent ebook “Data Governance: An Executive’s Survival Guide”.  You can download the full ebook for free here.    What is Master Data?  Master data is all the data critical to your business's operation.  It's the data that multiple departments depend on to make decisions and drive success.  From customer data to product data, financial data to inventory data, master data is the backbone of many organizations.  Without it, businesses would struggle to operate efficiently and effectively. 

From customer data to product data, financial data to inventory data, master data is the backbone of many organizations. Check it out for yourself now!

Master Data Management Explained: Understanding the Basics

In today's digital age, businesses collect vast amounts of data on their customers, including their addresses.  However, federal laws are yet to be enacted to protect consumers from businesses that misuse or from hackers who abuse personal data.   Consumers looking for protection must, for now, rely on various State legislation and privacy protection laws.  Businesses must keep abreast of the multiple laws governing consumer rights and take extra measures to protect consumers' personal information, including address data. 

Data privacy has become a critical issue for businesses of all sizes. No company is too small to implement data privacy measures. Read about it now!

The Legalities of Address Data

Dirty data, which is incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate, or irrelevant data can lead to misinformed decisions and missed opportunities.  That's why ensuring your organization's data is clean and accurate is essential.   Data cleansing is finding and removing corrupt or inaccurate records from a set of data.  It allows you to identify which elements in your database are bad data and ensures your data is accurate and trustworthy.  After cleansing, it is best practice for organizations to enrich or append their data to ensure it’s complete, up-to-date, and reliable. 

Dirty data is incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate, and irrelevant. That's why ensuring your organization's data is clean and accurate is essential. Read now!

Data Cleansing vs. Data Enrichment: Why Both Matter

Successful data governance requires more than just rules and policies.  It requires a dedicated team of professionals with clear roles and responsibilities to effectively manage and protect the data.   We recently published “Data Governance: An Executive’s Survival Guide”, an ebook that you can download right now.  In it you’ll find information on data governance and other important factors in the address data game.   The following is an excerpt on the section about the different roles and responsibilities involved in data governance. 

Successful data governance requires more than rules and policies. It requires a dedicated team with clear roles and responsibilities to manage and protect data.

Understanding Key Data Governance Players: Roles and Responsibilities

We recently published an ebook titled “Data Governance: An Executive’s Survival Guide”.  The following is a sampling of the chapter on data quality.    The Value of Data Quality  Data is the lifeblood of modern organizations, providing crucial insights that can drive decision-making and innovation.  However, the value of data is only as good as its quality.  Poor quality data can lead to costly mistakes, misinformed decisions, and reputational damage.  That's why it's essential to ensure your organization's data fits its intended purpose. 

Poor quality data can lead to costly mistakes, misinformed decisions, and reputational damage. See why you should ensure your data fits its intended purpose!

Data Quality: The Foundation of Successful Data Management

We're thrilled to share a sneak peek of one of the sections in our latest ebook, "Data Governance: An Executive's Survival Guide. " This guide is a must-have for anyone with a database, and we have packed it with an abundance of critical points and examples that will enlighten and entertain you.   One of the most valuable assets businesses have is the digital data we work with every day.  As more and more data is collected and used, it's important to have a system to manage it effectively.  Enter data governance frameworks. 

We're thrilled to share a sneak peek of one of the sections in our latest ebook, 'Data Governance: An Executive's Survival Guide.' Check it out now!

The Importance of a Data Governance Framework

In this webinar, our international address expert Bryan Amundson went over the ins and outs of international address data.  He gave details about country designators, transliteration, and other localized things to consider when working with international addresses.  He also dove into how to tell how accurate your international data is and other international address hacks you didn't learn in primary school.   What is an International Address? An international address is any address outside the country relative to your geographic location or the location of a specific business or entity. 

In this webinar, our international address expert Bryan Amundson reviews the ins and outs of international address data. Upgrade your understanding here!

International Address Masterclass Webinar Recap

Let's get straight to the point.  If your company isn't converting clicks to sales, you're losing money.   But this you already know.   What you may not know is you can solve this quickly with address autocomplete on your web forms.   With major corporations everywhere holding mass layoffs, generating revenue has never been more urgent.  Appealing discounts, deals, offers, etc.  will attract visits, but if your web form is difficult to fill out, those clicks won't convert.   Let's talk about how using Smarty's Address Autocomplete API will reduce friction in your web forms and increase conversions. 

Let's talk about how using Smarty's Address Autocomplete API will reduce friction in your web forms and increase conversions. Read about it here!

4 Ways Address Autocomplete Improves Insurance Quote Conversion Rates

PROVO, Utah--Smarty, a leader in location data intelligence, announced a significant upgrade to its US Address Verification - Enhanced Matching product by adding 5 million addresses to its list of U. S.  non-postal addresses, increasing total non-USPS addresses from 15 million to 20 million.  With the additional addresses, Smarty’s total list of U. S.  valid addresses reaches over 210 million—the most complete,  US Address Verification - Enhanced Matching validates and standardizes the messiest of addresses, and easily integrates into most systems. 

Smarty's total list of US valid addresses reaches over 210 million, the most complete, commercially-available US address dataset in the nation. Check it out now!

Smarty™ Expands US Address Database to Over 210 Million Delivery Points

On average, customers of Smarty process 2. 5 billion addresses collectively a day.  If you were to count a single Cheeto for each address, that’s enough Cheetos to fill up 1,930 vans per day.  If you were to start walking along the equator of the Earth and you took one step for each address, you’d make 38 trips around the planet.  That’s a ton of address lookups.   So with that much address data flying through our systems, we decided to host a webinar sharing some of the insights we’ve gained from the over 440 billion addresses that were validated in 2022. 

Smarty customers process 2.5 billion addresses collectively a day. With that much address data flying through our systems, check out what we learned!

Lessons Learned from Validating Over 440 Billion Addresses in 2022

Every business executive knows that good data is critical.  When you’re developing your sales strategy and talking about how to increase revenue, you probably turn to data to answer questions like these:  - What areas of growth can we exploit? - Which products are performing well? - Is mobile or desktop driving more sales? Where is traffic increasing? - How do we identify the “low-hanging fruit” customers? - Where can we reduce costs?  But how do you know if your data is accurate? What steps do you need to take to ensure your data is actionable and driving revenue?  In our free ebook, 4 Steps to Unlocking Latent Revenue and Driving ROI with Your Address Data?, we show you how to get clean address data, and then how to use that address data to unlock latent revenue and drive ROI. 

See how clean address data unlocks latent revenue and drives ROI for shipping, eCommerce, sales & technicians, marketing, customer service, and planning.

Revenue-Driving Benefits of Clean Address Data

Certain surprises are fun.  Finding out the person in front of you at Starbucks paid for your coffee? Java-tastic! Finding out you've been shipping products to addresses that don't exist? That's a postal catastrophe.   Luckily, many shipping snafus can be prevented by using address validation software.   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 known database, it is marked “valid”—meaning it's real. 

Address validation checks a mailing address against a database. Using validated addresses can eliminate duplicates, reduce shipping costs, and more.

Full Address Validation Leads to Better Business Data

It seems that 1969 was a very special year.   Looking back, you’ll find some of the coolest American muscle cars peaking in their infant stages, such as the Mustang Boss 429 Fastback and the Charger R/T 427 HEMI made famous by the Duke brothers.  You’ll find the first Concorde flight in France.  You’ll remember what you can of Woodstock, and one man will take a small step on the moon for all mankind.   It’s also the debut year of the children’s educational show Sesame Street on PBS.   Very quickly, the street named after  a seed became nationally known, and the question children would sing at the top of their lungs each day was, “can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?”  Originally the show was called “123 Avenue B” to focus on the counting and alphabet principles that would be showcased. 

Did you know that there are 175 Sesame Streets in the US? New York state alone has 7 Sesame Streets. Florida and Texas have the 2nd and 3rd most.

Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?

Typos, typoes or typo's?  No matter how you spell the word, typos are a problem.  Even the most accurate typist occasionally misspells a word, leaves off a letter at the end, or just types a different word than intended.   Typos in a text to your friend aren't a big deal.  They'll figure out what you mean using context clues.  But in a business data scenario, if you're following the logic of traditional address matching, where an address is either an exact match or not a match, you can't account for different formats or misspellings. 

Fuzzy address matching helps identify errors like misspellings. Better match rates provide more usable data and minimizes time spent on manual validation.

Pros and Cons of the Fuzzy Address Matching Algorithm

Insurers know the colossal importance of being accurate.  A simple error could create an outstanding difference in results.  At the same time, the customer wants speed.  The modern lifestyle is fast paced, and any need that isn't met instantly is an inconvenience.  Businesses and their investors need to find the most efficient solutions to providing accuracy, without slowing down the near instant return to the customer.    Accurate Risk Assessment and Faster Quotes  In today's insurance world, where convenience is king, the fastest quote wears the crown. 

Insurers know the colossal importance of being accurate. A simple error could create a remarkable difference in results. Read more now.

Address Autocomplete Shortens Insurance Time to Quote

We recently released a free ebook, 4 Steps to Unlocking Latent Revenue and Driving ROI with Your Address Data, in which we show you how to use your company’s address data to unlock latent revenue and drive ROI.   In our last article, we went over address parsing.  Today, we’ll explain address normalization and why this matters for data cleansing and analytics.   Address Normalization (or making an address look normal) is the process of formatting an address so that it matches the proper address format of the national postal authority, such as the USPS for those in the United States. 

Address normalization puts all addresses in a simple, standard format that’s easy for the USPS and databases to understand, benefiting data analytics.

3 Ways Address Normalization Can Benefit Your Business

Our global economy comprises many industries—healthcare, financial services, insurance, commercial development, and more.  But one thing all companies have in common, no matter the industry? They’re all chasing a bigger and better return on investment (ROI).   While there are many drivers of ROI, have you ever considered the role that address validation plays?  Clean address data is essential for many business functions.  Consider eCommerce, one rapidly growing example.  Forecasting shows this retail channel will account for 22 percent of all global retail sales by 2024. 

The first step of address validation, address parsing, breaks an address into its component parts (street name, city, etc.). Find out why this is important now!

What Is Address Parsing and How Can it Help Your Bottom Line?

According to Smarty’s latest query of its US address database, there are 905,226 unique street names in the United States.  And some of them are, well, entertaining (or disturbing).   Check out a panel of Smarty address experts who joke and laugh about some of the funny, weird, Christmas, Halloween, and crazy street names and addresses they’ve encountered in our webinar: Addresses: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.   Watch the Fun, 30-Minute Webinar Recording  Here’s a sneak peek.   Funny Street Names How would you like to live at:  3A Hole Spur Alamo GA 30411  Careful how you read that out loud around children, people. 

Check out this fun 30-min webinar as a panel of address experts joke & laugh about some funny, weird, Christmas, scary, crazy street names & addresses.

Funny, Weird, Christmas, Scary, Crazy Street Names & Addresses

You bet he does.   He kinda has to, there’s no other way he can get rooftop-accurate geocoding fast enough.  The man travels the entire world in 14 hours and needs to know exactly where to land his reindeer.   Look, for a lot of people’s needs you could say that "parcel centroid" is good enough when it comes to address geocoding.  Many houses are in fact in the center of the parcel.  However, there are also many homes that are not in the center of the parcel.   Parcel Centroid (Other Guys):    Rooftop-Accurate (Smarty):    For example, think of apartment buildings. 

Santa travels the entire world in 14 hours and needs to know exactly where to land his reindeer. That's why he uses Smarty. Read more to find out how!

Does Santa Use Smarty’s Rooftop Geocoding?

There are many problems you may run into if you're working with address data.  In our recent webinar, our own Adam Charlton went over some of the challenges he's encountered the most, and how to deal with them.   Here’s some of what he talked about.  You can view the full recording at the link below.   Standardization Standardizing addresses helps solve many of the problems inherent with data blending (combining two or more address databases together).  In order to properly blend different address databases together you need to either have an external ID correlate the two sources, or have identically formatted address fields. 

There are many problems when working with address data. Join Adam Charlton as he covers the challenges he's encountered and how to deal with them.

Common Problems When Working with Address Data

Parcel shipping costs have been rising since 2020.  We’ve all seen inflation on the consumer end, whether we’re checking out online or paying at the gas pump.  And skyrocketing freight rates have made headlines.  Today, we’re going to focus on the impact of the increasing cost of shipping on your business and what you can do about it.   But don’t lose hope—while we’re going to explore climbing shipment costs in this article, we’ll also chat about what your business can do to make shipping more efficient. 

Parcel shipping costs have been rising since 2020. Find out some ways you can save yourself and your company time and money. Read about it now!

Rising Parcel Shipping Costs 2022: How to Cut Your Shipping Expenses

It’s November, and online shopping is ramping up to its climactic end-of-year blitz.  www. blackfriday. com estimates that between Thanksgiving and Black Friday of this year, consumers will spend approximately $13 billion 1.   That’s great news for your business.  But if you don’t have the right tools in place to help you meet that demand, you might be left wishing you had better prepare.   Staffing may be one issue for many businesses.  According to the US Chamber of Commerce, the wholesale and retail trade industry has experienced the second-highest quit rate of all industries since November 20202. 

With our ability to validate addresses, Smarty can help you reduce costs, increase revenue, and keep your customers happy. Check it out now!

How to Clean Address Data For the Holiday Rush

We brought out the big guns in the way of our Development Team Lead, Kent Gividen, in a webinar all about authenticating your APIs.  He went over some of his most useful tips and tricks that he uses to ensure APIs are authenticated.  Was it helpful? You betcha.  You wanna get the SparkNotes? Read on.   Common and Not-So-Common APIs to Know About  Kent began by outlining the APIs that he has run into the most in his years as a developer.  Some of them he dug into a little deeper than others, but these are all useful to be aware of. 

In this webinar breakdown, you'll learn some of the most useful tips and tricks to ensure your APIs are authenticated. Read about it for yourself!

Helpful Hints to Authenticating Your APIs

October 30, 2022 - PROVO, UTAH - Smarty, a leader in location data intelligence, has been named in the Salt Lake Tribune as a top workplace for 2022.  A total of 155 businesses were recognized.  Smarty ranked 17th of the 76 companies with fewer than 150 employees.  The list is based entirely on employee feedback surveys administered by a third-party service.  The anonymous survey measures 15 cultural driving elements like alignment, execution, and connection.    In contrast to the record-breaking volume of resignations in the tech industry, Smarty’s year-over-year employee retention remains above 93%. 

Smarty loves its employees. Amazing culture, trips, lunches, and more fun than you can imagine make Smarty an amazing workplace. Check it out for yourself!

Smarty Named Among Utah's 2022 Top Workplace by Salt Lake Tribune

Tis the season to know “it’s coming from inside the house” but you still stay in the house.  It’s the time of year when teenagers are alone in their convertible at makeout peak while there’s a monster on the loose.  The air is getting chilly, the leaves are falling, and people are moving into known haunted houses without a care in the world.    So it just makes sense that we should look at some address data.   There are some extremely famous addresses (or at least streets) in the “scary movie” genre. 

Every wonder about whether you are close to one of those classic streets from your favorite horror movie? Stay safe this Halloween and avoid these roads!

Smarty Location Data Intelligence Blog

The leader in location data intelligence