Address Standardization

Address Standardization takes the addresses in your database and checks them against the listings posted by the US Postal Service.  If the system finds a match with the USPS, it will slightly reformat the address to match the USPS listing, which makes your addresses uniform and easy to read.  Additionally, Address Standardization can typically fill in missing information, like zip codes, and corrects inaccurate information, like changing Street to Avenue.

IMPORTANT: Addresses standardize at the rate of approximately 2,000 per hour.  If you have thousands of addresses to standardize, we recommend running this on a spare computer under a separate user name, or on your computer at the end of the day.  You will not be able to do anything else in BackOffice while address standardization is running.

To standardize addresses:

1.       Go to System > Standardize All Addresses

2.       You will see a summary of your addresses.

·         Not Checked is how many addresses are in the system but have not been through the standardization process.

·         Failed is how many addresses that have gone through standardization but have not been found in the USPS database.

·         Certified is how many addresses have passed standardization.

3.       Decide which addresses you would like to Standardize by checking at least one of the options in the first box:

·         Re-run Previously Failed will recheck only the addresses that have already attempted to be standardized, but have failed.

·         Re-run Previously Standardized will recheck everything that has already been standardized.  We recommend running this every six months to keep your addresses current with USPS listings.

·         Limit to Addresses Added Today is the best option if you have done a recent import, and would like to quickly standardize only those addresses.

4.       Once you have your options selected, click Standardize Addresses.

5.       You will receive a message when address standardization is complete.

6.       Note your summary will have changed to reflect the updated totals.