- ADDRESSFACTORY WEB – address maintenance via the Internet (batch matching)
- ADDRESSFACTORY TAPE for large quantities of data (batch matching)
- ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC for regular updates (batch matching)
- ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT – matching in real time (single matching)
Questions and anwers on ADDRESSFACTORY Version 3.
- Which product options are available?
-
- Can private and company addresses be processed using ADDRESSFACTORY?
-
The range of services has a modular structure. When checking the postal plausibility in the BasicAddressCheck module, it is irrelevant whether it is company or private addresses that are being processed. In the name check (FormalNameCheck) and the deliverability check (PremiumDeliveryCheck) of the relevant addressee, however, both the databases used as reference and the matching algorithms are optimised for processing private addresses. The processing of company addresses therefore generally delivers suboptimal results.
- Are all ADDRESSFACTORY modules automatically used?
-
You decide which modules you wish to use in your matching for the ADDRESSFACTORY WEB and TAPE product options. Only BasicAddressCheck is mandatory. For all modules other than BasicAddressCheck, FormalNameCheck is also mandatory.
Your advisor at Deutsche Post Direkt will be happy to inform you about the relevant options and will provide you with the appropriate configurations for your matching for the ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC and DIRECT product options.
- Which modules are currently available?
-
- BasicAddressCheck (checks an address for the correct street, town/city and postal code).
- FormalNameCheck (correction of names and adding of titles and salutations).
- PremiumDeliveryCheck (person-based, household-based and/or building-based checking of delivery information).
- MoveProfessional (provides relocation addresses).
- DoubleClean (recognition and marking of double entries). This module is not available for ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT.
- FileMatch (address match with own and/ or predefined negative files such as Robinson list or a fake names list.)
- GeoMatch (address enhancement with geographic data).
- PhoneMatch (enhancement with telephone numbers).
- LocalMatch (enhancement with socio-demographic and micro-geographic information).
- What information should my file contain?
-
The following matching columns are relevant for a successful matching:
- a unique ID, that you can later use to allocate the data record again
- first name
- last name
- street
- house number
- postal code
- town/city
- where possible, specification of the district, in order to resolve any ambiguities in the address
- What file formats can ADDRESSFACTORY match?
-
The following file formats for input and output files:
- Text (variable column width):
- commas ,
- semicolons ;
- tildes ~
- hash symbol #
- colons :
- tabs
- vertical bars | - Text (fixed column width)
The following character sets are supported: ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-15, US-ASCII, WINDOWS-1252, UTF-8 and IBM85.
- Text (variable column width):
- What do I receive as a result file?
-
After batch matching, you will receive a ZIP archive with your result data in your download folder or it will be sent to an (S)FTP server specified by you using an FTP forward. It is also possible for the data to be forwarded to another registered user of Deutsche Post Direkt’s online services.
In addition to information from the system – number, data and time of the matching – the file name also includes the name of the input file to make it easier to identify. The content of the ZIP archive varies according to your agreements with Deutsche Post Direkt. In many cases, we will provide you with an overall result file in the archive. Alternatively, we can also provide you with an archive containing various partial results – e.g. deliverable and non-deliverable data records. For the ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT option, you will receive the results directly for each data record.
- Can I compare multiple files with one another?
-
With the ADDRESSFACTORY batch options, you can have multiple files cleansed if you upload multiple files.
If a duplicate check is performed on your data, the priority order of your files will have an impact on the identification of header duplicates. Your own negative files always have priority over your own positive files.
- Can I compare my data against negative files?
-
We process negative files with the same matching settings with which we also process your positive files. This is absolutely essential in order to be able to reliably identify matching records between positive and negative files. It is not possible to download a cleansed negative file. Please note: If you upload a negative file to the system, a duplicate check is mandatory.
- What does it cost to cleanse negative files?
-
Your positive files are compared against your own negative files in the DoubleClean module. For this, EUR3.00/1,000 input addresses will be charged in addition to the costs for the positive file.
- Can different configurations be used?
-
Different configurations can be used in both the interface solution (ADDRESSFACTORY AUTOMATIC and ADDRESSFACTORY DIRECT) and the online interface ADDRESSFACTORY WEB. During test operations a maximum of three configurations can be used.
- How long does Deutsche Post Direkt store the personal data from my matching?
-
As a general rule, Deutsche Post Direkt stores the personal data from your matching for 90 days from receipt.
If other deletion periods are required, these should be arranged separate.
- How does Deutsche Post Direkt verify the services provided with ADDRESSFACTORY?
-
In general, Deutsche Post Direkt returns every data record uploaded to the customer. In so doing, every data record is enhanced with a “Status” field in which the status key is saved. This status key provides detailed information on how Deutsche Post Direkt has rated the relevant data record and where this has been changed for what reason.
- How are addresses protected against misuse?
-
To ensure the secure transfer of address data, when using Deutsche Post Direkt’s online services (https://service.postdirekt.de/), your data is protected with 128-bit SSL encryption when it is transmitted over the Internet.
You can recognise the SSL protocol from the "https" in front of the URL of the selected
page.
- Where can I get help for technical problems?
Questions and answers on ADDRESSFACTORY WEB
- What is the difference between ADDRESSFACTORY WEB and ADDRESSFACTORY TAPE?
-
ADDRESSFACTORY WEB is our Online-tool for checking your addresses and can be used without any problems for address databases of up to 500.000 data records. All address matching are free of charge as long as they are not ordered.
If you wish to check larger address data bases or have individual requirements, ADDRESSFACTORY TAPE is at your disposal. Deutsche Post Direkt is happy to perform a test matching with ADDRESSFACTORY TAPE of up to 3 files for you free of charge. We will charge EUR 75.00/file for a test matching from 4 files or more.
- Can the old user data continue to be used for ADDRESSFACTORY WEB, Version 3?
-
No. You will require new user data to use ADDRESSFACTORY WEB, Version 3. If you would like to switch to the new version, please reregister at www.addressfactory.de/anmeldung. You will receive your access data within 2 working days.
- What is a test user? How is it different from a regular user?
-
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to familiarise yourself with ADDRESSFACTORY. That is why you can be initially set up in our system as a test user. With this status, the functions of ADDRESSFACTORY are restricted to such an extent that no registration is required.
As a test user, you can perform five matches with up to 300.000 addresses, but without being able to download the detailed results afterwards. You will only receive a summary matching record and an overview of the costs which you would incur for the address matching.
If you wish to use the services of ADDRESSFACTORY WEB to their full extent, you will need to register as a regular user. You can do this at www.addressfactory.de/anmeldung. This service will initially free of charge. There is no restriction in the number of projects and you can match up to 500.000 addresses (per matching project). Once matching project has been performed, you will receive an address matching report and an overview of the costs you would in cur for the matching of your addresses. You will not incur any charges for matching until you accept the matching results. You will then be able to download the cleansed data.Regular users have an additional degree of freedom when defining their projects.
- From what point do I have to pay for a matching? Do I get a preview of the matching results?
-
You will not incur any charges for matching until you accept the matching results. Before you accept the matching, you will receive a address matching report from Deutsche Post Direkt and an overview of the costs you would incur for the matching of your addresses. If the record and the price overview meet your expectations, it is possible for you to accept the matching results. In doing so you also accept the costs incurred and Deutsche Post Direkt’s “General Terms and Conditions for ADDRESSFACTORY”. After accepting the result of the matching, the data is available for you to download.
- What do I receive as a result file?
-
After accepting the results of the matching, you can download the detailed results of your matching.
You decide on the file format, structure and the filter settings in the result file. Here it is possible to download more than one output file with different settings from the ADDRESSFACTORY system at no additional charge.
The output file is made available on the Data Exchange Platform (DEP) by Deutsche Post Direkt and you can download the file securely from the platform.Decide with due regard to the information stored in the relevant entry in your database (customer data, order history, customer value and open receivables, etc.) how you wish to proceed with the data record in question. The quantity of addresses to be checked will normally be significantly reduced after a matching has been performed.
Deutsche Post Direkt always returns all the data records provided once they have been processed. Each data record also has status keys added. This reveals how each data record was evaluated and corrected. Thus all the changes can be traced at all times. It is possible to have the original fields issued. Thus all the changes can be traced at all times, together with the detailed status keys.
You can find detailed information in our manual or in our online help.
- Can I provide my data in several different formats and with different filter settings? What does multiple provision cost?
-
Yes, you can for example provide a file with the records that have been identified as deliverable from your matching and a file with the records that have been identified as non-deliverable. Multiple provisions are free of charge in principle. One-off costs are incurred for the actual comparison service but not for the subsequent provision(s).
- What do the individual ADDRESSFACTORY services cost?
-
Here you can find price lists that are always up-to-date.
- Where can I get help for technical problems?
Online-Services
Do you have any questions about our address solutions?
Here you can contact us.
