Address Element Correction AEC and AECII

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Address Element CorrectionAEC and AECII

• Steve Dearing
• Manager, Address Quality Programs
• MTAC
• November 8,2007

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What Exactly is AEC?

• An Address Quality service offered by the USPS
  that attempts to assign a ZIP4 to addresses
  that fail standardization and validation through
  traditional CASS Certified address matching
  software.
• AEC uses sophisticated address hygiene algorithms
  developed by USPS that go beyond typical
  capability of commercial address-matching
  software
• AEC attempts to improve addresses that
  currently Do Not Delivery Point Validate (DPV)

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What Does AEC Do?

• Corrects Incomplete and Incorrect Addresses
• Street Names
• Misspellings and Representations
• Missing or Incorrect Directionals
• Missing or Incorrect Suffixes
• Transposed Numbers, Missing Digits, and
  AlphaNumeric Look a Likes
• City Names and ZIP Codes
• Address Conversions (LACS)

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AEC (and AECII) Does Not

• Verify Customer Name or Occupancy Information
• Provide New Fowarding Address Information
• Correct Foreign Addressing
• Correct Email Addressing
• Add Missing Secondary Numbers
• Correct Non-Addresses
• Provide Corrections When No Last Line Information
  (City, State, ZIP Codes) is Present

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Does AEC Work?

• In FY 2007 AEC Processed just over 20 Million
  Address Records for 1,528 Customers
• FY 2007 AEC Resolved 9.2 Million 46
• Returned Corrections within 24 Hours on Avg.
• Not a historical representation, increase based
  on large files with relatively minor changes.
  Historical Resolution Rate 33

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Address Element Correction Service Level 2
(AECII)
What About Records That AEC Cant Fix?
How Does AECII Work and Whats the Difference
Between AEC and AECII?

• Addresses Processed through AEC
• Addresses Processed Through The AECES Historical
  File - AECII
• Addresses Presented to Delivery Units for
  Correction through the Electronic Uncoded Address
  Resolution Service (eUARS) - AECII

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What is eUARS?

• Internal USPS Web Application that enables over
  45,000 Delivery Unit users to Correct Incomplete
  and Incorrect Addresses - Including Mailer AECII
  Requests
• In FY 2007 eUARS Corrected
• 2.3 Million Change of Addresses within 11 Days
  (avg)
• 2.8 Million AECII Records within 9 Days (avg)

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How Does The Local Delivery Unit Fix the Address?

• Carriers typically know their customers address
  and can identify correction necessary
• AECII Leverages this Delivery Force Knowledge
  to correct addresses using efficient simple
  search and click features
• Address corrected to a valid delivery point with
  ZIP 4 code appended
• Indicator provided to identify when the address
  cannot be corrected

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What If The Address I Have is Actually a Correct
Address but Still Doesnt Match USPS Data?

• Address will be returned marked
  correct-as-shown without charge
• Where the mailing address is a PO box instead of
  a street address, record returned marked with PO
  box indicator without charge
• PO box address not provided due to privacy

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How Well Does AECII Work?

• FY 2007 AECII Processing Results
• 67 Address Corrected
• 14 Address Does Not Exist
• 5 Not A Proper Address Submission
• 5 PO Box Footnote ----
• 4 Historical File Corrections
• 3 Not Touched Lost Opportunity
• 2 Other

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What Are the Costs for AEC and AECII Processing?

• AEC processing costs are 15 per thousand records
  (required for AEC II processing)
• AECII processing costs are .25 per correction
• Nothing if resolved using historical file
• Nothing if submitted address was correct
• Nothing if address is returned indicated as PO
  box mailing address
• Nothing if submitted address not corrected

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• How Can I Estimate my Return on Investment from
  Using USPS AEC / AECII Services?
• AEC Calculator
• ( AEC Calculator Available at http//ribbs.usps.go
  v/AEC )

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How Can I Increase My AEC ROI?

• Scrub Your Addresses before sending to AEC
• Uncommon or Invalid Characters (_at_, , - -)
• Profanity
• Send Addresses (Street Number and Street Name)
  with Valid City, State, and/or ZIP Codes
• Do Not Send Street Addresses for PO Box Only Post
  Offices
• Send Addresses that Do Not Delivery Point
  Validate to the Primary Address Level

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Is There Anything New With AEC or AECII?

• Yes!!
• Now Available AEC Confidence Option
• Uses Additional Routines to Determine that the
  AEC Candidate Correction is Distinct based on
  Match Weight
• Instills Confidence that there are No Apparent
  Other Potential Candidate Corrections
• Enables Apply and Mail Potential
• Available with AEC or AECII
• Non-Confident AECII Request Records Are Sent to
  eUARS

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Is There Anything Else New With AEC or AECII?

• Yes!! Theres More!!
• Now Available AEC Vendor Processing
• Enables Mailer with CAPS Account to Automate AEC
  and AECII Requests
• Requires Vendor Processing Request Form
• Requires Use of Header Record
• Enables Submission of One or Many Files
• Automated Processing
• Automated Secured File Transfer Capable
• Still Uses First In First out Logic

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How Do I Request AEC or AECII?

• Contact the National Customer Support Center at
  1-800-238-3150 ask for the AEC Department
• Set-Up RIBBS Account and CAPS Account
• Submit Processing Request Form
• Send File (Up to 500,000 records)
• Retrieve File from RIBBS or SFTP
• Reap the Benefits of Improved Address Quality
• Required for Automated Vendor Processing

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Has Anyone Used AEC or AECII In the Past Year?
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Questions?Thank You!