My primary database is the geocoding database from within my GIS software Manifold. It uses mostly census tiger file data. One of the ways to increase better results is to use the address standardizing tool prior to running them through the geocode process. I like this tool because it does allow to look at the accuracy of the match and lets me know if I need to run any records through other tools to increase accuracy. When I use external geocode tools I do not get a match type result back to give me feedback as to the accuracy. I can create multiple columns of latitude and longitude and visually look to see how close each of the geocode results was from any typical source. All of this can be a painful tedious task depending on the number of records. Depending on the use of the results sometimes good enough is just that. Working on a batch right now where the client wants to make sure their tower and rooftop coordinates are precise. They acquired a lot of properties to lease through various sources and they are not all accurate.
One thing to remember is that 911 addresses are coded for every 50 feet of road frontage. Many geocoding results will spot the address on that sport of road frontage, not the actual structure. Other options I have for geocoders are: In NY state they have created an on line lookup tool based on data they compiled with each county and placed addresses on the building rooftops, excellent results but specific to that state. Microsoft MapPoint, this is a direct interface to my GIS software and Microsoft does subscribed to the good geocode datasets from a commercial provider Geocoder.us – this works with my GIS software as an external call to their database, slow as it runs one record at a time Virtual Earth – External call one record at a time. There are other options: Batchgeocode is nice to be able to load a list if you do not have GIS software QGIS has a plugin that uses Google and OpenStreetMap for their geocoding. Those sources are not the most refined but for some jobs it’s good enough. GPS Visualizer.com has the ability to load a file and geocode, they use three geocoding databases, Bing, MapQuest and Google. This may puke if you try to run too many records through the tool. Some of the free geocoding sites have a max records limit per day. Thank You, Brian Webster www.wirelessmapping.com www.Broadband-Mapping.com From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Cameron Crum Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 4:02 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Good Geo-Locate tool Curious which ones you recommend. We use a variety of them and it seems to be hit and miss with all of them. We typically try a bunch in an area and then go with the service that had the best results. It doesn't seem to be very consistent with one provider over another in any pattern we can discern. On Wed, Apr 26, 2017 at 2:55 PM, Brian Webster <[email protected]> wrote: Send me the list and I can run it through my tool. When you get the results back it will also tell you the level of accuracy I was able to geocode. Results tell either building meaning exact match, street which means the tool had to make an assumption based on the address number and the known number ranges between cross road intersections and zip code meaning the address made no sense and it was just placed at the zip code centroid. These lets you know how bad your list may be with regards to standardized street address data. Depending on the source of the data this can be a problem or nice and smooth. Address geocoding in an inexact science, different geocoding tools can give you different answers. Cheaper or free tools tend to use the free census tiger file maps. Depending on each county 911 address database and their willingness to share that data with the world, the census data may work great. If the county like to only sell the data or they do a crappy job at 911 addressing information, then results are usually less than perfect. Some companies actually buy the data and use it for their own mapping tools. Google tends not to do this so their geocodes are not always the best. Others that purchase good goecode databases from companies who make a living cleaning the data up will give better results. Thank You, Brian Webster www.wirelessmapping.com www.Broadband-Mapping.com From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul McCall Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 12:13 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [AFMUG] Good Geo-Locate tool Are there any good (free) online tools to accurately take addresses from an XLS or CSV, etc. and put into a KML ? Paul Paul McCall, President PDMNet, Inc. / Florida Broadband, Inc. 658 Old Dixie Highway Vero Beach, FL 32962 772-564-6800 <tel:(772)%20564-6800> [email protected] www.pdmnet.com www.floridabroadband.com
