Sunday, October 28, 2018
In 2011, I installed a tool on the WiredPages Reference page which provided USPS Postal Codes & the ZIP+4, along with latitude/longitude geo-coordinates for any address in the US.
Though the original data source continues to offer geo coordinates for any address in the world, the US Postal Codes are no longer available.
Over the summer (2018), I discovered the USPS offered API business services including:
- Price Calculator
- Verify an Address
- Track a Package
- Print a Shipping Label
- Lookup Delivery Dates
Late last week, the interface I developed using the Address Verification API was installed in the main area of QiSoftware[.com] as a product demonstration.
The Address Verification API is sophisticated and can, upon request, provide business related address information, however the QiSoftware demonstration does not allow for the optional input of the business name as part of the query submission to the API.
As shown in the above illustration, the new interface also provides the geo-coordinates and now also- the Google Static Map for the address.
Why not reinstall the new interface on the WiredPages Reference page? Simply a matter of preference. When I initially installed the "PlaceFinder" tool on WiredPages, bloggers were using different services that required geo-coordinates1. The intent was to provide an easy means to retrieve latitude/longitude coordinates.
QiSoftware offers customized software solutions to assist business owners with everyday needs. The USPS Web Tools® APIs offer useful data specifically geared toward business owners. How do you want your data?
1 Latitude/Longitude can be entered in the <meta name= .... /> area of the <head> .... </head> section of an "HTML" file.
