Instant Geocoder Support

Common Abbreviations
Instant Geocoder recognizes these abbreviation conventions:

To find geocodes faster, watch for abbreviated words in your records' address field, other than street suffixes. (e.g., St = Street, Ave = Avenue, Blvd = Boulevard) For example, an address in your records database entered as 123 St. Albans Rd would take you to an address starting with St-, rather than the Sa- in Saint. When the abbreviation occurs in this position, spell "Saint" to find the street segment in the Instant Geocoder database.

Spacing
Evaluate the address for possible spacing errors.
For example, the address shown as 123 Brook Hollow may be just out of sight on your results screen, listed as 123 Brookhollow. If you are having trouble finding an address segment, add or remove a space between words.

Directionals
Use abbreviations without punctuation for street directionals.
For example, 123 North West Main Street shows the directional "North West" as part of the address. In some instances IG may find this, as entered. To be accurate, change the notation to 123 NW Main Street. If this does not render a correct answer, delete the directional and try geocoding the address. Sometimes, a directional may have been entered in the wrong position. (e.g., 123 Main Street NW.)

Numbered Streets
Use numerical values for numbered streets. For example, 123 Second Street will send IG to look for streets starting with the letter "S". Instant Geocoder's database uses numerals for numbered streets. (e.g., 123 2nd Street)

Zip Codes
Verify the Zip Code. When searching for an address segment, use the dropdown arrows next to the city and zip code fields in Instant Geocoder results screen. All possible alternative zip codes are listed within the city shown in the address fields of your record.

City Names
Verify the City. All possible alternative cities in the areas adjacent to the zip code shown in your record, are listed in the city menu. Click the little black dropdown arrow to the right of the city name showing and scroll through the selections, selecting each to see if you find an address segment match in the list.

If you cannot find a match using the city menu, the most likely reason is that the city designation is incorrect. Try typing in a city name that you know to be adjacent to the one shown, if it is not listed in the city dropdown menu. (e.g., Stevenson Ranch is a community in an unincorportated area of Los Angeles county, adjacent to the much larger city of Santa Clarita. If an address in "Santa Clarita" cannot be found, try typing in "Stevenson Ranch" to be shown other zip code and address segment possibilities.)

Address Not Found
If you simply cannot find a city or a zip code for the segment you need, it is possible that the United States government has not yet released that address information, for use with the Instant Geocoder database. (e.g., new construction, housing development or roadway extensions.) If it is possible, wait until your next quarterly update to the Instant Geocoder database. If waiting is not possible, please call QuestSoft at 800-575-4632, ext 205 to proceed with geocoding.