Salesforce is a great CRM that allows businesses to easily put customers at the center of their attention. But even a tool like Salesforce can be halted by poor quality customer data. Well, luckily for businesses and their data, Salesforce allows its users to call outside APIs and web services like our data validation services. If this is something that you haven’t done before, it can be a bit tricky; but don’t worry! The integration specialists here at Service Objects have you covered and we can show you how to get up and running in Salesforce in no time!

Remote Site Settings

One of the first things you will want to do to get your data validated is to add the Service Objects domain as an allowed site to access from within Salesforce. To do this, log into your Salesforce account and enter “Remote” in the Quick Find search bar as shown below.

Select “Remote Site Settings” and you will be taken to a page that lists all of the external sites that you can access from within Salesforce. Select “New Remote Site” and enter the information as shown below.

Once you click “Save” you will be ready to validate your data through a Service Objects web service. You should also add the site wsbackup.serviceobjects.com to the list of remote site settings as this will allow the ability to integrate proper fail over configuration into your application.

SOAP vs. REST

If you are using REST to access a Service Objects web service, then you are good to start validating data. You simply have to make the http call to one of our web services and then decide how you want to implement your newly validated data.

If you happen to be using SOAP to connect to our services, then you will have to alter the WSDL you use to connect to our services. A WSDL is a machine-readable document that tells a platform and coding language how to connect and interact with a web service. In order to do this, a bit of the WSDL will need to be altered. Lucky for you, we have already done this! We have a flight of updated WSDLs, Apex code examples, and handy guides for each of our services that will help you get up and running in Salesforce in no time.

To upload the edited WSDL, select the “Develop” link under the “Build” heading on the left-hand side of the main screen. Then select “Manage Apex Classes”.

On this screen, you can select the “Generate from WSDL” button and then choose the updated WSDL to upload to Salesforce. If the WSDL has been properly edited then all the necessary classes will be successfully created and you can begin accessing Service Objects web services through Salesforce.

Your data is now ready to be validated! Once you have ensured the integrity of your customer data, you can get back to using Salesforce to guarantee the best interactions possible with your customers!

Also, be sure to check out our Free Salesforce Chrome Extension for a quick and easy validation tool to use in your browser!

Having validated and standardized addresses within your CRM will improve business efficiency, cut down on bogus leads, and help reduce waste. Let our new DOTS Address Validation Chrome Extension for Salesforce do all of the validating and standardizing for you.

Configuration is as simple as copy and pasting your license key into the key field on the options page after downloading the extension:

From there, any time you are on a Lead, Account, or Contact page within Salesforce, right clicking will present you with an option to validate the address. The extension will automatically pull out the address, city, state, and zip code, thus eliminating the need to manually enter the information you wish to validate. User error is taken out of the equation so you can be sure the address in your CRM is the address that is being validated. After validation, updating your Salesforce Lead/Account/Contact address is as simple as clicking an update button:

The Technologies at Play

DOTS Address Validation – US 3

Our USPS CASS Certified™ DOTS Address Validation service improves internal mail processes and delivery rates by standardizing contact records against USPS data and flagging for vacancy, addresses returning mail, and general delivery addresses. Our industry-leading GetBestMatches operation, now combines Delivery Point Validation (DPV), SuiteLink and Residential Delivery Indicator (RDI) into one robust API call to our USPS CASS Certified™ database engine.

Addresses are pulled from the Salesforce Leads, Accounts, or Contacts tabs and then validated through the DOTS Address Validation – US 3 service. Once the address is validated, a window will pop up showing the service’s results. If the address was standardized and corrected to a perfectly deliverable address (DPV1) an option is given to the client to automatically update the address in their Salesforce instance.

Google Chrome Extensions JavaScript API

This is the primary technology that allows this project to be possible. The JavaScript API that is provided by Google allows developers access to the inner workings of the Chrome browser giving them access to features such as browser actions, events, web requests, and more. Developers are able to add functionality to the Chrome browser while staying lightweight and nonintrusive.

Installation, Configuration, and Usage

Please refer to our website for a detailed breakdown on installation, configuration, and usage for the Chrome extension for Salesforce.

You’ve heard of all the benefits of contact validation, but yet something’s holding you back. Whether you’re unsure about how to implement contact validation with your existing systems or concerned about the potential cost, rest assured, it’s easier to succeed with contact validation than you might think. Here’s why:

Various contact validation APIs are readily available.

The type of data you can validate with contact validation software includes everything from names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses to credit card BIN numbers and demographic data and more. Whether you need to pinpoint the exact physical location of your customers for accurate deliveries, would like to learn more about your customers, want to reduce your mailing costs, or want to validate transactional data for signs of fraud, there’s a contact validation product that can do it.

APIs are easy to integrate into existing systems and web forms as well as third party software such as Salesforce.com, Oracle DB, and Drupal UberCart.

For example, Service Objects APIs work with most common web form types including Java, PHP, .NET, and others. Sample code is provided for many programming languages. In addition, Service Objects has a team of experienced engineers who are happy to help guide you through the XML integration process. If you use SalesForce.com, Oracle DB, Microsoft CRM 2011, Microsoft Office, Microsoft SQL Server, or Drupal UberCart, integrating contact validation into your existing solution is a simple matter of installing a plugin; there’s no programming required.

You can get up to 500 free API test validations to try before you buy.

If you’re not sure that contact validation is right for your organization, one way to find out for sure is to try it for yourself. Service Objects offers a free trial key for each of its contact validation APIs, allowing you to validate up to 500 contacts before making a decision.

Once configured, contact validation happens in real-time.

The hardest part is deciding to embrace contact validation and implement a real-time contact validation solution, and that’s really not all that difficult. From there, your contacts will be validated at the point of entry. You’ll never send another expensive mailer to “Homer Simpson” at 123 Main Street again because the API will recognize that name and address as bogus the moment it’s entered.

Contact validation quickly pays for itself.

Contact validation has a fantastic ROI. For example, if 15 percent of the addresses in your mailing list are undeliverable and you mail 10,000 letters a month, you’d be paying for supplies and postage for 1,500 letters each month. Assuming you’re paying 44 cents in postage, that’s at least $660 each month in wasted postage. Contact validation can also reduce fraud, improve deliveries, and improve productivity, all of which have a positive effect on your bottom line.

Finally, Service Objects includes its “Customer Success Program” with its annual contracts. Dedicated account support, engineering and application support, courtesy testing keys, and a 24/7 emergency response work together to ensure your contact validation success! So what are you waiting for? Start your free trial today and see for yourself just how easy it is to succeed with contact validation! 

 

Introducing the Address Validation
Do-it-Yourself Plugin for Salesforce.com

When I can get greater functionality out of my work applications without getting the tech staff involved, it makes my day. Sometimes I just need a no-muss-no-fuss solution that doesn’t require me to fill out a time and expense requisition for help. There are also times I need things done quicker than professional business manners allows for. I wouldn’t want my co-workers to confuse my enthusiasm with pushiness, after all.

I think Service Objects’ development team had people like me in mind when they came up with this new plugin for Salesforce.com. It’s so easy to install that everyone with basic computer skills can do it,  and immediately start validating contact addresses, in real time, from within their Salesforce.com applications— regardless of technical background and without breaking a sweat.

Prior to the development of this plugin, implementing Address validation services required programmers with advanced programming skills, familiarity with various technologies like XML, SOAP, and web services and an understanding of Salesforce.com’s development platform as well as their proprietary programming language.

Today, no programming time or expertise is required. If you’re working in Salesforce.com and want to start validating your contact addresses immediately, then you’ve got to try out this Address Validation plugin.

To use our web services, you’ll need to sign up for a free evaluation Trial Key or purchase a Production Key for DOTS Address Validation. Use your own data with our Address validation services to compare and correct your data entries with USPS and Canada Post database information.

Download our easy 12 step installation guide and see for yourself how easy it is to install.