Name Matching
"Name matching" is the method of data processing for identification and correction. We normalize disordered dataset that contains incorrect or duplicated data so that customer information will be accumulated into single person, company, or household. "Data cleansing" is a term often cited as an analogy, but we define data cleansing as pre-processing for name matching. In our data cleansing process, we unify differences in input formats, such as corporate names, addresses, and phone numbers.
The importance of name matching is rising today, due to the need for centralized management of customer information under the Personal Information Protection Act and to boost both marketing activity efficiencies and customer satisfaction. Consequently, more and more private companies are unifying their database notation, always keeping their data records up to date, and applying name matching to separately registered data on the same person, company, or household.
In addition to general processing, our name matching process includes visual inspections by a specialized team, and residence verification checks based on phone number usage and map information. We also utilize data from LBC, our self-developed business database, as a reference. When running name matching on an Excel spreadsheet for example -- assuming that customer data notation has been standardized -- the name matching process makes use of over 20 types of master references. This is how the process finds and replaces old company names with new company names and previous addresses with up-to-date addresses. For all these reasons, uSonar's name matching is much more accurate than conventional name matching.
We can also add our self-obtained information on various corporate attributes to your customer/prospect databases so that you can precisely target the right customers to approach. Optimizing your target lists and your marketing efforts ultimately leads to increased customer satisfaction.
We, at uSonar, work on building Japan's largest business database by collecting data from various sources every day. The combination of knowledge in terms of technology, management, and operation supports the unrivaled precision of our name matching service.
Our name matching service contains 3 major functionalities:
1. Unification of notation and merging of municipalities by general tools
2. Converting abbreviations or incorrect names to official names
3. Updating affiliate information due to mergers and/or transfers
Key to name matching is the existence of master references that act like dictionaries. In general, the more master references you have, the more accurate name matching you can achieve.
Using our database, we built an unique body of knowledge that contains approximately 20 types of master data, including a first and last name master, an address master, a zip code master, and a phone number master.
When it comes to data on companies, we construct master references for name matching from an array of sources. These include the primary collection methods of searching annual securities reports, registries, and telephone books and crawling corporate websites. We also use data from disclosure requests filed with government agencies, telephone surveys, physical company signage found in map data, business card data, and company research requests from our business partners. Our key differenciator is that we have accumulated and collated historical information on these master data since the company's inception, so that behind the current data of 8.2 million business locations, historical information of approximately 15 million head offices and business locations is linked and still managed today.
Our customers can maintain their customer and prospective customer databases in an accurate state with our name matching service that relies on these master references.
The master references used for name matching and data hygiene are updated daily. As a data-driven company, we have a department dedicated to data construction and maintenance to guarantee data quality.
With our original data processing methods, we can identify and correct data that could not be handled by general data cleansing programs.
Using codes assigned in LBC, our name matching service associates and corrects data records on the same business location, relocations, and relationships between head offices, branches, and other facilities.
Our service also utilizes information such as corporate name changes and municipality integrations for corporate entities, as well as a master of form integration. This enables highly accurate name identification.
Regular data maintenance is neccesary to execute effective marketing campaigns, since data duplications and consolidations of corporate entities occur all the time.
Our customer data platform "uSonar" is a cloud-based service which contains LBC data, meaning that data maintenance can be automatically done in real time.
Feel free to contact us about any of our products or services or to request information.
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