Dynamics Community Forum Thread Details

Hello CU18111036-0,

Let's break down the address and company name validation capabilities within Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and explore options for extending them.

Is there an OTB Address Validation Feature for the Address Field in the D365 Customer Insights App?

No, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights (as of my last update in late 2023, and likely still the case) does not have a built-in, out-of-the-box (OTB) real-time address validation feature directly integrated into its address fields.

Customer Insights primarily focuses on unifying customer data from various sources, building a 360-degree view, and providing insights for personalized experiences. While it stores address information, it doesn't inherently include real-time validation against postal databases.

1) Best API / Plug-in to Use for UK Postcode and Company Name Address Retrieval:

For pulling address details based on a UK postcode and, optionally, a company name, you'll need to integrate with a third-party address lookup service. Here are some reputable options and considerations:

APIs:

Royal Mail Postcode Address File (PAF) APIs: The official source for UK addresses. Several providers offer APIs that leverage PAF data:
- Addressy (now part of GBG): A well-established provider offering robust UK and international address verification and lookup services based on PAF. They often provide features to refine searches with company names.
- Postcode Anywhere (now Loqate, part of GBG): Another leading provider with reliable UK address lookup APIs using PAF data, including company name search capabilities.
- Hopewiser: Specializes in address and geocoding solutions, including UK PAF-based APIs with company name search.
- Crafty Clicks: Offers a user-friendly API for postcode lookup with options to include company names.

Other Commercial Address Validation APIs: While PAF is the gold standard for UK addresses, other commercial APIs might offer broader global coverage and potentially include company name lookup features for the UK. Examples include:
- Google Places API: While primarily for places and businesses, it can sometimes return address information based on name and location. However, it's not specifically designed for comprehensive address lookup from postcode and company name like PAF-based services.
- Melissa Data: Offers global address verification and lookup services. Check their UK-specific offerings.

Plug-in/Integration Approach:

Since Customer Insights doesn't directly support custom code execution like traditional Dynamics 365 CE plugins, you'll likely need to build a custom connector in Power Platform (Power Automate or Power Apps) to interact with one of the APIs mentioned above.

Recommended Approach:

Choose an API: Evaluate the PAF-based API providers (Addressy/GBG, Postcode Anywhere/Loqate, Hopewiser, Crafty Clicks) based on:
- Accuracy and Reliability: PAF-based services are generally the most accurate for UK addresses.
- Company Name Search Capabilities: Ensure the API allows you to refine the lookup using a company name alongside the postcode.
- Ease of Integration: Consider the API's documentation and available SDKs.
- Pricing Model: Understand the cost structure (e.g., per lookup, monthly subscription).
Build a Custom Connector:
- Use the Power Platform connector interface to create a custom connector that defines how to interact with your chosen address validation API. This involves specifying:
  - Authentication: How to authenticate with the API (e.g., API keys).
  - Triggers (less likely for direct validation): Events that initiate the connector's actions.
  - Actions: The specific API calls you want to make (e.g., lookup by postcode, lookup by postcode and company name).

Integrate in Customer Insights:
- Power Automate Flow: Create a Power Automate flow that triggers when an address field in Customer Insights is created or updated. This flow would use your custom connector to call the address validation API with the postcode (and potentially company name). The flow would then update the other address fields in Customer Insights with the validated and retrieved details.
- Power Apps Custom Control (more advanced): You could build a PCF (Power Apps Component Framework) custom control for the address fields in Customer Insights. This control could directly call your custom connector (or a Canvas App using the connector) to provide a more real-time, interactive address lookup experience within the Customer Insights interface. This requires more development effort.

2) How Can I Validate Company Name if it is Similar to the One in the System but Spelt Incorrectly?

Validating company names for similarity (fuzzy matching) is a more complex task than address validation. There isn't a perfect OTB solution in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights for this either. Here's how you can approach it:

Techniques and Tools:

Fuzzy Matching Algorithms: You'll need to implement or leverage algorithms designed for fuzzy string matching. Common algorithms include:
- Levenshtein Distance: Measures the minimum number of single-character edits (insertions, deletions, or substitutions) required to change one word into the other.
- Jaro-Winkler Distance: Favors strings that have a longer common prefix.
- Soundex/Metaphone: Phonetic algorithms that encode words based on their pronunciation, helping to identify names that sound similar despite spelling differences.
- n-gram Similarity: Compares sequences of n characters within the strings.

Integration Points:
- Power Automate Flow: You could create a flow that triggers when a new company name is entered or updated in Customer Insights. This flow could:
  - Retrieve existing company names from your Customer Insights data (likely within the unified Customer profile entity or a related entity).
  - Use a fuzzy matching algorithm (available through custom code in a Power Automate action or by calling an Azure Function) to compare the new company name against the existing ones.
  - If a sufficiently similar name is found (based on a defined similarity threshold), the flow could flag the record for review, suggest the existing company name, or potentially merge the records (with caution and proper data governance).
- Azure Functions/Custom API: For more complex logic and better performance with large datasets, you could create an Azure Function or a custom API that implements the fuzzy matching logic. Your Power Automate flow or a PCF control could then call this service.

Recommended Approach:

Choose a Fuzzy Matching Algorithm: Select an algorithm or a combination of algorithms that best suits your needs for identifying similar company names, considering factors like common misspellings and abbreviations.

Implement the Logic:
- Power Automate (simpler for basic scenarios): Use the "Run a custom action" step to call a Cloud Flow that contains the fuzzy matching logic (potentially using a "Do until" loop and string manipulation functions or a Code action for more advanced algorithms).
- Azure Function/Custom API (more scalable): Develop a service that takes the new company name as input and returns a list of similar existing names based on your chosen algorithm and a similarity threshold.

Integrate in Customer Insights:
- Real-time Suggestion (PCF Control): A PCF control on the company name field could call your fuzzy matching service as the user types, providing real-time suggestions of similar existing company names.
- Batch Validation (Power Automate): A flow could run periodically to identify potentially misspelled company names against existing data.
- Data Quality Rules (Customer Insights - Data): If you are using the "Data" area of Customer Insights (formerly CDP), explore the data quality rules capabilities. While not explicitly fuzzy matching for display in the operational CRM, it can help identify potential duplicates based on similarity during the data unification process.

Important Considerations:

Performance: Fuzzy matching can be computationally intensive, especially with large datasets. Consider performance implications when designing your solution.

Thresholds: Defining appropriate similarity thresholds for your fuzzy matching algorithm is crucial to avoid false positives and negatives.

User Experience: How you present potential matches to users (e.g., suggestions, warnings) is important for data quality and user adoption.

Data Governance: Implement clear processes for reviewing and merging potentially duplicate company records.

In summary, while Dynamics 365 Customer Insights doesn't have built-in OTB features for real-time UK address validation or fuzzy company name matching, you can achieve this through integration with third-party APIs (for address lookup) and by implementing custom logic using Power Platform tools or Azure services (for company name similarity). The Power Platform offers the flexibility to build these extensions to meet your specific requirements.

If my answer was helpful, please click Like, and if it solved your problem, please mark it as verified to help other community members find more. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me.

My response was crafted with AI assistance and tailored to provide detailed and actionable guidance for your Microsoft Dynamics 365 query.

Regards,

Daivat Vartak

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