Patent ID: 8725288

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a data collector that collects data from physical mail items; and an address synthesizer, operatively coupled to the data collector, that receives the data collected by the data collector, synthesizes addresses from the collected data, and generates confidence information from the collected data, the confidence information indicating a measure of confidence that each synthesized address is a valid address, wherein the address synthesizer further performs one or more of the following functions: analyzing occurrence position and syntax association to enhance parsing of inside unit numbers and box numbers from delivery addresses in the collected data; removing from the collected data random background noises created by one or more of random addressing errors and optical reading errors during collection of the data; removing from the collected data systemic noises created by invalid addressing and persistent optical reading biases; analyzing unit data structures of multi-unit buildings and supplementing erred or incomplete unit numbers in delivery addresses in the collected data; adjusting, based on the collected data, a synthesis rate and accuracy at which the addresses are synthesized; recognizing from the collected data growth of a previously single address into multiple addresses; recognizing from the collected data consolidation of previously multiple addresses into a single address; establishing from the collected data one or more of: volumetric mail patterns, sender mail traffic profiles, receiver mail traffic profiles, seasonal mail traffic patterns, and geographic mail traffic patterns; recognizing from the collected data addresses in different languages and establishing equivalency for the same addresses in the different languages; recognizing different equivalent city names in the collected data; recognizing different interchangeable street names in the collected data; differentiating business names and personal names associated with delivery addresses in the collected data; differentiating last names from first and middle names in personal names associated with delivery addresses in the collected data; establishing a most probable correct business name for a synthesized address from a set of variations in the collected data; establishing most probable correct personal names for a synthesized address from a set of variations in the collected data.