Geocoding: The First Step Towards Unlocking Location Intelligence

Microsoft Azure Maps is a collection of mapping and location APIs that enable enterprises to add location intelligence into their solutions. The Geocoding Service is one of the most prominently used Maps APIs that enables geocoding of addresses (conversion of textual addresses into geographic coordinates) and vice versa. For example, a coffee shop name or address such as 1124 Pike St, Seattle can be converted into 47.61403,-122.32820 (latitude and longitude coordinates) so that it can be placed and visualized on a map or used to calculate distance metrics.

Geocoding is one of the most crucial steps in location intelligence, as it sets the foundation for all advanced location analytics that can be done once addresses have been accurately plotted on a map. For example, after identifying the coffee shop’s location, you can find the nearest grocery stores or other outlets of interest.

Microsoft has been continuously investing in geocoding services for decades to use across its product portfolio (for example, Bing, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Windows, and more) and to provide our enterprise customers with the best offering in the industry. Organizations use the Azure Maps geocoding service for batch geocoding that helps them to geocode multiple data points easily at one go. One of the most common use cases for geocoding is enrichment of databases with location data to create mapping-based web and mobile applications that can run across platforms.

Why choose Azure Maps geocoding service?

• Data accuracy and coverage—Azure Maps sources data from multiple trusted data providers to provide country, city, street, address and other granular regional-level data coverage across the globe.  Our geocoding services have been using cutting-edge AI for over a decade to constantly lead the industry in coverage and accuracy. We are excited to announce that starting November 12, 2024, the Azure Maps geocoding service is adding support to South Korean addresses in accordance with the regional data residency laws, extending our global coverage.
• Security, compliance, and scalability—Azure Maps is natively hosted in Microsoft Azure Cloud Services and reaps the benefits of the broader security and scalable infrastructure of Azure. As a result, it seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Azure Active Directory/Microsoft Entra ID and shared access signature token for authentication and authorization enabling robust identity management and access control. It is also fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), among many others.
• Favorable terms of use—Azure Maps geocoding API enables users to save geocoded addresses and coordinates for data enrichment scenarios for as long as they have an active Microsoft Azure account, so they don’t have to reuse the geocoding service each time for an address they already have and incur incremental costs. 

How do organizations use Geocoding Service?

• Faster checkout and seamless delivery—Retail companies leverage Azure Maps geocoding service to enhance the overall shopping experience for their customers worldwide. Capabilities such as address autofill enable online shoppers to register their addresses and check out quickly.

• Targeted marketing with customer insights—Brick-and-mortar stores and restaurants with dine-in service use Azure Maps geocoding to locate their customers’ closest retail location. Using that information, they can target email advertising and sales fliers for deals that are available to them if they visit the store.

• Preemptive planning with pattern analysis—Public health institutions, non-governmental organizations, and health insurance providers use Azure Maps geocoding service to visualize distributions of health outcomes on a map and to analyze risks of potential viral outbreak scenarios. This empowers them to track vaccine adoption and helps to ensure that treatment gets distributed to where it is likely to have the highest impact.
• Location-based risk analysis—The insurance industry must plan for the “un-plannable”. By using actuarial data and predictive disaster models, insurance brokers can estimate the level of risk an insurer needs to have covered by their policy to cover costs should something damage the item or person being insured.
• Fleet route optimization—Logistics, shipping, and transport companies use Azure Maps geocoding service to geocode addresses. This converts customer and other addresses into latitude and longitude points that can then be used to calculate the most optimized delivery routes, helping to ensure efficient delivery schedules and reducing fuel consumption.

Get Started with Azure Maps

Azure Maps is designed for compatibility, enabling you to connect with a range of Microsoft services like Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Power BI, Entra ID, Microsoft Azure Data Explorer, Microsoft Power Apps, Synapse, Microsoft Azure IoT, and more. With minimal coding required, you can effortlessly enhance your applications with powerful mapping and location analytics capabilities.    

• Visit the Azure Maps product page to learn more or for specifics about Azure Maps geocoding.
• Explore our collection of hundreds of Azure Maps samples that have been made open source on GitHub. Build your location-aware solutions with a seamless development experience.
• Utilize the Azure Maps Tech Community blog page to stay abreast of all new tools and technologies being added to Azure Maps.  If you are curious about our roadmap, you can find and try our pre-release public preview APIs here.

If you already have an Azure subscription, you just need to add an Azure Maps resource to your project and use that instance to call Azure Maps APIs. Visit the Azure Maps pricing page to explore pricing options. Pay only for what you use and easily deploy your Azure Maps service into an existing Azure subscription. If you don’t have an Azure subscription, sign up for it here and follow the steps above.

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