librarians without borders

Here: "Inspector Gadget: address checkers

By Rob Murray (Filed: 21/03/2005)

You've got the order and know you can deliver on time. And then you take the customer's address down over the telephone. It's hard to hear what she's saying. Was that Minchinhampton or Munchkidampton? In a fluster, you fail to check.

Rather than send out your best guess, there are several websites that can help you make sure that you have got it right. They can even make sure that the address given is bona fide to cut down on fraud. If you only send out a few items a day then a look at Royal Mail's site can work wonders. Once registered you can check or find an address for a given postcode or find the postcode from the address.

The one limitation is that you are only allowed 12 searches in any 24-hour period. However, the service is free.

Another website worth a look is www.192.com. This is a directory inquiry website but with many more features, including the facility to search through 45m records on the electoral roll. Searching is not restricted to area as you are able to search by surname, forename, postcode road name and the like.

One of the main features is the facility for a relationship search, where you can find, for example, all the John Smiths who live in Luton with Mary Jones. The website also has a directors' and shareholders' database that contains detailed information on over 2.3m companies and 6m directors and other key contacts.
It includes directors' home addresses and even dates of birth, along with detailed financial information on companies, from their turnover to number of employees.
Some services on 192.com are free; to use others"