ADIS FAQ

I. What is Address Data Interchange Specification (ADIS)?

The IDEAlliance ADIS Working Group aims to define a uniform specification for the domestic and international interchange of address data. It is based on storing the parts of an address, or address elements, and then combining them together using standardized templates to create output formats, or renditions, for particular mailpieces. It includes data about the addresses, such as whether they are complete or missing particular elements that affect address quality. Domestically, ADIS also includes mailing production variables that may appear on a mailpiece, such as container numbers, package types, and ink jet messages, and associated mail tracking and address database maintenance data.

II. What are the benefits of ADIS?

For mailers, the benefits include improved address quality, better mail delivery, and the ability to manage international files with a single format. Postal services will benefit by the ability to manage rendition quality, by reduced mail handling, and reduced mail forwarding. Service bureaus have the opportunity to simplify processes ranging from acquiring missing address elements to merge/purge to output media creation, and can improve consistency. Postal services, suppliers, printers and letter shops can combine ADIS with IDEAlliance's Mail.dat file specification to improve containerization and to support predictive co-palletization and co-mailing. This combination will also allow mailers to obtain reduced cycle times for incorporating address changes and late additions into mailing files.

III. What technologies does ADIS use?

ADIS has been specified in two forms: a database format and XML. There are XML W3C schemas for addresses, message data and address templates. The address template format used by ADIS, the Postal Address Template Description Language (PATDL), is used in the Universal Postal Union (UPU) international address standard, "International Postal Address Components and Templates" (S42). An ADIS reference implementation is being developed to format the XML data and to convert ADIS XML instance files to the database format and back again. XML includes Unicode, and can represent all the alphabets of the world.

IV. How is ADIS related to other efforts?

The USPS has an EDI format for addresses, used mainly by large institutions, to support domestic addresses. The Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) supports the International Address Element Code (IAEC) list on its Web site. The OASIS xNAL standard is widely referenced within e-commerce efforts such as ebXML. Internationally, the UPU S42 standard includes an element list, address templates and rendition instructions. ADIS is interoperable with all these efforts, can use UPU S42 elements, templates, and rendition instructions, and supports mail production, address management, and USPS Intelligent Mail(TM).