We are pleased to announce the introduction of Version 3 of our CDXStreamer Excel add-in for address verification and ZIP+4 data. The add-in loads directly in Microsoft Excel and adds custom functions to update your spreadsheets with address data. CDXStreamer is the perfect tool when you have a list of addresses with missing ZIP Codes or that needs accuracy checking. It uses a U.S. Postal Service database to insure your addresses are formatted correctly and are deliverable.

With Version 3 we have dramatically improved the speed of the product. Users can expect to see a greater than 5X improvement in speed per address. You will also see similar improvements in our free Address Verification template that works with CDXStreamer.

Our CDXStreamer product includes the add-in discussed above along with our online tools for address verification and demographics. This includes an Address Correction and ZIP+4 Lookup and ZIP Code Demographics Batch Report tools.   CDXStreamer is available as a month-to-month or fixed yearly plan with pricing starting at less than $5 per month.

Registered users can obtain these changes by simply downloading and installing CDXStreamer version 3.0.1 or better.

We now offer a free, Microsoft Excel expense report template that uses our web-based service CDXGeoData to automatically calculate personal car mileage. No more tedious lookups using Google Maps or MapQuest – just enter the “From” and “To” locations, and the CDXGeoData equations embedded in the worksheet calculate the mileage. Using the mileage reimbursement rate you specify, the template can also automatically calculate total mileage reimbursement.

You can download the template here. The template is compatible with both PC and Apple devices that use Microsoft Excel.

It is also editable, so you can add text, columns, and rows, and reformat it to meet the needs of your organization. Here’s a screenshot of the basic template, which includes entry areas for other expense items like tolls, airfare, lodging and meals:

When editing, just make sure the CDXGeoData equations continue to reference the correct cell addresses for the “From” and “To” locations, as well as the cell address for the specified reimbursement rate.

Once you create a CDXGeoData account and enter your API key into the template, you can save the template and distribute it within your organization. CDXGeodata equations will be fully operational for any employee who receives it.

CDXGeoData is our web-based service that uses Bing Maps as the source of mapping data to calculate travel time and distance. To use CDXGeoData with the template, you will also need to obtain a Bing Maps license key. Please refer to our article How to Get a Bing Maps License Key for more information. This key can be entered through the template, and you can also manage both CDXGeoData and Bing Maps keys through your online account.

The template can be evaluated with a free account, which is available for testing and non-profit use. No credit card information is required for signing up. So consider moving away from manually looking up driving mileage, and let CDXGeodata do the work for you.

We now offer a free Excel template that can be used to get key U.S. ZIP Code demographic data for a radius area. The template can be download here. Demographic data fields provided are: population, median age, median age by gender, persons per household, average household income, and average house value. Demographics are sourced from the 2010 Decennial Census ZCTA data, with the exception of household income and house value, which are from the latest 5-year aggregated data of the American Community Survey.

The template is used with our Microsoft Excel add-in CDXZipStream demographic version or higher. Just enter a target ZIP Code, which will be the center of the radius, and up to three radius area distances. Both an overall radius report summary is provided, as well as demographics for each ZIP code within each specified radius. Here are examples of the output:

Calculations are performed automatically by CDXZipStream worksheet functions. No internet connection is required, and the workbook does not contain macros. It is Windows but not iOS compatible. It can be evaluated using the CDXZipStream trial version using the ZIP Codes 06830, 90210, 78746, and 90272.

Note there are many ZIP Codes, such as those assigned to a business, government entity, or post office, that do not have resident populations. In these cases, no demographic data can be returned.

Distance calculations are based on the centroid point of each ZIP Code. Data for up to 1000 ZIP Codes can be returned for each radius area. If you need to analyze more data or require customization of the template, please contact us at customsolutions@cdxtech.com, or call 877-239-8321.

In July, Microsoft announced that Bing Maps can now optimize up to 25 stops as part of their REST API service. The change is discussed in this article. Optimization can be requested from Bing Maps for no additional charge.

CDXZipStream has been updated to take full advantage of this new feature. Previously, route optimization in CDXZipStream exclusively used an algorithm based on straight-line distance between stops. Bing Maps route optimization uses driving distance instead of straight-line, and so will generally provide more accurate results. Turnaround will also be quicker since all of the calculations are performed on Bing Maps servers (instead of in Excel). For 25 to 100 stops the optimization routine will revert back to the original straight-line distance algorithm.

Bing Maps optimization is available from the "Bing Maps Settings" dialog:

 Registered users can get this feature by simply downloading and installing CDXZipStream version 3.5.2 or better.

 We've added a new tool to our suite of templates to calculate a distance matrix using the CDXDistance formula.  CDXDistance is a straight-line "as-the-crow-flies" distance calculation for ZIP Codes, available in the CDXZipSteam Lite version and higher.  Because all the calculations are based on our local database this operation is extremely fast and can work on large data sets easily. This template is free and will work with both registered and demo versions of CDXZipStream. The template can be downloaded here.

This allows an easy comparison of all combinations of potential ZIP Codes. Just enter your ZIP Code lists across one column and one row and press "Calculate" to proceed. An option is available to return distance in miles, kilometers or nautical miles. The template is also able to process Canadian postal codes if that CDXZipStream option is installed.

You can visit the templates page on our website to download this and many other free CDXZipStream tools.