Reference Guide

Introduction

Global Business Coder provides in-depth firmographic information for over 25 million U.S. enterprises. This data encompasses standardized company names, job titles, contact details (including names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses), SIC/NAICS codes, workforce sizes, stock ticker symbols, revenue figures, and more.

This API offers a wealth of valuable insights into businesses, serving a wide range of purposes such as market analysis, lead generation, and customer profiling.

Base URL

https://businesscoder.melissadata.net

New to Melissa Cloud Services?

We highly recommend first time users of our web services to review our Using Melissa Cloud APIs section. It will cover critical topics like:

• Licensing

• Rate Limiting

• IP Addresses

• Protocols and Usage

Endpoints

/WEB/BusinessCoder/doBusinessCoder

Use this endpoint to validate IP numbers

Try It Now

Note

Make sure to replace {{customerId}} with your license key.

Get it here!

• GET JSON
• POST JSON

curl -X GET "https://businesscoder.melissadata.net/WEB/BusinessCoder/doBusinessCoderUS?\
&cols=\
&id={{customerId}}\
&opt=\
&t=Test\
&a1=22382%20Avenida%20Empresa\
&a2=\
&city=Rancho%20Santa%20Margarita\
&comp=\
&ctry=\
&ff=\
&mak=\
&mek=\
&phone=\
&postal=92688\
&rec=\
&state=California\
&stock=\
&suite=\
&web=" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json"

curl -X POST "https://businesscoder.melissadata.net/WEB/BusinessCoder/doBusinessCoderUS" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-d '{
       "cols": "",
       "id": "{{customerId}}",
       "opt": "",
       "Records":
       [{
          "a1": "22382 Avenida Empresa",
          "a2": "",
          "city": "Rancho Santa Margarita",
          "comp": "",
          "ctry": "",
          "freeform": "",
          "mak": "",
          "mek": "",
          "phone": "",
          "postal": "92688",
          "rec": "",
          "state": "California",
          "stock": "",
          "suite": "",
          "web": ""
       }],
       "t": "Test"
    }'

Request Parameters

Note

For details on territories using different ISO2 codes, see the FAQs.

• GET JSON
• POST JSON

Code	Description
Request Level Parameters
cols	This string value specifies which column(s) to be output as a comma delimited string.
id	The License Key issued by Melissa.
opt	Set Options CentricHint MaxContacts ReturnDominantBusiness SICNAICSConfidence
t	This is a string value that serves as a unique identifier for this set of records. It is returned as sent.
Record Level Parameters
a1	The first address line of the business.
a2	The second address line (suite) of the business.
city	City, Municipality, Locality. The most common population center data element.
comp	The name of the business.
ctry	The country.
ff	This is a string value which can contain one of the possible minimum input requirements.
mak	Melissa Address Key (MAK). A propietary unique key identifier for an address. This is derived from Address Checking.
mek	Melissa Enterprise Key (MEK). The unique identifier given by Business Coder.
phone	The phone number of the business.
postal	ZIP, Postal Code. The complete postal code for a particular delivery point.
rec	This is a string value containing a unique identifier for the current record. Use this to match the record submitted with the record returned. It will return what is inputted.
state	State, Province, Administrative Area. The most common geographic data element.
stock	A unique abbreviation/symbol assigned by the stock exchange for listed companies.
suite	Suite, Sub Premises. The alphanumeric code identifying an individual location.
web	The web address/domain for a company.

Code	Description
Request Level Parameters
cols	This string value specifies which column(s) to be output as a comma delimited string.
id	The License Key issued by Melissa.
opt	Set Options CentricHint MaxContacts ReturnDominantBusiness SICNAICSConfidence
t	This is a string value that serves as a unique identifier for this set of records. It is returned as sent.
Record Level Parameters
a1	The first address line of the business.
a2	The second address line (suite) of the business.
city	City, Municipality, Locality. The most common population center data element.
comp	The name of the business.
ctry	The country.
freeform	This is a string value which can contain one of the possible minimum input requirements.
mak	Melissa Address Key (MAK). A propietary unique key identifier for an address. This is derived from Address Checking.
mek	Melissa Enterprise Key (MEK). The unique identifier given by Business Coder.
phone	The phone number of the business.
postal	ZIP, Postal Code. The complete postal code for a particular delivery point.
rec	This is a string value containing a unique identifier for the current record. Use this to match the record submitted with the record returned. It will return what is inputted.
state	State, Province, Administrative Area. The most common geographic data element.
stock	A unique abbreviation/symbol assigned by the stock exchange for listed companies.
suite	Suite, Sub Premises. The alphanumeric code identifying an individual location.
web	The web address/domain for a company.

Columns

Entering the column name will return the column. Specifying a group name will return all columns in the group.

Delimit multiple columns with a ,.

Group Name	Included Fields
[DEFAULT] These columns are returned by default.	AddressLine1 City CompanyName CurrentCompanyName MelissaEnterpriseKey PostalCode RecordID Records State Suite TotalContacts TransmissionReference TransmissionResults
[NO GROUP] These columns must be requested individually.	Contacts EmployeesEstimate LocationType Phone SalesEstimate StockTicker WebAddress
GrpAddressDetails	CountryCode CountryName DeliveryIndicator MelissaAddressKey MelissaAddressKeyBase Plus4
GrpBusinessCodes	EIN NAICSCode1 NAICSCode2 NAICSCode3 SICCode1 SICCode2 SICCode3
GrpBusinessDescription	NAICSDescription1 NAICSDescription2 NAICSDescription3 SICDescription1 SICDescription2 SICDescription3
GrpGeoCode	Latitude Longitude
GrpCensus	CensusBlock CensusTract CountyFIPS CountyName PlaceCode PlaceName

Options

List options in the following format, with multiple options delimited with a ,.

OptionName:Parameter,OptionName:Parameter

CentricHint

This option allows you to choose what the service will center the search around.

Parameter	Description
company	Use Company as the primary pivot.
address	Use Address as a primary pivot.
phone	Use Phone as a primary pivot.

MaxContacts

This option changes the upper limit on the number of contacts returned.

Parameter	Description
{{Integer}}	Default set to 5. Sets the maximum number of contacts to be returned.

ReturnDominantBusiness

This option handles the returning of the dominant business name and demographics for a particular site when the company information is missing or does not match.

Parameter	Description
yes	Default. Return the dominant business name when the company information is missing or does not match.
no	Do not return the dominant business name when the company information is missing or does not match.

SICNAICSConfidence

This option handles how SIC Codes are returned, depending on our SIC Code confidence level.

Parameter	Description
loose	Default. Returns any associated SIC Codes.
strict	Only returns very confident or correct SIC Codes. Returns null if none pass the requirement.

Headers

• GET JSON
• POST JSON

Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json

Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json

Response

• GET JSON
• POST JSON

{
   "TransmissionResults": "",
   "TransmissionReference": "Test",
   "Version": "7.0.1.1071",
   "TotalRecords": "1",
   "Records":
   [{
      "AddressLine1": "22382 Avenida Empresa",
      "City": "Rancho Santa Margarita",
      "CompanyName": "Melissa Data",
      "CurrentCompanyName": "Melissa Data",
      "MelissaEnterpriseKey": "323318841",
      "PostalCode": "92688-2112",
      "RecordID": "1",
      "Results": "AS01,DA00,DA20,DA30,DA40,DA50,FS01,FS08",
      "State": "CA",
      "Suite": "",
      "TotalContacts": "8"
   }]
}

{
   "TransmissionResults": "",
   "TransmissionReference": "Test",
   "Version": "7.0.1.1071",
   "TotalRecords": "1",
   "Records":
   [{
      "AddressLine1": "22382 Avenida Empresa",
      "City": "Rancho Santa Margarita",
      "CompanyName": "Melissa Data",
      "CurrentCompanyName": "Melissa Data",
      "MelissaEnterpriseKey": "323318841",
      "PostalCode": "92688-2112",
      "RecordID": "1",
      "Results": "AS01,DA20,DA30,DA40,DA50,FS01,FS04,GS05",
      "State": "CA",
      "Suite": "",
      "TotalContacts": "8"
   }]
}

Service Level Response Fields

Output Name	Description
Records	The returned array of records.
TotalRecords	Total number of records returned in the records array.
TransmissionReference	A pass-through of the input Transmission Reference.
TransmissionResults	Returns the generic web service level result/error codes. For more information, see Result Codes.
Version	The current service version number.

Record Level Response Fields

[DEFAULT]

In addition to the Service Level Response Fields, these fields are returned by default.

Output Name	Description
AddressLine1	The first address line of the business.
City	City, Municipality, Locality. The most common population center data element.
CompanyName	The name of the business.
CurrentCompanyName	The company name in our reference data. You can use this to easily compare your input company name against Melissa records for that address.
MelissaEnterpriseKey	The Unique Key assigned to a business for that location.
PostalCode	ZIP, Postal Code. The complete postal code for a particular delivery point.
RecordID	A string value containing a unique identifier for the current record. Use this to match the record submitted with the record returned. It will return what is inputted.
Results	Comma delimited status, error codes, and change codes for the request.
State	State, Province, Administrative Area. The most common geographic data element.
Suite	Suite, Sub Premises. The alphanumeric code identifying an individual location.
TotalContacts	Total number of records.

[NO GROUP]

These columns must be requested individually.

Output Name	Description
Contacts	Returns JSON Array: NameFirst, NameLast, Gender, Title, and Email of one or more contacts. "Contacts": [{ "NameFirst": "string", "NameLast": "string", "Gender": "string", "Title": "string", "ContactPhone": "string", "Email": "string" }]
EmployeesEstimate	The estimated number of employees who work at this business location.
LocationType	A code denoting the business location type. Code Description 1 Headquarters 2 Branches 3 Subsidiary Headquarters 4 Single Location
Phone	A 10-digit phone number.
SalesEstimate	The sales volume and/or assets of the business.
StockTicker	The assigned stock exchange abbreviation/symbol for the business.
WebAddress	The web address/domain for the business.

GrpAddressDetails

Output Name	Description
CountryCode	The 2 letter ISO 3166 country code value. For example: US for United States or CA for Canada.
CountryName	The standardized contents of the CountryName element.
DeliveryIndicator	Residential Business Delivery Indicator (RBDI). The delivery type status based on the address.
MelissaAddressKey	This is a globally unique and persistent key for the location, even if parts of the address change. When an address is fully validated this field returns a 10-digit proprietary key for the address.
MelissaAddressKeyBase	Every full address has its own Melissa Address Key (MAK). If that address is a suites or apartment, we will also return a Melissa Address Key Base (BaseMAK) that corresponds to the overall building. This provides a link between all the individual MAK addresses that belong to the same building.
Plus4	The 4-digit extension for the ZIP code.

GrpBusinessCodes

Output Name	Description
EIN	Employer Identification Number (EIN). A unique 9-digit business identification number assigned by the IRS.
NAICSCode1	North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). A 2-6 digit code that classifies businesses by production. This is defined by NAICSDescription1 and related to SICCode1.
NAICSCode2	This is defined by NAICSDescription2 and related to SICCode2.
NAICSCode3	This is defined by NAICSDescription3 and related to SICCode3.
SICCode1	Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). A 2-4 digit code that classifies businesses by production or market. This is defined by SICDescription1 and related to NAICSCode1.
SICCode2	This is defined by SICDescription2 and related to NAICSCode2.
SICCode3	This is defined by SICDescription3 and related to NAICSCode3.

GrpBusinessDescription

Output Name	Description
NAICSDescription1	North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). A description of NAICSCode1.
NAICSDescription2	A description of NAICSCode2.
NAICSDescription3	A description of NAICSCode3.
SICDescription1	Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). A description of SICCode1.
SICDescription2	A description of SICCode2.
SICDescription3	A description of SICCode3.

GrpGeoCode

Output Name	Description
Latitude	The parsed geographic coordinate for a particular delivery point.
Longitude	The parsed geographic coordinate for a particular delivery point.

GrpCensus

Output Name	Description
CensusBlock	US Only. The Census block number from the most recent yearly census.
CensusTract	US Only. The Census tract number from the most recent yearly census.
CountyFIPS	US Only. The Census FIPS number from the most recent yearly census.
CountyName	US Only. The county name that corresponds to the county FIPS code.
PlaceCode	US Only. The FIPS Place code as defined by the Census.
PlaceName	US Only. The FIPS Place name as defined by the Census.

Input Best Practices

This service can deal with multiple languages and scripts. It expects UTF-8 encoding. Be on the lookout for question marks (?), squares (▖) or other unwanted characters like �. They may be an indication of encoding issues and may result in data loss. Bad encoding or character loss is not something our service can correct for you.

Result Codes

Please visit Result Codes - Business Coder for the full list of result codes returned by Business Coder.

Interpreting Results

Result codes yield more granular information about a given business. They are returned as a comma-delimited string of 4-character alpha-numeric codes, e.g. AS01,FS01.

SE## and GE## Codes

The SE## and GE## codes (Transmission Service Error and General Transmission Error) are used to signify more general errors, and are returned under the key TransmissionResults in the outermost level of our responses.

Record Level Result Codes

The Business Coder API and other Melissa APIs will have a Results Output. Several different Result Codes may be returned by the service in order to give you detailed information about the status of the record submitted.

It is important to understand these result codes in order for you to make a determination of good vs bad data and how you would want to use it.

The following shows you the indicators for the different results:

Code	Description	Quality Indicator
FS01	A match was found in the data.	Good Data
FS02	A match was found for the company.	Good Data
FS03	A match was found for the input MAK (Melissa Address Key).	Good Data
FS04	A match was found for the input address.	Good Data
FS05	A match was found for the input phone.	Good Data
FS06	A match was found for the input stock ticker.	Good Data
FS07	A match was found for the input web address.	Good Data
FS08	A match was found for the input MEK (Melissa Enterprise Key).	Good Data
FE01	No match was found.	Bad Data
FE02	The minimum input requirements were not met. These requirements are: Address and City/State or ZIP, Melissa Address Key, Phone, Stock Ticker and Web Address.	Need More Data
FE03	Multiple matches were found.	Multiple Matches