At the moment we use AFD Names and Numbers along with AFD Refiner to alow us to look up addresses when we create new customers in our system.

For those who aren't familiar with these packages, Names and Numbers allows you to enter part of an address, hit search and get a list back of all teh addresses in the AFD database that could match it. You then select the apropriate address from the list. Refiner is a data cleaning tool that allows you to re-order the elements of an address. We use it to set the address elements in the right order to throw at names and numbers if we're doing a bulk import (obviously we can't select the apropriate address for each element in turn so this just makes sure that Names And Numbers has the best chance of finding a single exact match for each record).

I believe this gives us 3 main benefits:-
1. It makes data entry quicker
2. It ensures that almost all of the addresses in our system are in a consistent format, making de-duping alot easier
3. It allows us to gather extra pieces of information that might be missing from what was originally supplied. This is particularly useful for phone numbers

The problem is that the AFD database tends to be badly out of date. If I enter my own address it tells me that the last occupants are still there and I moved in three years ago! We're therefore beginning to scout around for alternatives. Has anyone tried out any similar products and can they recommend them. It's important that any product we use does provide telephone numbers which immediately eliminates alot of the ones on the market.

Any suggestions?