Geocoding

Overview

The addresses in your records need to be converted into latitude and longitude coordinates before DayBack can render them on the map. Geocodes are also necessary before Google can perform distance operations on them. The conversion of an address to a set of coordinates is referred to as geocoding, which turns a street address into something like this:

37.78991371628879, -122.39723369445706

You can see the latitude and longitude for any address in Google Maps by right-clicking on pins in the map:

Latitude and longitude is not the only way to "code" an address, but it the only one Google's API will recognize. Other schemes include WhatThreeWords, which breaks the globe into three-meter squares and gives each square a three-word address.

Some Salesforce applications will geocode your customers and prospects for you, so you may already have this conversion done. But if you don't, DayBack can be configured to do this for you.

Geocode Support in Salesforce

In certain Salesforce editions, addresses can be automatically geocoded for you. In Developer, Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, and Performance editions, Salesforce can automatically add or update geolocation fields for Account , Contact , Lead , and WorkOrder records. To use this feature, the administrator must enable the geo data integration rule for each object. See the following Salesforce documentation for more details: Get Geocodes for Addresses in Your Records.

For all other objects and Salesforce editions, you can set values for latitude and longitude by using SOQL, SOAP or the REST API calls. You can then use address fields as locatable values. To add your own geocoding support, you can search the AppExchange to find geocoding services, or you can use Google's geocoding service, provided through DayBack's geocoding custom app action, described below.

Retrieving Geocodes using DayBack's Custom Actions

If you choose to retrieve geocodes using the Google API and our custom actions, you must first:

1. Ensure to add your Google API key, and
2. Set up your Location and Geocode fields

You can now convert address locations to geocodes by installing the Create a Geocode Location from an Address button action. Once installed, you can simply click the button in the event's popover to retrieve and save your event’s geocoded location. After the geocode is saved, the event will automatically appear on the map.

In some cases, you may want to automate geocoding for a larger set of events, when your event’s location changes, or other custom scenarios. However, since each request uses your available Google API calls, it’s important to only run geocoding when necessary to avoid unnecessary API usage. If you need help implementing custom geocoding rules, our team is happy to assist.