| Frequently Asked Questions |
| |
| Q: What does IdeaList do, in a nutshell? |
A: You input a text file
containing a list of records with names of people, the companies they work for,
and, optionally, their domain names and email addresses. IdeaList guesses and
fills in the missing domain names and email addresses, and validates the email
addresses if they already exist. The processed records, along with a status
indication for each record, are then written to an output text file. The output
file can then be used in any number of ways depending on what the user is
trying to do, e.g., i imported into an automated email delivery program to send
emails, into MS Outlook to update a list of Contacts, into a lead management
database, etc.
|
| |
Q: How does IdeaList
find/validate email addresses?
|
A: Using a combination of an SNMP query, a web search and inference logic. The
details of the algorithm are proprietary and are the subject of several patent
applications.
|
| |
Q: How accurate is IdeaList?
|
| A: The short answer: IdeaList finds up to 90% of the email addresses. |
| |
The long
answer: To characterize its accuracy, we ran IdeaList on
approximately 1000 randomly selected input records from a list of individuals
that met the following criteria:
|
| . |
Valid email addresses exist for each record, one of which is known a priori |
| . |
Have
filled in first name, last name, and company name, and company domain name
fields
|
| . |
Less than 10% of the records contain
filled in middle initial fields |
| . |
Formatted and spelled properly |
|
| |
The
results (% of input records for which the IdeaList -generated and known correct
email addresses are identical) are documented below for various settings for
the user-adjustable Max Email Guesses per Output Record threshold:
|
| |
Max
Email Guesses Allowed Per Output Record
|
%
Correct
|
1
|
80%
|
2
|
83%
|
Unlimited
|
90%
|
|
| |
| Q: What's the input
file format?
|
A: The input file format
can be excell, .csv or tab-delimited text (.txt). The first line in the file
contains a header that specifies the field ordering for the remaining records.
The valid field headings are one of: {"First Name", "Middle Initial", "Last
Name", "Company Name", and "Web Address"}. The second and subsequent lines
should contain the input records.
|
| |
| Q: What are the key applications for IdeaList? |
A: IdeaList was designed with the
following applications in mind:
|
| . |
Find email addresses for lists that
don't include an email address field, e.g., those downloaded from HooversTM
|
| . |
Verify and cleanse lead lists
|
| . |
Find new email addresses for individuals if they change companies |
| . |
Build and maintain your own email lists |
|
Q:
What makes IdeaList different from one of the many email verification or email
harvesting programs that are commercially available today?
|
A: Email verifiers verify
email addresses; IdeaList finds email addresses. A user provides a
list of email addresses as input to a verifier. The input to
IdeaList is a list of people and company names; the email addresses are
generated as output.
|
| |
Email harvesters are
programs that extract email addresses from a web site or websites. These
programs are widely used by spammers.
|
| |
| Q: What internet
connection speed is required (both up and downlink)? |
A: There is no absolute internet
connection speed requirement. However internet connection speed will determing
IdeaList software's processing speed.
|
| |
Q: How
fast does IdeaList operate (records per min)?
|
A: IdeaList processes about 300 records
per minute on a DSL grade internet connection.
|
| |
| Q: How is the eval
version different from the fully-featured version? |
A: The eval version can
process at most 10 records at a time from the input file days.
|
| |
Q:
How do I get the fully-featured version if I've got the eval/demo version?
|
A: Click on
http://www.idealistsw.com/construction
in a web browser and use your credit card to purchase the fully-featured
version of the software. We'll then email you a code to activate the software.
You activate the software by selecting File->Activate from the IdeaList main
menu bar.
|
| |
Q: Can I save intermediate results?
|
| A: Yes |
| |
Q:
I am interested in either private labeling IdeaList or including its features
in a similar email processing product. Would the CatList team be open to
licensing the product for this purpose?
|
| A: Yes, definitely. Please send an email
to
licensing@idealistsw.com
for inquiries. |
| |
Q: How
do I get technical support?
|
| A: Click on
http://www.idealistsw.com/construction/support
in a web browser or send an email to
support@idealistsw.com. |
