Geocode distance engine scenarios

The following scenarios give an overview of how geocodes work depending on your setup.

Example 1

USA and Canada are set up to use PC*Miler as the distance engine for distance and time retrieval
Geocodes are optional
No distance engine is specified for geocode retrieval
None of the entity or transactional addresses have geocodes

Result 1

A transit time and distance is returned by PC*Miler for origin and destination pairs in North America.

Example 1a

Same as example 1, but there are geocodes in the entity and transactional addresses

Result 1a

If the system can return a distance and transit time from the distance server specified, then it does so. This value takes precedence over geocodes.

Example 2

The origin point is in the USA, a region for which you use PC*Miler for the distance and time calculation
The destination point in France, a region for which you use i2 Distance to return distances and times
There are no distance time overrides
The origin and the destination points are in two separate regions as defined by the distance engines
There are no geocodes for the origin or destination addresses
There are no default geocodes for the USA and France

Result 2

The system will fail to return a distance and the rating will also fail.

Example 2a

Same as example 2, but you have assigned default geocodes for the USA and France

Result 2a

The system uses the default geocodes to calculate a straight-line distance using the distance factor. Rating proceeds and an approximate transit time is calculated

Example 2b

Same as example 2, but you have supplied distance engines to derive geocodes for addresses in the USA and France
Geocodes are defined as mandatory for the USA and France

Result 2b

Both the origin and the destination point will have a system-defined geocode, although you could manually override this. These geocodes are used instead of the country’s default geocodes to calculate the straight-line distance. The curvature factor is calculated and rating proceeds.

Example 3

Two countries do not have a distance engine specified for both distance time retrieval and geocode calculation

Result 3

If no geocodes are available then rating fails. However, if you manually apply geocodes to these addresses, then the system uses these geocodes to calculate a straight-line distance and rating should succeed.

Note: Persistent distance time overrides will continue to supersede all system distance and time calculations.