The BellesLink Basic Plan is a pay-as-you-go subscription that’s great for businesses who only need Batch Search or who are just getting started using public records data. In this overview, we’ll take a look at the features that are included and how you can use them for people search.
When you log into your account, you’ll land on the dashboard where you’ll find all the tools available to you in the Basic Plan. You can begin a new batch search, or begin a new single search such as a property search or reverse address search. You can also access your account information and user setup.
If you need help, you can jump to the BellesLink exchange, our tutorial site, be clicking the blue Tutorials & Help button in the top right of the app. Here you’ll find tutorials on all the features included in BellesLink, some of which are not included in the Basic Plan. You can also contact us right through the app, either by phone or by email if you have questions or need help with your account.
Video Tutorial: Basic Plan Overview
Batch Search
Let’s take a look at a batch search. Click on Upload a Batch or choose it from the batch search menu.
A batch search begins with uploading a batch and you’ll have a CSV file, a spreadsheet file that you’ve prepared for batch. To learn about how to do that, watch the tutorial video on the upload page. You can also look in the exchange for our tutorial on batch file setup.
After you upload your file, the app will guide you through the process until you’re ready to submit your file. If you have a batch coupon code, watch the video in this blog post to learn how to use it.
Your batch results will be available in your account in 2-24 hours, depending on the size of your batch, the time and day you submitted your file. You’ll get an email notifying you they are ready. In your account, click the Batch Results link on the dashboard or choose it from the Batch Search menu.
If you don’t see your batch in the list, you might just open up the date range on the left. If the date range is set too narrow it may be hiding the batch that you’re looking for. Click on View Results to access your search results and export them. You can export a CSV two different ways, Results Only and Merged Results.
Exporting the results only file will give you a CSV spreadsheet with the data columns you searched—first name, last name, address, city, state, zip code—followed by the search results, including phone numbers, emails, and a most current address.
Exporting the merged results file will give you a CSV spreadsheet that includes ALL the columns in your original, uploaded file, followed by the search results. If your original file had extra columns that were not used in the search, those columns of data are saved in your account so they can be merged with the search results on export.
That’s how to use Batch Search. Let’s talk about Single People Searches
Single Searches
Jumping back to the dashboard, you’ll see the Basic Plan also has Single Searches, such as a people search and reverse number search.
When you look at a people search, as with many of our searches, you have options on the information you input for the search. The more detailed information that you have, the more accurate the search result will be. Searching by social security number makes a very narrow, very accurate search—one number, one person. Searching by an address, such as a reverse address search, is a broader search and will probably return multiple people who are connected with that address. A name and address is the most common input.
When you come to your account the first time you’ll see a message, “You do not have enough searches to perform this search.” That’s because the Basic Plan is a pay-as-you-go subscription. In order to use our single searches you need to first purchase searches. From the dashboard or the searches menu, choose Buy Searches. Your remaining searches are always shown in the top right of a search screen.
Search History
If you’ve done a search previously and you want to grab some more information from it, you don’t have to pay to run that search again. From the dashboard or searches menu click Search History. Searches are kept for three months.
Batch Search vs Single People Search
Often we’re asked about the difference between a single search and a batch search.
A batch search is an automated process that’s trying to provide a single best result for the name and address that you searched. If our database can’t produce a single best result, it won’t return any result at all. That doesn’t mean we don’t have information relative to that person, but it may not be a single best result.
A people search is the same, but different. When searching a name and address combination, a people search will also try to return a single best result. If it can’t, it will give you near best results. Near best results will include multiple people connected to the information you input. Your job will be to a detective, like Sherlock Holmes, and use your powers of deduction to identify the best result. People searches also provide much more information than Batch Searches. They include alias, date of birth, a partial SSN#, mobile phone numbers, landline phone numbers, address history, emails, relatives, associates, property and business records.
So, the essential differences between a batch search and a people search are single-best-results versus near-best-results and the depth of information included in the search results.
BellesLink Basic Plan for Batch Search and Single Searches
The Basic Plan is a pay-as-you-go subscription that’s great when your business only needs Batch Search. If your business needs single searches, such as People Search or Reverse Address, the Basic Plan is a great way to get started. These searches deliver the most accurate information available and let your business use the power of public data.
Ok, that’s a quick overview of the features that are included in the BellesLink Basic Plan. If you have any questions or need help, don’t hesitate to contact us either by phone at (970)-328-0400 or email.