We live in a practically paperless , digital geezerhood , but there ’s one newspaper product that just wo n’t die : The business card . Business plug-in are pretty much a necessity for networking , but what do youdowith 800 business cards when you get home from a tradeshow ?
Let me guess — leave them in your base and forget about them until the next tradeshow bankroll around . Not such an effective networking pecker after all .
Good news : There are plenty of apps that will help you stay on top of your patronage card hoard by ( speedily ) digitizing them and adding the relevant information to your practical rolodex ( your Contacts list ) . We tried out five to obtain out which one makes the skilful business scorecard butler .
CamCard
CamCard(freeversion and $ 3premiumversion ) is a classic . It ’s quick , exact , and gaudy , with two versions to suit different needs — its entry - level free version offers full functionality but limits your wag - scanning to 200 , where its premium version offers straight-out scanning . CamCard ’s optic grapheme reader ( OCR ) can read and digest wag information in 17 unlike languages , including English , traditional and simplified Chinese , Japanese , Hungarian , Swedish , and Russian .
CamCard is one of the fastest apps we tried — it snaps menu photos automatically and flattens the pic into a readable mental image . It also pop the question a batch mode , where you could take serial snaps of multiple board . This app is somewhat accurate at translating card datum to contact information , and it can read multiple layout ( though it frequently flux up caller , department , and problem title ) . It can automatically translate speech sound identification number with extensions into a phone - clear format ( with commas ) , and it can decipher societal media handles . The app has a racy vane interface , where you could manage contacts ( categorize or erase them , or meld duplicate cards ) expeditiously .
On the downside , this app has trouble recognizing all - black cards and extremely shining cards ; for these card game you will need to manually snap a photo and there ’s no guarantee the OCR will read them correctly .
Overall , CamCard is a solid app with underage , perceivable flaws . The app features a swarm - based database that can be synced across gadget , and you may also upload all contact information into your local Contacts leaning . CamCard also lets you upload your own card and sum up augmented realness feature film , such as a headshot or a TV introduction , which other CamCard exploiter will be able-bodied to see , should they ever run down your card . The app does let you share your notice digitally with users via QR code or through its Card Radar , a feature that alerts you to nearby CamCard exploiter .
FoxCard
FoxCard(free with in - app purchase ) is a square , easy - to - function business card scan app that can recognize cards in nine different speech communication ( English , French , German , Italian , Spanish , Lusitanian , Swedish , Finnish , and Danish ) .
FoxCard isjusta business card image scanner , not a social networking pecker , so there ’s no way to add digital features to your current commercial enterprise posting or share your business card digitally with other FoxCard users . The scanner subroutine is automatic — the app will automatically snap a photo of a card once it ’s positioned correctly — and features a batch mode for snapping multiple wag . We found that FoxCard ’s scanner is better at recognizing all - grim and glossy cards , though its overall scanning speed is slenderly slow than CamCard ’s . This app also offers good in - app direction tool : you may mass- categorize , e-mail , text , share , or delete touch from within the app itself .
While the app ’s OCR is good , it ’s not excellent . It frequently messes up addresses ( it almost never separates the street from the urban center ) and it occasionally places period where there should be none . The app ’s slew manner also had a few quirks — information from some card bled into other cards ( for example , I find an address on a card where no reference was list — it was from a different notice ) in multiple tests .
FoxCard is n’t staring , but it is entirely loose . The app does boast a swarm - base database that lets you synchronize your middleman across multiple gadget , and it also get you save contact lens information straight to your gadget ’s local Contacts tilt .
WorldCard Mobile
WorldCard Mobile(freelite versionand $ 7premium version ) is aptly - named — this business bill scanner recognizes the most linguistic communication ( 21 ) of any of the apps we tested , including simplified and traditional Chinese , Czech , Slovak , and Arabic , though you will need to manually pick out the language of each card before you scan it . The app come in in two versions : A free adaptation that allows you to keep one contact per hebdomad , and a premium version that allows you to save unlimited contacts .
Like CamCard and FoxCard , WorldCard Mobile has its own swarm - base database that can sync across multiple platforms . It can also save physical contact directly to your local Contacts list and sync with Gmail / Google contacts — a ready to hand feature for Gmail user .
Unfortunately , WorldCard Mobile does not have a lot modality for snap pictures of multiple cards at once , nor does the television camera automatically take a photo when a menu is decent positioned . These might seem like undistinguished feature film , but they make a heavy difference of opinion when you have hundreds of business organisation notice to digitalize . At $ 7 , the premium variation of this app ( and , realistically , the only usable version ) is more expensive than the other apps we try out .
WorldCard Mobile is perfect for international businesspeople who wish to keep their Gmail contacts up - to - particular date , but for everyone else it ’s deadening and pricier than the contender .
SamCard
SamCard(freelite versionand $ 4premium variation ) is a simple , straightforward business card reader that scan cards and keep open them to your iPhone ’s local Contacts list . The app occur in two reading : SamCard Lite , which allow you to pull through up to three newfangled poster to your Contacts list each workweek , and the premium rendering , which allows you to economize unlimited cards to your Contacts list .
The app is simple and easy to apply . Unlike the other apps in this cycle - up , SamCard does n’t get to with a cloud - syncing database — you do n’t have to create an account , nor do you require to worry about which adjoin list(s ) to write your datum to . Instead , SamCard saves all of your scanned cards directly to your iPhone ’s local Contacts lean , and that ’s it . The app also offer comparatively near OCR technology that can recognize a byplay card ’s orientation , though it did have some trouble with non - traditional layouts . The tv camera does not provide a tidy sum mode or automatic picture - pickings , but it does work very quickly .
However , because SamCard does n’t offer a cloud - free-base database , you wo n’t be able to sync your contacts across platforms ( unless you sync your iPhone contacts across platforms ) . The app is also perhaps a littletoosimple — it does n’t put up a batch fashion , nor does it leave you to quickly make out multiple contacts at once ( you ’re at the mercifulness of Apple ’s contact management system ) . One plus : It checks for repetition of contact name in your contact lens list .
SamCard is n’t the most robust business add-in reader , but its simplicity is appealing . If you ’re just looking to rapidly add multitude to your Contacts list , SamCard ’s camera is the snappiest ( even without batch mode or automatic snapping ) .
ScanBizCards
ScanBizCards(freelite version , $ 1premium version , and enterprise rendering ) is a business batting order scanning app from CircleBack that offers unlimited scanning in its free app ( but limited touch list syncs ) , as well as some other features such as manual lineup transcriptions and calendar integrations . The app comes in three version : A Lite version , which is free and lets you scan unlimited business cards ; a premium version for $ 1 , which offers straight-out line card scanning , limitless address book syncs , and outright calendar integration ; and an enterprise variant , which is priced based on your company ’s pauperism and offer features like batch scanning , custom contact fields , and limitless gratis manual card transcriptions .
Of the apps we tested , ScanBizCards has the best OCR engineering . This app was systematically exact in its card - reading potentiality ; it did occasionally get spark off up on non - traditional layout and glossy / dark card . Although the free and premium versions of the app do not bid deal mode for swear out multiple card , the OCR is accurate enough that we were still able-bodied to breeze through many cards fairly quickly . The costless version of ScanBizCards also offers unlimited circuit board scanning , so if you ’re seem for a caliber line card electronic scanner ( and you ’re not particularly interested in a synchronise - up cloud - base database or manual notice transcriptions ) then the free translation of ScanBizCards is an splendid tool .
Some of the features you ’ll see in spare or paid versions of other apps are enterprise - only in ScanBizCards . There is no batch photo mode , nor does the camera automatically snap a photograph when a business card is in range .
ScanBizCards has a lot of feature of speech that many people may never use , including the power to export contacts to Salesforce , Excel , and Evernote , and manual written text services for bill that the scanner ca n’t read . But so many features makes the app a little difficult to pilot , because so many of the features have non - intuitive jargonized names ( e.g. “ WebSync ” and “ CircleBack ” ) . The app can scan wag in 21 different speech , though , including Hungarian , Lithuanian , Turkish , Serbian , and Vietnamese .
