Each week, I will review one tool or app that you can use to better manage your time or increase productivity. Today's Time Management Tool Review is on CamCard, a business card reader for your smartphone. If you aren't into the smartphone thing, check out my post on 10 Ways to Organize Your Business Contacts.
One of the first things I did when I purchased a smartphone was to download a business card reader. It was a GREAT decision! If you do any amount of networking and have a tendency to collect piles of business cards, this is a tool you MUST have. Business card readers give you the opportunity to take a photo of the business card with your smartphone and store the contact information for later use. You no longer have to wonder when you will get around to data entry on all those cards!
CamCard is available across almost all types of phones including blackberry. There are free and premium versions.
The free version of CamCard allows you to scan up to 10 cards right away and then 2 cards per week thereafter. However, the premium version is only $2.99 (get the CamCard - BCR (Western) and not the standard one which is $11.99 for Eastern text and symbols) so there is no reason to limit yourself.
CamCard allows you to scan a business card using the camera on your device. Once the card is scanned in, it will attempt to read the information on the card and apply it to the appropriate fields. The text recognition isn't perfect and most cards will need to have some correction done but it gets you a long way to where you will need to be. the cleaner the font and the more contrast the card has, the better the results will be.
In addition to the standard fields found on the business card, CamCard allows you to enter notes to help you keep track of where you met or something you want to remember. (No more writing on the back of glossy cards).
Once you have scanned and updated the card info, CamCard allows you to then save the contact to your device and/or to their cloud based system which you can access via your phone or the web and across multiple devices. You can also organize your contacts into categories that you create allowing you to set up time management tools like Follow up, Add to Newsletter, Call to Meet, for example.
As a time management tool, CamCard works well to get you to take action on all those cards you are collecting and spending tons of time entering (or worse, not entering at all). From there it can serve well to help you categorize your new contacts into next action steps so you don't miss out on opportunities.
Do you use a business card reader? Share which ones are your favorites.
Nicole Bandes
Having successfully helped hundreds of business leaders stop feeling overwhelmed and out of control so that they have time to achieve that "one more thing" that will make all the difference, Nicole's clients often tell her that she has the magical ability to create time where it didn't exist before.
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So is CamCard any good?
CamCard is definitely a useful tool