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What is an electronic business card
An electronic business card is a way to share information about a person and company electronically. Essentially, instead of a traditional paper business card, it is a file with contacts that can be stored in an application on your phone or, for example, on a plastic card.
There are many varieties of such business cards. Here are the main ones:
- Mobile business card application. One of the most convenient options. You are unlikely to forget or lose it – it will always be in your smartphone. You can share your business card both at a distance and in a meeting. In the first case, it will be necessary to send a link directly from the application, in the second – to use a QR-code, which is automatically created in the program. There you can also edit the data and make additional business cards.
- NFC business card. NFC, or near-field contactless communication, helps to exchange information over short distances instantaneously. It uses a plastic card with an NFC chip inside, on which a link to an electronic business card is written. The data is filled in when it is activated. They can usually be edited, but additional business cards cannot be created. When a person touches the card to the smartphone of the interlocutor, the latter can add all the information to his contacts with one click.
- QR business card. The link to the electronic business card is encoded in QR-code with the help of a mobile application or online service. You can use the QR business card electronically by opening it in an app. Or you can print your QR on a sticker and stick it on a case or diary. To share the business card, it is enough to point the smartphone camera to the code and the information will be immediately opened on the device. You can view the data or save it to your contacts.
What are the advantages of electronic business cards?
They are useful for both organizations and individual employees.
You can use them to reduce costs
Almost all development companies offer non-commercial versions of the service. And every employee can download the application and use it for free. That way the cost of business cards drops to zero. And you’ll have extra money creating paystub deduction codes for your employees.
Corporate options for using digital business cards involve switching to a subscription model. In this case, the difference between electronic and paper cards will become smaller and will largely depend on the number of employees and the business cards they use. The larger the company and the more paper business cards it orders, the more profitable the electronic subscription becomes.
They are easy to create
Producing a paper business card is a complicated and time-consuming process that usually takes two to four business days. First, you have to fill out a template, send it to the printer, get the layout approved, check for errors and approve it, pay the bill, wait for the printer to print the print run, send the driver, and sign the documents. And God forbid a mistake is made in the business card.
Electronic cards, on the other hand, eliminate such problems. They are easy to create in the app or the company’s office, and just as easy to edit.
What are the disadvantages of electronic business cards?
While there are many advantages, it is also important to note the disadvantages.
They can’t be given to all clients
If a person does not use a smartphone or simply prefers to keep contacts in paper form, an electronic business card is not suitable.
In addition, old models of smartphones are not always able to read NFC chips, and in several phones, QR-code recognition is not built into the camera function. In the second case, it will be necessary to download a separate application for QR codes, which may not always be convenient.
NFC is not always read immediately
This happens. For example, when the case of the smartphone is thick or has inserts made of metal, NFC may not be recognized the first time. This is unlikely to be a big problem, but when communicating with business partners or clients, you want to avoid any hitches.