Business Card Scanners: Are they Worth the Money?
Business card scanners keep improving, but are they worth the money? Scanning in business cards directly to software that communicates with Microsoft Outlook is definitely. Some business card scanners go for as little as $80, others as high as $300. Is the extra money worth it? This all depends on your assessment of your needs.
You may not even obtain enough business cards from others to make it a burden to enter them into your contact software manually. However, if you find yourself or someone else in your office spending large amounts of time manually entering information from business cars, it may be a good time to purchase a business card scanner. Below is some information to guide your purchase decision and help gauge if you really should purchase a business card scanner.
What to look for:
- Computer connection: Does the scanner use a parallel port connector or a USB port? Newer card scanners will have the USB feature for increased portability and speed.
- Power supply: How is the scanner powered? Battery or AC-outlet?
- Software compatibility: Is the software included with your purchase compatible with Outlook, Palm software, or whatever you use to store your contacts’ information?
- Included software: Is the included software easy to use?
- Scanning speed: How many hours will it take to scan in 100 cards? 200? This depends on how many business cards you gather while at trade shows and conferences – if you tend to gather 300 cards a weekend, a fast scanner will definitely be worth the extra money.
- Don’t expect perfection; do expect accuracy: Business card scanners are not perfect yet. There are varying degrees of accuracy depending on brand and model. How the software handles those cards it can’t read is another important feature to look at when purchasing a business card scanner. Does the scanner read both sides of a card?
- Size: are you going to be traveling a lot? Using your scanner with your laptop more than your desktop? If so, a smaller size may work better for you.
If you find yourself really struggling to find the business card of someone you need to get in touch with, then a business card scanner may be right for you to stay organized and in touch. Of course, in order to swap business cards with others, you will need your own business cards – available at www.professionaltaste.com or www.business-cards.com for just $30 you can order 500 cards! Or go to www.business-cards.com and receive 1000 FULL COLOR business cards for the price of $500, only $65!