You stuff them into pockets and, later, into drawers. They collect at home when you return from
a road trip. They accumulate in stacks and eventually get stuffed into Rolodex's — but do
you alphabetize by name or by company?
If ever there was a candidate for a "knowledge management scanner" (to borrow a funny idea
someone came up with a few years ago), it would be the business card. Surely, the "knowing
enterprise" starts with basic questions such as "who was that guy?"
Quick Scan
Corex Technologies Cambridge, MA, 617-492-4200 Product: CardScan Executive Description: Business card scanning system incorporating a compact scanner, image processing and recognition software, a searchable contact database and export/synchronization options for Outlook, Lotus, Act!, Goldmine and devices including personal digital assistants and mobile phones. Strengths: Reliable scanning and accurate recognition software reads most business cards flawlessly. AutoSync feature lets you transfer and update contact info into your accustomed application or device. Weaknesses: The scanner lacks a feeder, so cards have to be fed one-by-one. Can't read logos or stylized fonts. Price: $299
Think of CardScan Executive ($299) from Corex Technologies
(www.cardscan.com)
as a way to unlock the
information trapped on all those business cards you have laying around. With CardScan, you can even
share that knowledge with your desktop applications, your personal digital assistant and your mobile
phone.
In our tests, I just hooked up the CardScan 500 scanner to a parallel port (though you can also use
USB), scanned the included Calibration Card and put this little 6" x 7" bitonal unit to
work. The system's accuracy was impressive. Considering the creative efforts companies put into
making their cards stand out, the scanner and software combo did a great job of spotting the name,
title, company, address, phone, email and web information and putting it in the right place. Even when
information was scattered all over the card out of its usual sequence, the system usually understood
what went where.
Cards are fed into the scanner one-by-one, and not one of them jammed. The bitonal images were highly
readable, even when scanning cards with glossy finishes. The scanner had some trouble discerning white
(drop out) text on a blue background and light fonts on white backgrounds.
CardScan Version 5 software incorporates OCR technology from Expervision. It read most standard fonts
and even block letters without a hitch. It had trouble with some italics, and it couldn't read
cursive or stylized fonts. The system also can't read graphics, so text on top of graphics is a
problem.
If the software has trouble reading something, it will rotate the image a few times before
processing. This happened mainly with cards that had bright colored backgrounds and dark text, and it
managed to reinterpret a few cards that were laid out vertically. If you still have problems or the
OCR results are bad, you can correct manually while viewing the card image.
The CardScan interface
looks like a Roledex. In addition to the usual contact fields, you can enter second addresses (for
satellite office or home addresses) and up to eight phone numbers (for those mobile phone junkies). A
Quick Search feature helps you find a contact using any detail you can remember — first name,
last name, title, company, etc. You don't even need to type in the entire word; the search starts
recognizing with the first few letters.
Using CardScan's AutoSync feature, I was able to duplicate and update contact information in
Microsoft Outlook and in a Palm Pilot personal digital assistant. AutoSync automatically transferred
the name, title, company, address and phone contact information into the correct fields automatically.
CardScan will also synchronize with popular contact and personal information managers such as Act!,
Lotus Notes, Goldmine and Day-Timer, and you can also export contact information into mobile phones.
This latest version of the software lets you scan the back of business cards and attach both images to
one record. The upgrade also interprets a wider range of international business cards from countries
including Germany, UK, France, Canada, Sweden, Belgium and Australia. A new Area Code Fix feature
automatically updates the many phone numbers that have changed in recent years.
At $299, CardScan
is a no-brainer investment that will keep all your contact information up-to-date and in sync. If you
prefer, you can even buy the software separately ($79) and use it with any Twain-compliant flatbed or
sheet-fed scanner.
