Introducing Business Card Scanner App for Zoho CRM

Posted on by Raju Vegesna
2 Mins Read

Card Scanner App IconEntering data manually into any CRM app is not fun. Any solution that helps automate data entry is a win for CRM users. That is the idea behind our new mobile app for Zoho CRM – Card Scanner.

Card Scanner is an iPhone app that extracts contact information from business cards and saves it into Zoho CRM as Contacts or Leads. Take a photo of a business card and the app extracts information from it and automatically populates the information into the appropriate fields. You can save the extracted information as a CRM Contact or Lead if you are logged into your Zoho CRM account within the app.

Card Scanner 1

The app can extract information from business cards in multiple languages including English (US & UK), French, German and Spanish. If the extraction includes the Twitter handle, it automatically downloads the photo from the public Twitter profile and syncs it with CRM. When the contact information is saved in CRM, the photo of the business card is automatically attached to the contact or lead record in CRM for future reference.

Card Scanner 2

Extracting data through OCR can be tricky. It cannot always be 100% accurate. We think we built the app that tries to be as accurate as possible. But given the number of variables (poor lighting conditions, multiple photo angles, complex logos etc) that could impact the quality of data extraction, we try to make it easy to display the accuracy factor in the extract within the app.

In cases where we are not too confident about the extracted information, we display that information in red. This allows you to easily correct any possible inaccuracies before saving the information.

We think this will be a great complementary app that will simplify the data entry process into your CRM system. The app is currently available for the iPhone and Android.

More about the app here. We hope to hear your feedback.

Comments

122 Replies to Introducing Business Card Scanner App for Zoho CRM

  1. Would the OCR open up to Zoho creator? I think this will be useful when the requirements need to read on the object (business card, textbook) instead of user manual input into the fields in zoho app.

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  2. Hello, this App is part of the Zoho one family. When I go to download the app, it requests that we buy it. Appreciate your help on this

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  3. want to scan 4 lacks cards.want application desktop base.It can read data from tiff images which i scanned on adf scanner like fujitsu6125. plese suggest

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  4. I agree with James about the free trial. There is a free trial for Andrioid phones (let's you scan 10 cards with the in up purchase for more) but there isn't one for Apple. Also, as for the adnroid trial app, it would be nice to have an option of adding a card to leads or contact, for now it only adds them to leads. Thanks!

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  5. A free trial would be great. Mainly for testing the OCR. I already use Zoho-CRM, and this app would be a significant add-on. But I need to know first how good the scanning is. I see many people asking for this and you guys haven't reacted yet. A positive reply to this request would be nice Thanks

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  19. It is a must for this app to differentiate the type of phone number as mobile, fax, work,etc. Considering all numbers as work, demerits the use of this app.Delaying this issue for a new release compromise your app success. This problem needs to be fixed Right Now! Your app also requires correct synchronization with all the fields in the Zoho CRM platform.

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  20. @justinkassan:disqus and @disqus_Ianb1Kc2hr:disqus, the android version of Card Scanner will be available by the first week of november.Sathya,
    Zoho

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  22. We plan to release the Android version of Card Scanner by the first week of november. Please send us an email at isupport@zohocorp.com and we will inform you as soon as the app is available.Sathya,
    Zoho

    Reply

  23. Regarding the difference between Card Scanner and Leads. Card Scanner is a general purpose business card scanning app. It is tailored towards general audience who wants to reduce the manual work of digitizing business card's. Our road map for Card Scanner is to support sync options with Zoho apps like Zoho Contacts Manager, Zoho Books, etc and Other Non-Zoho services like Google Contacts.Whereas, Leads is a application that is particularly tailored for the CRM community. It has features like Tasks, Events and Notes which the Card Scanner lacks. Our road map for leads is to include all features that a person at a conference would require to generate a lead. A sales person at a conference can scan a visitors badge or business card and add him to the CRM also he will have option to send custom email's using Zoho CRM's email templates for the contact. Leads will ideally become a complete Event Management and Lead generation solution.Though currently Leads and Cards Scanner appear to be similar they will diverge towards their respective audience's with each new feature.Sathya,
    Zoho

    Reply

  24. Thank you for pointing this out, we will try to include the option to change the phone number's category in a future version of the app.Sathya,
    Zoho

    Reply

  26. Been testing this app today and really like it. The only item I saw as problematic so far was to change the telephone settings "work", "mobile", etc. It is reading all of them as work. Perhaps this is something to look into?

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  27. Can you outline the differences between your new iPhone apps "Leads" and "Business Card Scanner"? They look like they overlap quite a bit. But I can't tell from the descriptions whether "Leads" will let you enter the data as Zoho Contacts/Accounts, and whether "Business Card Scanner will let you scan QR codes or connect the newly entered records into campaigns.
    I love the concepts for both; but would really rather only buy one app that does the full job instead of two - and then have to figure out which one to use each time.
    Thanks.
    @dradin

    Reply

  28. I just purchased the iPhone app and it works very well. My only complaint would be that it does not allow you to select a company name from the Zoho Database to automatically attach the Contact to. Even if the Account Name is correct, it just puts that info in the Description field. Even with this deficiency, it still saves loads of time. I just keep this app and the Zoho CRM iPhone app open at the same time, and once I scan the contact and save to Zoho CRM, I then open the Zoho CRM app, find the contact, and add them to the correct Account. The Scanning is pretty accurate, but if it doesn't work the first time, rescan and it usually gets it the second time.

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  29. I just purchased the iPhone app and it works very well. My only complaint would be that it does not allow you to select a company name from the Zoho Database to automatically attach the Contact to. Even if the Account Name is correct, it just puts that info in the Description field. Even with this deficiency, it still saves loads of time. I just keep this app and the Zoho CRM iPhone app open at the same time, and once I scan the contact and save to Zoho CRM, I then open the Zoho CRM app, find the contact, and add them to the correct Account. The Scanning is pretty accurate, but if it doesn't work the first time, rescan and it usually gets it the second time.

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  30. love to hear when the android one is coming out, we need it urgently as at medical conferences loads of business cards, please keep me informed, great for one off fee and not on usage

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  31. love to hear when the android one is coming out, we need it urgently as at medical conferences loads of business cards, please keep me informed, great for one off fee and not on usage

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  32. Ditto! I use Linked-In and Facebook for digital networking, best believe the thousands of mom and pops, smaller enterprises, distributors, dealers, and face-to-face networking in general that we transfer to our CRM database still THRIVE on CARDS! Especially at trade-shows! I too was loving CardMunch till I found not so easy to get data out to my CRM/Mailchimp, etc. so I downloaded ScanBizCards. Zoho Biz Card Scanner app is NOT A GIMMICK but crucial to streamline our sales and tech support processes across our team. Using Cloud integration to automatically sync WufooForms/MailChimpCampaigns/ZohoCRM, thinking of adding Zoho Support as our cloud based Help Desk! Keep improving, Zoho!

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  33. Ditto! I use Linked-In and Facebook for digital networking, best believe the thousands of mom and pops, smaller enterprises, distributors, dealers, and face-to-face networking in general that we transfer to our CRM database still THRIVE on CARDS! Especially at trade-shows! I too was loving CardMunch till I found not so easy to get data out to my CRM/Mailchimp, etc. so I downloaded ScanBizCards. Zoho Biz Card Scanner app is NOT A GIMMICK but crucial to streamline our sales and tech support processes across our team. Using Cloud integration to automatically sync WufooForms/MailChimpCampaigns/ZohoCRM, thinking of adding Zoho Support as our cloud based Help Desk! Keep improving, Zoho!

    Reply

  34. Richard,Dutch language support is available in version 1.1 of the app. Please, update your app from the app store.Sathya
    Zoho

    Reply

  35. Richard,Dutch language support is available in version 1.1 of the app. Please, update your app from the app store.Sathya
    Zoho

    Reply

  40. Just downloaded the iPhone version and it works well. I especially like the interface. The only thing that didn't work as expected was the "add to twitter". The card I scanned had an "@username" but it didn't pick that up. Is it specifically looking for the word "Twitter" to map this field? I also agree with the users commending the one-time fee as opposed to ongoing charges.

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  41. Just downloaded the iPhone version and it works well. I especially like the interface. The only thing that didn't work as expected was the "add to twitter". The card I scanned had an "@username" but it didn't pick that up. Is it specifically looking for the word "Twitter" to map this field? I also agree with the users commending the one-time fee as opposed to ongoing charges.

    Reply

  42. Im sure the Android app is coming. I eagerly look for updates daily. Whoever thinks that business cards are no longer valid obviously dont network with real live people the way I do. Its a cardfest out there!!
    As a newbie to Zoho, I personally find the whole system to be great in theory. Ive yet to integrate and customise however so the jury is out. It was good enough for me to sack my previous crm and I went wow more than once or twice.
    Keep the apps coming. Android would certainly be welcome.

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  43. Im sure the Android app is coming. I eagerly look for updates daily. Whoever thinks that business cards are no longer valid obviously dont network with real live people the way I do. Its a cardfest out there!!
    As a newbie to Zoho, I personally find the whole system to be great in theory. Ive yet to integrate and customise however so the jury is out. It was good enough for me to sack my previous crm and I went wow more than once or twice.
    Keep the apps coming. Android would certainly be welcome.

    Reply

  46. Mixed reviews in early days. Free trial would be good for client. Big question for me, does it check for duplicates? I expect not. If I have ticked the check for duplicate email address, does this help? Again I expect not but would still like confirmation please. Many thanks. Eileen

    Reply

  47. Mixed reviews in early days. Free trial would be good for client. Big question for me, does it check for duplicates? I expect not. If I have ticked the check for duplicate email address, does this help? Again I expect not but would still like confirmation please. Many thanks. Eileen

    Reply

  52. Recently two of my colleagues came back from two separate global conferences in the US. They brought back with them over 200 business cards and it was my job to manually enter all information into Zoho. Halfway through I found two apps called CardMunch and ScanBizCards. Trust me, the business card is alive and well and I disagree with your comments. Cardmunch is a LinkedIn app that scans cards and saves the contact info into your LinkedIn account, the cards are read by real people who type up the info for you, the information is very accurate and has some handy features like emailing contacts, connecting via LinkedIn and showing how many connections you have, but it won't let you export a CSV file.ScanBizCards lets you download the info into a CSV file, email it or upload it to Salesforce, but the extracting of information is quite inaccurate and it doesn't have Zoho as an option. I'm very pleased to find out that Zoho has brought out their own app, and I'm buying it now. Cheers,

    Reply

  53. Recently two of my colleagues came back from two separate global conferences in the US. They brought back with them over 200 business cards and it was my job to manually enter all information into Zoho. Halfway through I found two apps called CardMunch and ScanBizCards. Trust me, the business card is alive and well and I disagree with your comments. Cardmunch is a LinkedIn app that scans cards and saves the contact info into your LinkedIn account, the cards are read by real people who type up the info for you, the information is very accurate and has some handy features like emailing contacts, connecting via LinkedIn and showing how many connections you have, but it won't let you export a CSV file.ScanBizCards lets you download the info into a CSV file, email it or upload it to Salesforce, but the extracting of information is quite inaccurate and it doesn't have Zoho as an option. I'm very pleased to find out that Zoho has brought out their own app, and I'm buying it now. Cheers,

    Reply

  58. Maybe I'm desensitized on buying apps, but the price seems right, and I would rather pay once than monthly.

    Reply

  59. Maybe I'm desensitized on buying apps, but the price seems right, and I would rather pay once than monthly.

    Reply

  64. Business card scanning; really? What year is this? We hardly ever exchange business cards anymore. Default is LinkedIN linking. So I don't consider this a useful "innovation". I much rahter have you guys focus on improving your core product. E.g: more inpage field updates with automatic save. (instead of opening a field (edit) entering data en saving it). This would improve daily productivity dramatically. Which is, as a bussiness owner, how I valuate our business productivity tools . So I suggest focus on getting your User Experience right before adding more 'gimmicks'.I am convinced these features dont get you customers (when they evaluate your CRM) and most certainly wont keep them! Please stay focussed!

    Reply

  65. Business card scanning; really? What year is this? We hardly ever exchange business cards anymore. Default is LinkedIN linking. So I don't consider this a useful "innovation". I much rahter have you guys focus on improving your core product. E.g: more inpage field updates with automatic save. (instead of opening a field (edit) entering data en saving it). This would improve daily productivity dramatically. Which is, as a bussiness owner, how I valuate our business productivity tools . So I suggest focus on getting your User Experience right before adding more 'gimmicks'.I am convinced these features dont get you customers (when they evaluate your CRM) and most certainly wont keep them! Please stay focussed!

    Reply

  66. Thanks for Zoho for this innovation. Just want to ask if this apps would be applicable also for some documents, like Proof of Delivery, this id for those businesses that caters delivery services to publicThanks
    Job

    Reply

  67. Thanks for Zoho for this innovation. Just want to ask if this apps would be applicable also for some documents, like Proof of Delivery, this id for those businesses that caters delivery services to publicThanks
    Job

    Reply

  70. This should be a free app as providing a BC scanning capability just adds to the benefits of Zoho CRM. There are already free BC scanners that export to SalesForce, Evernote, Jigsaw and more. Zoho should stay competitive by offering similar functionality.

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  71. This should be a free app as providing a BC scanning capability just adds to the benefits of Zoho CRM. There are already free BC scanners that export to SalesForce, Evernote, Jigsaw and more. Zoho should stay competitive by offering similar functionality.

    Reply

  72. Does it supports any other language than English? For example Spanish? If so, could you please let me know. This sounds like a great tool.

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  73. Does it supports any other language than English? For example Spanish? If so, could you please let me know. This sounds like a great tool.

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  74. Bruno,Please note that this is a one time payment of $4.99 and not recurring. This includes all future updates on iOS.

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  75. Bruno,Please note that this is a one time payment of $4.99 and not recurring. This includes all future updates on iOS.

    Reply

  82. Seems like a very useful tool for me, except the fact that I need Dutch language. If this was in Dutch language available I would buy it immediately as I'm a happy ZOHO CRM customer (in Dutch as well) :-)When will Dutch language be available.....?

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  83. Seems like a very useful tool for me, except the fact that I need Dutch language. If this was in Dutch language available I would buy it immediately as I'm a happy ZOHO CRM customer (in Dutch as well) :-)When will Dutch language be available.....?

    Reply

  86. Genius, useful but very, very, very expensive and no free trial
    I love Zoho ! I'm working with ZohoCrm (paid), iphone ZohoCRM (paid), Zohomail (paid), ... I think you need to do effort on price
    Thanks
    Bruno

    Reply

  87. Genius, useful but very, very, very expensive and no free trial
    I love Zoho ! I'm working with ZohoCrm (paid), iphone ZohoCRM (paid), Zohomail (paid), ... I think you need to do effort on price
    Thanks
    Bruno

    Reply

  92. Awesome ! Many of our customers were asking for this. We all know that OCR technology can be pretty tricky but it seems you guys have done great work on this app. Thanks a lot :) .

    Reply

  93. Awesome ! Many of our customers were asking for this. We all know that OCR technology can be pretty tricky but it seems you guys have done great work on this app. Thanks a lot :) .

    Reply

  98. A lite version with limited scans would be great to trial - as they say, OCR is a tricky process and if the app doesn't do it well I would like to know before buying yet another business card scanning app that is more cumbersome than it is worth.

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  99. A lite version with limited scans would be great to trial - as they say, OCR is a tricky process and if the app doesn't do it well I would like to know before buying yet another business card scanning app that is more cumbersome than it is worth.

    Reply

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