Review: IRIS Business Card Reader II

When business card readers first appeared on the scene, they seemed overpriced and frivolous compared to other uses for your computer-related discretionary funds. Now those days are past, thanks to dropping prices and devices such as the IRIS Business Card Reader II.

A business card reader lets you scan a batch of standard business cards, and then use OCR software to build a contact list, catalog the information, and/or synchronize it with your preferred contact software or your PDA. The latest version of the IRIS Business Card Reader performs all these functions nicely.

The Reader connects to your computer via the USB port. Installation was as smooth and free of problems as any USB device should be. Both the hardware and software were installed, up and running, and ready for me to play...er...work with them in about five minutes. (By the way, this is one of those application installations where Windows will pop up a message informing you that the device has not been certified to work with Windows. As we say in Brooklyn, “Donledditboddaya!” Go ahead with the install.)

Simple Card Scanning

Unless you plan to spend most of your time scanning business cards, this is not a device that you’re likely to want to give a lot of prominent desktop space to. Fortunately, the Reader's footprint is not too large and it is easily movable (especially if you assign it a long USB cable). You can even leave it in a desk drawer and just plug it in to your USB port or hub as needed -- once it’s been installed, there’s no problem plugging and unplugging it on the fly. There’s also an optional carrying case for mobile use or storage.

Your first step will be to calibrate the scanner with the included card. This is simple and doesn’t take much time, and further, provides an easy way to familiarize yourself with how the scanner works. The only downside here is that you will be prompted to re-calibrate every few weeks, so don’t lose that card.

Once you’re set up, getting your business cards scanned is simple. Launch the CardIRIS software (I was using version 3.5, which shipped with the device) and then place the card in one end of the scanner. You can manually start the process from the software, or have the machine recognize when a card has been inserted.

After it is scanned, a picture of the card comes up on your computer's display, and the software takes its best guess as to what text from the card should go into what field. For the most part, I was impressed with the software's OCR capabilities. When CardIRIS wasn’t sure where text went., it was very easy to drag the text into the appropriate fields.

Not surprisingly, some of the more ornate business cards that use curly lettering don’t scan so well. Even then, the software takes its best guess and puts that information onto the "extras" window, where it can be edited and simply (and elegantly) dragged into the appropriate fields.

Once done, CardIRIS provides a handsome, elegant database for viewing cards and contacts, along with categories. But even more useful is the capability to export the contact information (along with a graphic of the card) directly into Outlook, Outlook Express, Notes, or ACT!; you can also convert the info into any number of formats.

If you are someone whose life centers around contacts, even occasionally, the IRIS Business Card Reader II may just be the right thing for you. I envision it as a must-have for salespeople, and more than useful if you attend a few functions a year where you’ll meet more folk than you can remember in a short time -- you can then catalog who they are by using the mnemonic of a business card database. Or it might just be a cool toy, though with an estimated street price of $170, an expensive one.