On this site, we've tried our best to give you all the information you need to decide on a Seiko Instruments USA Inc. Smart Business Card Reader. We've also included this list of frequently asked questions. However, if you still have a question and you don't find the answer here, call us at 1-800-688-0817. The following topics on this page are:

Troubleshooting

Q. The LED light won't turn on when you plug it in.
A. You should not have a problem. The Smart Business Card Reader's LED will not turn on until you scan your first card. Go ahead, scan a card!

Q. The SBCR won't scan properly or at all.
A. If you attempt to scan a card, but the scanner will not pull the card through, or the scanned image on the screen is completely black or otherwise unusable, review the list below:

1. Improper cable used
   You must use the cable supplied with the Smart Business Card Reader. Use of any other cable will most likely not work, as must cables of this type are not properly shielded for use with the SBCR. This is also important when using a switchbox. You must use SII cables for the connections from the SCBR to the Switchbox and from the Switchbox to the PC.
2. The power cable is not connected or the power adapter is not plugged in. 
3. The parallel port is not properly configured or is not selected.
   Make sure you have chosen the correct parallel port, if you have more than one. Also make sure it works. The easiest way is to connect a printer to it and print.

Cards

The Smart Business Card Reader (SBCR) is the easiest way to get contacts into your computer. It will save you time by keeping your contact information organized and will relieve you of the tedious task of having to type card information into your computer. The SBCR software will accurately recognize most business cards and correctly place the information in the appropriate database fields. For some cards, editing may be required using the easy editing tools described in this guide. Overall, using the SBCR will be a more pleasant experience than having to manually enter all card information into your computer.

As with all optical character recognition (OCR) software, not all text can be scanned accurately. Since there is such a wide variety of fonts and colors used for business cards, you may find the accuracy of the SBCR compromised for certain cards. Business cards with the following characteristics typically yield poor results:

1. Dark cards or cards with reverse text. (i.e., white text on a colored background) 
2. Angled or curved text, fancy script, outline or shadow fonts. 
3. Little contrast between the background of the card and the text. 

Due to their stylistic nature, company logos or graphics typically are not recognized. For logos which have the company name in it, you may have to type the company name in after scanning, unless the company name is repeated in the text on the card. Note: For best results we recommend you insert the card face down and aligned to the left edge of the scanner.

Editing

The following section quickly describes the advanced editing features that lets you check, correct and add text to the information recognized by the Smart Business Card Reader.

Q. Verifying Text on Image and Zooming
A. If you want to verify an entry, you can use the quick zoom feature to automatically enlarge that portion of the scanned image.

1. Position the cursor over the text in the data field that you want to verify. 
2. Click the right mouse button. The text is highlighted and appears enlarged in the card image. 
3. After verifying the text, double-click inside the image to return it to the normal size. 

To zoom in on a portion of the image, press the left mouse button and drag the mouse across the area of the image you want to use. To return the image to normal size, double-click anywhere inside the image.

Q. Drag and Drop Text from Card Image

1. Position cursor on card image text that you want to drag. (If required, zoom in on the portion of the image). 
2. Press and hold right mouse button. The recognized text appears in small print. 
3. Drag the text to the data field and release mouse button when the cursor changes to a + sign indicating a valid field for receiving data. 

Q. Moving Text from the Notes Section and Between Fields

1. Select the text you want to move by pressing the left mouse button and dragging across the text. 
2. Position cursor anywhere on the selected text. Press and hold the left mouse button. 
3. Drag the text to desired location in target field and release the mouse button when the cursor changes to a + sign. The text will be appended/inserted in to the receiving field. 

Q. Verifying Text on Image and Zooming
A. To move an entire field, press and hold the left mouse button over the field name and drag the text to the desired field location and release mouse button. To replace a field entirely with the moved text, position the cursor on the receiving field's name and release the mouse button.

Scanning

If you have lots of cards to scan, you can save time by batch scanning, and deferring the OCR and field recognition until later (where you don't have to be present). Select the Scan Batch... option from the Card menu.

Exporting

Q. One-Click DDE Export
A. With some Contact Managers, a one-click DDE data exchange is supported. One-Click DDE data exchange is supported by: ACT! 2.0, ACT! 1.0, Maximizer 3.0, Goldmine, Packrat, Advantage, ECCO, Commence, 1st Act. (ACT! 3.0 coming soon in next release! - see section below) To select one of the above Contact Managers/PIMs for one-click DDE export, select PIM Link from the Edit - Preferences menu option and select the appropriate PIM from the list. Then just click on the PIM icon to transfer the current contact or all tagged contacts into your PIM.

Q. Export to a PIM or Database
A. Select Export from the File menu. Select the Export format for the PIM or database you wish to export to. If it is not listed, you will need to tell the SBCR software how your fields are mapped. Select the Field mapping option and refer to the documentation.

Q. ACT! 3.0 Users
A. ACT! 3.0 offers an import wizard which uses map files to specify the field mapping order. You can use their Wizard to create the map file. Save this map file into the ACT! directory and rename it to "SBCR.MAP".

1. From the SBCR application, select File:Export. Select Comma Delimited format, enter an intermediate file name and press OK. 
2. Run ACT! 3.0. Select Data Exchange-Import from the File menu. This runs the import Wizard. 
3. Select Text Delimited format. Enter the intermediate file name. Select the "Contact Records Only" option. 
4. If you have downloaded the map file, select the option "Use Predefined Map" and select the "SBCR" option from the list. Otherwise, you will have to create a map. This will only take a minute of two. You can refer to your ACT! 3.0 documentation if you have questions about this part. 
5. Complete the import wizard and your data will be in ACT! 

Switches

If you intend to use a Parallel Port Switch Box with the SBCR, select a MANUAL switch box. Most Automatic switch boxes will not work with the SBCR. We have tested BELKIN manual switch boxes and have confirmed that they work, although it should work with any brand that switches all 25 pins of the parallel port.

Requirements

Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 compatible PC. 

1. 80486 processor or higher with 8MB or more of memory and 18MB of hard disk space. 
2. One PC parallel port. A bi-directional parallel port (BPP) will enhance performance by increasing scanning speed.