A NEW innovation during lockdown has seen two Bury businessmen develop virtual calling cards.

With conferences and meetings taking place regularly over the likes of Zoom and Microsoft teams, Keith Robinson and Paul Smith have devised a platform-friendly means of introduction.

Their Zappify business cards will be on hand whenever the holder has access to their mobile phone and can be shared via all kinds of networking events.

Not only can they be 'zapped' to a potential client between smart phones but they can also be shared by tablets and on social media.

Paul says that he came up with the idea when he attended a networking event before the lockdown.

Watching people giving out physical cards and then having to type the information into their phones, he believed there must be a simpler and more convenient way to swap business cards.

Paul, managing director of Electric Penguin, a web applications and software development firm whose clients include Caffé Nero and American Golf, teamed up with Keith, managing director of business consultancy Griffin Partners, to develop the virtual card, which they have launched under the Zappify brand.

Those interested register on their website and enter contact details. This becomes a tile on their smartphone, with a QR code containing the data. Then to receive the business card, a person takes a photo of the QR code and saves the details into their contacts.

Keith said: “The beauty of the virtual business card is its simplicity. A business person will always have their card with them, and the recipient can simply add the contact details into their phone with one click, eliminating the laborious process of having to enter all the information manually.

“The zapping from phone to phone works equally well over Zoom and other video conferencing technology. Updating contact details can be done instantly and for free on the smart phone. In this way, it eliminates the waste of obsolete cards and the need to have new ones printed.”