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Smart cards can be used for identification, authentication, and data storage. These cards provide a means of effecting business transactions in a flexible, secure, standard way with minimal human intervention. Smart cards are also known as chip card or integrated circuit card. These can provide strong authentication to computers, laptops, and data with encryption.

Smart card writers are used as a communications medium between the smart card and a host. Since the chips in the financial cards are the same as those used for mobile phone cards, just programmed differently and embedded in a different shaped piece. Cards Writers are used in a wide variety of application and are becoming more popular. Card readers and writers are suitable for a wide range of uses.

Smart Card writers are also known as card programmers or card acceptance device. The term ‘writer’ is generally used to describe a unit that interfaces with a PC for the majority of its processing requirements.

The card writers provide a path for your application to send and receive commands from the card. There are many types of writers available, such as serial, PC Card, and standard keyboard models.

When the smart card and the card writer come into contact with the computer, each identifies itself to the other by sending and receiving information. If the messages exchanged do not match, no further processing takes place. So, unlike ordinary bank cards, smart cards can defend themselves against unauthorized users and uses in innovative security measures.

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Dr.R.Maria Inigo1

Maintaining contact with people outside the company is a key part of today’s business.  This includes contact with prospects, customers, clients, vendors and suppliers.  It is through these contacts, one builds the relationships that are so vital to business.  As a result, it is essential that one makes the best of these contacts, and the wise and efficient way to do it is to have effective contact management.

If the work involves contacts with only a few, it can probably be a simple task to manage business relationships with a calendar and address book.  But, if the work involves contact with numerous persons, the need is much more.  An automated and efficient system will help to manage contacts and related activities effectively so that tight business relationships are maintained.  Contact management software solution helps to do this task in an easier way.

Contact management solution is an indispensable tool for sales professionals.  It is also an ideal solution for other business people who, like sales representatives, are externally focused and working to build up business.  Similarly category of persons include, small business owners, consultants, professional recruiters’ and so on.

ESSENCE OF CONTACT MANAGEMENT

Contact management is the management of all the tasks and information related to developing and maintaining relationships with the people with whom you do business.  It involves a variety of activities, including:-

?        Determining new contact areas/persons.

?        Following up with prospects and clients by telephone, fax, mail, e-mail and such other modes.

?        Delivering product information, proposals and quotes.

?        Scheduling appointments and meetings.

?        Creating correspondence to follow up and to generate new sales.

?        Managing customers’ post sales requests for service and support.

?        Maintaining accurate records of all contact interactions.

?        Generating reports for reviewing activities and client/account status.

A wide variety of products are available to help business people in dealing with others.  However, difference exist between contact managers and two others categories most closely related to contact managers – Personal Information Managers (PIMs) and Collaboration and Communication solutions, such as Microsoft Outlook. The modern contact management solution has different facets as shown in the following figure.

B 2 B

Contact management solution

B 2 C C 2 C

CONTACT MANAGERS

Contact managers are designed specifically for relationship driven professionals.  Contact managers make these people more effective in managing relationships by helping them manage their interactions with people outside the organization.  Interactions include, contact with prospects, customers, clients and business partners such as suppliers and distributors. A comprehensive contact management activities include:-

v     Ready to use database with searching.

v     Notes and customizable fields.

v     A calendar that links to contacts.

v     Automatic History with notes.

v     Mail, fax and e-mail merge.

v     Customized reporting.

v     Sales tools.

v     Links to the Internet.

v     Import/Export Utility.

Built on the foundation of a contact-centric database, contact managers provide complete and comprehensive tracking of all the information related to contacts. For example, if a meeting is held with a particular contact, the contact manager tracks the meeting date and time, the subject, the attendees, all associated correspondences and any meeting notes.

Contact managers add a user interface to the power of a database, allowing fast and easy access to all information associated with a contact.  When a client telephones, for example, a consultant can immediately display a complete contact history for that client, including proposals, schedules, contracts, meetings and telephone calls.  Contact mangers also provide tools that automate routine communication and reporting activities.

Personal information managers (PIMs)

            PIMs provide some of the capabilities of contact managers. However, there are important differences between the two. A PIM is used primarily as an electronic record-keeping device that helps people have all their personal information onto their computers. It maintains information that has typically been scattered across a variety of paper devices such as index cards, rolodexes and calendars.

            A PIM usually includes an address book, a calendar and a to-do list, and typically mimics – the paper-based versions of these tools. PIMs help business people organize their personal information such as schedules, tasks and addresses. Unlike contact managers, a PIM’s contact tracking functionality is rudimentary. Another important difference is that, there is little integration between the components of PIM. That is, PIMs don’t integrate contacts, calendars, tasks and correspondence generation. In addition, PIMs provide capability to attach, free from notes to contact records.

            Although PIMs store some of the same information maintained by contact managers, yet the information is not linked to contacts. As a result, it is time-consuming to gather all the information related to a specific contact and therefore, using of PIM for contact management becomes cumbersome.

Collaboration and communication solutions

            Collaboration and communication solutions are designed primarily to help users organize information on the desktop and communicate and share this information among colleagues in a workshop, department or team. It generally include:

v     Calendar

v     Record-keeping

v     E-mail

v     Task list

v     Address book

v     Documents

Communication solution is built on the integration of four components: email, a scheduling manager, an address book and a document management capability. As a result, it is well suited for coordinating the activities of a work group or team in that, it facilitates collaboration and communication within the group and it provides document flow control. In contrast, contact managers are usually, built on a contact-centric database and are designed for regular management of contact information in an individual or small group environment. A contact manager provides an excellent solution for people who work with outside contacts and need to keep track of all communications with each contact.

Need for contact management solution

Whether it is a sales professional, owner of a small business, a consultant or other externally focused professional, a contact manager can help them work more effectively in a variety of ways:

v     It gives a person the instant access to complete contact information – from addresses, phone numbers, and birthdays,  to a comprehensive record of every interaction.

v     It helps to manage contacts more effectively

v     It makes it easier to communicate with prospects and customers – whether one wants to contact them by phone, email, sms, fax or similar contact modes.

v     It helps to analyze, understand and report the state of your business.

v      It brings the world of Internet technology to the customer database.

BUSINESS MODEL In this context, it is worth to describe about a hypothetical company developing contact management solution (CMS)

Mission of X Ltd.

The mission is to provide its customers the access to one of the world’s best IT services solution and talents and thereby meets their complete end-to-end services and requirements. X Ltd is a e-business solution enabler – set up by a team of experienced strategy and technology marketing professionals. The focus is on healthcare and hospitality, vertical financial services and education targeting the worldwide market. The primary objectives of this company are:-

To understand the customers’ view of the world – how business strategy converts into requirements for technology solution. To examine the geographical and technological potentials in order to operate with a team of professionals experienced in designing strategy, marketing technology services to these markets. Focus of X Ltd

Education

Financial services (banking and insurance)           

Health care and hospitality

Knowledge management

CRM

E-learning

Document management

X Ltd Business Model – (Customer Relation Management- CRM)

Customer

Business process mapping for specific vertical market

Technology support

Outsourcing

?        Lower market entry

?         Overcoming barriers through business development

v      Tech. Support services

Provides high quality cost effective solution

Vendor / Partner

            In the above business model, the hypothetical company X develops appropriate contact management solution according to the specifications of the clients based on the requirements made by vendors/partners. The process of development of CMS may be very simple to hard a enough solution, depending on the complexities of a client’s business.

Conclusion

Contact management was designed originally as a powerful tool for sales professionals. However, as contact managers grew in capability, their value has become apparent to a much wider audience for obvious reasons. Contact managers help people to manage their business relationships more effectively, whether they are sales professionals or other professionals. CMS is one of the key area were e-business companies develop comprehensive contact management systems to suit general and specific needs of clients. However, sufficient care needs to be taken to find out the complete needs of an organization for which a full-fledged study has to be conducted.  Effective management of relationship is the key to growing a business and so contact management solution will make a business to prosper.

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A lot of thought and brainstorming goes into how a business card is designed with the view of incurring as little cost as possible. A business deal could be lost or gained because of the impression created by a business card. There are even ISO and country standards that business cards are examined by many business entities worldwide which are instrumental in how they deal or whether they would deal with certain companies.

For instance, the English language is still the internationally accepted standard language in business. However, if you are giving your business card to businesses that do not understand the English language or are biased to their country’s language, you should have the specific regional language in order to look good.

Having this important detail in your business card may not cost so much as the benefit that it can bring. In fact could help win approval in that particular country or region and resulting in bringing forth potentially profitable business opportunities. Striking the right impression the first time they see your card may just be the thing that makes them want to contact you.

If you are looking for an effective way to communicate with more clients and gain positive results, then you have to know how to create them using the business cards. It is still one of the most powerful and cost-effective marketing tools that literally within your fingertips. The information and anything else that you put into your business cards must be carefully thought of.

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help would be appreciated.

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Paper sizes
Sometimes they sound confusing, but for most jobs the paper size options are simple. You know what size a sheet of A4 paper is, so:

A3 size is A4 doubled widthways
A2 size is A3 doubled widthways
A5 size is A4 folded in half widthways
A6 size is A5 folded in half widthways
DL size is A4 folded into three widthways

Paper types

Coated paper: Has a thin coating of china clay to make it glossy
Uncoated paper: Has a rougher matte feel
Matte, Silk and Gloss: These are levels of coating, smoothness or shininess in order from roughest to least rough.
Carbonless paper: If you are getting letterhead printing or invoice book printing, you may want to get it on carbonless paper to make copies of handwritten documents easily.

The designing process

Bleed: To put a bleed on a document means to let pictures and coloured boxes that will run right up to the edge of the document after printing, actually go over the edge. If you have graphics up to the edge, but don’t put a bleed on, you may end up with a thin white line along the edge of some printouts.
CMYK: Stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Most printers need your images to be in CMYK format to print. CMYK is a color space – it tells the machine how much of each color to mix to create the images in your layout.
DPI – Dots per inch: The number of dots per inch determines how large a photo can be blown up without losing detail. Should be at least 150 for most printing services.
EPS: Preferred file type for images that need to be enlarged significantly
Grayscale: To ordinary people, black and white … although we know that ‘black and white’ photos aren’t really only black and white.
Gutter: If you are having book printing done, this is the area between the text and the bound edge
Pixel: Stands for picture element – a single dot of the many different coloured dots created by a digital camera or scanner to make up an electronic image.
PMS: Stands for the Pantone Matching System, or a set of’ trademarked’ colours
RGB: Another color space, usually used on screen. Stands for red, green and blue. Many printing services can’t use images in RGB color space.
Spot colours: ‘Trademarked’ colours, very specific colors blends. They make printing more expensive.

Printing process

Die cut: To us a die to cut paper into shapes other than the size it comes in.
Embossing: To press an image into paper so that part of it lies above the usual surface
Ghosting: When a faint printed image appears where it isn’t supposed to
Imposition: When you arrange the pages for a printer, two or more per sheet of paper, so that when they ar cut and folded they appear as they are supposed to, in order.
Imprint: To print new info onto something that was printed already, such as putting a new employee’s name on a previously printed business card
Page proof: A single printout of a job, usually for purposes of checking that everything is correct

General terms

Body: The main part of a textual area, not including headlines
Laminate: A thin plastic sheet or coating applied to paper for protection from water and dirt.
Mockup: To create a suggested design or dummy print

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Standard plastic card
Also known as: PVC card
Description: A simple plastic card, with no added features like magnetic stripes or chips.
Applications: ID only with no access control or payment.

Magnetic stripe card
Also known as: Mag stripe card, HiCo card.
Description: A plastic card with a magnetic stripe on the back.
Applications: Magnetic stripe is used for access control or for payment.

Contact chip card
Also known as: Smart card, Chip card.
Description: A plastic card with a visible chip on the front of the card. Contact is required between the chip and the terminal for the chip to operate.
Applications: Chip is used for access control or for payment. Their speed and relative low cost has made them the choice for credit cards and ATM cards.

Contactless card
Also known as: Proximity card, Prox card.
Description: A plastic card with a chip embedded inside the card, which is attached to an antenna, so that the chip can operate by radio-frequency, meaning no physical contact is required. Most of these cards are known as proximity cards, as they only work at short range – between a few inches to a few feet.
Applications: Chip is used for access control or for payment. For access control, contactless cards are better than contact chip cards for outdoor or high-throughput uses like parking and turnstiles.

Combination cards
Also known as: Combi cards.
Description: Cards that combine contact and contactless technologies.  There are two types of these – 1. Those with one chip that has both contact pads and an antenna. 2. Those with two chips – one a contact chip, the other a contactless chip with antenna.
Applications: These cards are the most expensive, and are often used for applications like mass transit or government cards.

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The convenience of shopping on the web cannot be overstated. Literally everything is available for sale with choices beyond your wildest dreams. It is the ultimate bazaar: unique finds can be had at bargain prices and they will all be delivered to your doorstep.

I’ve discovered a host of e-shops where I can not only create gifts but get perfect personalized gifts.  Places like Snapfish.com and Kodakgallary.com allow you to transform your digital photos into gifts, such as t-shirts, mugs, and mouse pads. You simply upload your photos, choose your item, and in a few weeks you receive that item with your chosen photo imprinted on it. I’ve created some unique photo gifts through these sites.

I also discovered a gem called Picturoo.com. They have come up with a practical solution to those problematic wallet photos. They can print photo ID cards on plastic cards that are similar to credit cards. The company claims that they will last for years and I’m inclined to believe it. I created one of each of my children and was pleasantly surprised when I received them.

Picturoo does not limit you to printing just a photo on a card. There are numerous card designs for many occasions that add creative flare to your photo ID cards. They create little artistic frames for your photos. Each design adds some whimsy or touching sentiment to your photo, allowing you to create meaningful mementos of special moments.  Many of the design are like ID cards or trading cards. They really enhance your photos in a unique way.

If you plan to use Picturoo, you will go through a process similar to the one outlined below.  After browsing for and choosing your design, you upload a photo or select one which you have previously uploaded.  Your photo will automatically be resized to fit the design’s photo region but you can fine tune its position and resize as needed.  You can also place message on the photo ID cards, such as a name or an endearing phrase. For each card I made, I simply put my childrens’ names on them.  The Picturoo designs already add so much creativity to the photos that I didn’t really need to add much more.  Each step of the way, I was shown an approximation of what my card would look like until I chose to drop it into the shopping cart.  The whole process was really rather easy, but if you are not comfortable with using the web, Picturoo will also accept email orders.  Just send them the design SKU and the digital photo you would like to use and they will do the work for you. That’s service!

I had to create an account before doing all this, so they know where to send my finished photo cards. When I receive the cards, just three days after I made the order, I was so tickled by what I saw.  It was almost exactly what I saw on the screen when I created the card.  Still, there’s something to be said about holding the actual cards in your hands. It’s like when you receive fresh new credit cards, only better because they are so delightfully cute. Oh what perfect personalized gifts! They have about the same thickness, are richly colored, and are flexible and durable, all topped off with a glossy finish.

While examining the cards, I attempted to scratch off the ink on a corner of one of the cards with my nail.  Not a scratch appeared and there was no trace of ink on my nail. I vigorously attempted to rub ink off the same corner, first with a dry finger, then a wetted one. There was no smear and no ink residue on my finger whatsoever. The colors are fused on the card. I gave one of the cards a good workout by warping and twisting it. Like any credit card, it just sprang back to its original flatness. They are the best quality photos I’ve seen in terms of the material and the finish.

Everyone I’ve shown the cards to has marveled at my photos. “These are so cute,” “These are so great,” “What a wonderful idea,” are often the comments, as well as “Where can I get them?”

Picturoo charges $4.95 for each card and offers quantity discounts for larger orders.  I’ve spent more money for a paper greeting card. The Picturoo photo cards are built to last. You might even say that they are a green concept.  Their price is small in comparison to the value of an endearing gift that will last a long time and continuously bring a smile to one’s face.

In my next project using Picturoo.com, I plan to create a birthday announcement for my daughter’s birthday. This was a suggestion from their site and I think it’s just a wonderful idea. I plan to create a fun birthday card with my daughter’s photo on it and send it out as an invitation to her birthday party.

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