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As I like attending shows and conventions, it historically made sense to have business cards.
Business cards have many advantages, something physical to pass to those you meet but they can have limited information and can be lost by the recipient. Any changes and of course you have to update the cards which is a limitation.
With everyone having smart phones these days, whether Android or Apple, sharing info electronically can be easy and convenient.
Tapitag is basically an online profile where you can set all your contact info and social media profiles. By use of NFC, phone devices that have the NFC implanted can then be swiped against your Tapitag device to allow access to all the info. Many similar and competing systems are on the market.
The tags are available to purchase as customised cards (metal, pvc and wood), wristbands and phone stickers. Sold as the ultimate networking tool.
On purchasing, I bought a wrist band as I did not want to use a card that I would have to look for. I opted for a band as convenient at conventions and while a sticker on my phone case was partly appealing, I ruled this out as my phone supports magsafe and I did not want a sticker in the way.
The item once purchased (£27 and free shipping) was shipped from Ireland. Arriving just 3 days later which was very efficient.
If you purchase a card, they can be customised with your business logo.
On opening, the item was packaged sensibly to recycle and the wristband was rubberised with the Tapitag logo and a QR code also printed on the band. Quality was generally good and comfortable to wear. Available in black and white versions.
The setup of the profile was relatively straightforward and the instruction sheet advises that you scan the QR code (printed on your device) and that effectively allows you to associate your band with your new account profile. Once logged in, you can then create your personal contacts and social media links on the dashboard. With some of the social networks recently changing logos, the interface was already up to date with the new "X" logo for Twitter. Though customisation is also supported.
Setting up your profile, it is accessed via an account page that is opened on a browser using a URL. Some competing products have apps to carry out this management of your device. This is not an issue but the menu and setup could be more intuitive and lacks compared to some competing systems. This system is a selection of menus that you set and work through in the order that you wish, whereas competing systems often handhold you through the setup stages.
After setting up your profile, you do receive a welcome email with a link to a user guide. If this link was also available within the profile URL, this would be most helpful. The user guide is a series of short online videos and at the current time, 27 videos cover different support functions. Excellent and well explained videos.
I customised some of my icons and set website URL links without an issue. It would have been good to also set an SMS phone number to associate with Apple iMessage. Competing systems can do this so hopefully this feature will be added. So while you can customise links, it only gives URL as an option. The workaround of course being that you can share your phone number, but a direct icon for iMessage would make sense.
The wrist band is comfortable to wear and looks good. Made from rubber.
On testing, I have tried with my iPhone and other available phones. Using my iPhone 14 pro, I gained a quick response when in close proximity to the tag. For the iPhone 13 models that I tested, I found initial recognition of the tag to be slower but it did recognise. I think it is important to say, this may be in part me getting used to the system.
Overall I am impressed with the product and I will be continuing to test in the real world this weekend. I will then provide another update.
A useful technology and system, lots of benefits and it is easy to update your profile via the Tapitag dashboard. For the price, I am very pleased with this product and would recommend. Certainly the ability to swipe and then call up contact deyails is convenient and almost magicial in operatio..
Positives are quality of product, ease of use and good online guides. If you want an alternative to your business cards, this could be the solution. A recommended solution.
