For a long time I had been planning on creating a virtual business card app of my own to capture, enrich, and save the contacts I make at events. I never got around to building it, until this year, when I spoke on a related topic at the Direct Client Summit. The app is a reality now, so I want to share it here, in case you find it helpful too.
Contact-Oh! reads business cards, keeps them organized, and shares my own card through a QR code. Most of the work happens at the conference itself, but a few minutes of setup beforehand makes the rest go smoothly. This is the checklist I run before I travel.
1. Put it on your phone first
Open the app in your phone browser and add it to your home screen. After that it opens full screen, like any other app.
- iPhone (Safari): tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
- Android (Chrome): tap the three-dot menu, then Add to Home screen.
Pro tip: Make sure to open and set up the app on your phone. You can also open it on your computer, but any information and set-up you do there won't be synced to your phone.
After adding the app to your home screen, locate the icon and place it where you can find it quickly.
2. Fill in your own card
This is the card other people scan to save you, so set it up first. Open settings, go to Your card, and fill in your name, title, email, phone, website, LinkedIn, a short tagline, and a photo. You can pick a card color while you are there.
When it is filled, tap the diamond at the top of the screen to show your QR. Anyone can scan it to save your details, and they do not need the app to do so.
Pro tip: Put your role in the name field, for example "Nora Díaz, EN-ES Medical Translator". Phones search the name, so someone who forgets your name still finds you later by searching "translator".
For even faster access, save a screenshot of your card to your phone's photo gallery, then add a photo widget to your home screen and point it at that screenshot. Your card is then one tap away, with no app to open. On Android, a photo widget also offers a "Go to source" option, which opens Contact-Oh! itself when you need more than the QR.
3. Add an AI key, for reading and enrichment
Two of the app's features use artificial intelligence: reading a card from a photo, and enriching a contact, which I explain further down. Both of them need an API key.
An API key is a private credential that lets the app use an AI service, such as Claude or OpenAI, through your own account with that company. You create it once, add a small balance to the account, and paste the key into the app. From then on, each time the app reads a card or writes a brief, it draws a few cents from that balance. The key stays on your phone, and the AI company bills your own account directly for what you use. You pay them, not me. The app takes no cut, so it costs you nothing beyond your own usage with the provider.
Why set it up: without a key, the app still works. You can read a card on your device without AI, or type the details by hand. But the AI reading is more accurate and fills every field for you, and enrichment is not available at all without a key. The key is what gives you the better, hands-off results.
In settings, under Card reading, tap "First time? Set up your AI key" and follow the steps: pick Claude or OpenAI, add a small balance (for example, $5), create a key, and paste it in.
On cost: Reading a card costs well under a USD cent, and enriching a contact runs about two to four cents, because it adds a web search. A few dollars of credit covers a whole conference. These figures are from my own testing in 2026, so check your provider for current rates.
4. Tell it about your work
Still in settings, fill the Your work box with what you do and the kind of clients you want. The app uses it later, when you enrich a contact, so the suggested opening fits your services instead of being generic.
5. Set the event
Tap Event at the top of the home screen and enter the conference name and its dates. Every card you capture during those dates is tagged with the event, so back home you can filter to that one conference and see only those people.
6. Choose your languages
Set the app language to English or Spanish, and set the enrichment language too, so a brief for a Spanish-speaking prospect or contact comes back in Spanish.
7. Do one test capture
Before you rely on it in front of someone, try it a few times at home. Scan a card or type one in, add a note, and use Save to phone. A couple of minutes now means no surprises while at the conference.
What enrichment is
I have mentioned enrichment a few times, so here is what it actually does. You tap Enrich on a contact, and the app takes what you already have, usually a name and a company, and researches the person and their company on the web. It comes back with a short brief: a couple of lines on who they are, and an opening angle, which is a specific reason they might need what you offer.
It fills a blank field, such as a LinkedIn address, only when it is confident the detail belongs to that person, and it rates each contact as a strong, possible, or weak fit. When it cannot identify someone with certainty, it gives you Google and LinkedIn search links so you can look them up yourself. Enrichment is the one feature that depends on the AI key, and it is the main reason the key is worth setting up.
Then, at the conference
With the setup done, the routine is simple:
- Scan a person's card or badge, check the fields, and add a one-line note about your conversation.
- Mark how warm the lead is, so you know who to contact first once you are home.
- Enrich the contacts you are unsure about.
- To share your own details, show your QR, or send your card as a clickable email signature.
That is the whole setup. I run it once before I travel, and then every contact I make lands in one place, with the event, my notes, and anything the app found. To get Contact-Oh!, click here.
I hope you enjoy the app, and I hope we get to exchange contact information if we are at the same event soon!
More tools for language professionals at noradiaz.com/apps.
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