vCard

vCard

Electronic business card that automates the exchange of personal information typically found on a traditional business card. The vCard is a file that contains the user's basic business or personal data (name, address, phone number, URLs, etc.) in a variety of formats such as text, graphics, video clips, and audio clips. It can be attached to an e-mail or exchanged between computers or on the Internet, where, for example, the user can drag-and-drop his or her vCard to a registration or order form on a Web page so that it can automatically complete the form. It is used in such applications as voice mail, Web browsers, call centres, video conferencing, pagers, faxes, and smart cards.

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A standard format from the IETF for an electronic business card that includes fields for photos, sound and company logos. Information is transported in a file with a .vcf extension. Originally developed by the Versit group, it was later turned over to the Internet Mail Consortium (IMC) and then the IETF. Although defined in 1998, it has not gained universal acceptance, but some mail programs do support it and can insert attached vCard data into your address book.