Re/Max real estate agents to sport Passbook business cards on Apple's iPhone

Re/Max is turning to Apple's iPhone and the new Passbook feature of iOS 6 to equip its real estate agents with digital business cards.

Mobile business card maker Vizibility announced on Tuesday that Re/Max Regional Services, one of the real estate organization's largest franchisors in the U.S., is now offering digital business cards to its 4,500 real estate brokers and agents. Those agents are based in Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Southern Ohio, and Southeastern Michigan.

With Apple's Passbook, agents will be able to share their mobile business cards through a feature dubbed "CardSense." That will allow Passbook users to select locations where their mobile business card pass can be accessed from the iPhone lock screen.

Passes featured on the iPhone include a scannable QR code. This allows anyone with a smartphone and QR code reading application to scan the code and obtain a copy of the business card.

"This capability makes it a snap to share contact information at the office, trade shows, networking events, open houses, or anywhere else frequent, fast access to a Mobile Business Card is needed," Vizibility said in a press release. "Locations are set right on the back of the Pass."

Vizibility claimed it is the first company to use Passbook for sharing mobile business cards, while Re/Max Regional Services is believed to be the first to implement the functionality on a large scale.

"Technologies like Vizibility's Mobile Business Card can help our agents get more opportunities to share their listings, provide mobile virtual tours and engage effortlessly with prospective home buyers," said Dane Ellison, CEO of RE/MAX Regional Services. "By making it a little easier to close sales, we're making it a lot easier for our RE/MAX agents to be more successful."

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29 Comments

gazoobee

said about 11 years ago

Great, take a nascent feature that's already struggling and f*ck it up by using it for something it was never intended to be used for.

tallest skil

said about 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Gazoobee

Great, take a nascent feature that's already struggling and f*ck it up by using it for something it was never intended to be used for.

Sounds more like, "Hey, when you get around to updating Passbook, have a go at adding in specific support for business cards. We've tried out this new way of using it, and here's our results. See if you think it's viable," to me.

I agree that it shouldn't be used like this, but they've brought up a valid usability point with the platform.

charlituna

said about 11 years ago

[quote name="Tallest Skil" url="/t/154772/re-max-real-estate-agents-to-sport-passbook-business-cards-on-apples-iphone/0_100#post_2241098"] I agree that it shouldn't be used like this, but they've brought up a valid usability point with the platform. [/quote] Shouldn't? This is a feature they have created on their own that doesn't require jailbreaking or any other kind of manipulation against what Apple would want them to use. And very likely doesn't use any private API. So why shouldn't they. Just because its not something Apple mentioned on their own doesn't make it some now bad, just not something they perceived the greater mass using so why put it in at this point. But this kind of creative thinking is how the iPhone because a 'business' capable device and how many new features came to be native to iOS. Hell if folks back in the day had said that Apple does want users screwing with the software and they shouldn't jailbreak etc, we likely wouldn't had had an App Store as soon if it all. That folks did what they shouldn't have in noticeable amounts could have the straw that broke Steve Jobs 'web apps are all they need' back

gadgetcanada

said about 11 years ago

I would rather see a feature like this built-into the contacts app, not in the passbook app.

tallest skil

said about 11 years ago

Originally Posted by charlituna

Shouldn't?
This is a feature they have created on their own that doesn't require jailbreaking or any other kind of manipulation against what Apple would want them to use. And very likely doesn't use any private API. So why shouldn't they.

It's designed for what it's designed for. It's a sub-par solution for business cards. That's why I specifically mentioned that, if this method of presenting business cards is viable, Apple should consider adding specific support for them in a future update, with a specialized Passbook pass for this very purpose.

Top it all off, they look bad here. I'm not saying "the way business cards look now is they way they should always look", but if you're gonna change how they look, this isn't how they should.

Originally Posted by GadgetCanada

I would rather see a feature like this built-into the contacts app, not in the passbook app.

Truly it does make more sense there. Perhaps Passbook-like functionality, but designed specifically for contact cards and only in Contacts.

Downloadable, though, exactly like Passbook passes, either on your computer or iOS device. So you go to someone's website and can get their card like that. Or you have a personal representative for your insurance company or whatever; you can be sent their contact information to put in Contacts.

Ooh! And since it's separate from the Passbook paradigm, they could be auto-updating! On creation, have the creator choose whether or not to keep it synced across all devices that have that card. That's the first step to iCloud collaboration.