A method of providing an electronic business card (EBC) access and organization
service on the Web. The cardholder database is accessible and searchable from any
browser connected to the Internet or the EBC service may be installed behind a
conventional firewall and thus accessible only to intranet users. The service thus
provides easy access to cardholder contact information with privacy assured by
use of integrated access restrictions. Access to and delivery of contact information
by the service is not limited to a Web browser interface as commonly known today.
The service provides multi-mode access and/or data delivery interfaces. The service
also provides an export feature that formats search results into a pre-defined
file structure readable by a conventional contact management programs. Custom export
file formats may also be defined provide even wider connectivity and cross-platform
utility. Access to individual records is controlled at both the record level and
the field level, with multiple privacy levels for each field, in addition to the
well-known "public" and "private" levels. Users having certain permissions are
permitted to read a defined group of records, though not necessarily all fields
in each record. A location tracking feature is also provided to allow the cardholder
to rapidly designate a pre-defined contact location. Alternately, the cardholder
may define a temporary contact location not normally stored in the database system.
Electronic mail sent by the cardholder is automatically formatted to contain a
signature hypertext link directing recipients of the email to the EBC service.
This hyperlink enables the recipient of the email to rapidly access the EBC system
to locate the cardholder and/or obtain additional information.
