Definition
A vCard is the standard file format for a contact record, saved with a .vcf extension. It stores a person's name, organisation, job title, phone numbers, email addresses and photo in plain text that every contacts app on every platform can read. Saving a digital business card to a phone means handing it a vCard.
הגדרה
vCard הוא פורמט הקובץ הסטנדרטי לרשומת איש קשר, הנשמר בסיומת .vcf. הוא מאחסן את שם האדם, הארגון שלו, תפקידו, מספרי הטלפון, כתובות הדוא"ל והתמונה שלו בטקסט פשוט שכל אפליקציית אנשי קשר בכל פלטפורמה יכולה לקרוא. שמירת כרטיס ביקור דיגיטלי בטלפון פירושה בפועל מסירת קובץ vCard.
Why the format matters more than it sounds
The vCard is the reason a digital business card works on a stranger's phone. It is an open standard that predates the smartphone, and support for it is universal: iOS Contacts, Android Contacts, Outlook, Google Contacts and every CRM worth the name can import a .vcf file without being told how.
That universality is what removes the friction. There is no app to install, no account to create and no compatibility question to ask, because the receiving device already knows what to do with the file.
What it contains
A vCard is plain text with labelled fields. A minimal one carries a formatted name, an organisation and a telephone number. A full one carries structured given and family names, multiple numbers each labelled work, mobile or fax, several email addresses, a postal address, a job title, a website, a photograph and free-form notes.
It can also carry a name more than once in different scripts, which is how a single saved contact ends up findable by searching either the Hebrew or the English spelling of the same person.
Where a vCard falls short
A vCard is a snapshot. Once it is saved into somebody's phone, it is a copy, and changing your details later does not reach into their address book and correct it.
This is the trade-off at the heart of digital business cards. The live page stays correct forever; the saved contact does not. In practice the saved copy is still worth having, because a number in the address book is what makes the phone ring, and re-sharing the card issues a fresh vCard.
Common questions
What is a .vcf file?
A .vcf file is a vCard, the standard file format for a contact record. Opening one on a phone offers to add the person to the address book.
Can a vCard hold an Hebrew name?
Yes. vCard supports Unicode, so Hebrew names are stored correctly, and a card can carry both an Hebrew and an English spelling of the same person.
Does saving a vCard update automatically later?
No. A saved vCard is a copy taken at that moment. The live digital business card stays current, but the copy in someone's phone does not change on its own.
Related terms
- QR vCard, קוד QR לאיש קשר
- Digital business card, כרטיס ביקור דיגיטלי
See it working, rather than defined
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