Are you manually entering business card details into your database?
What if you can automatically convert this data into text using AI-OCR? By transforming paper business cards into digital text, you can streamline your data management processes and make your workflow much more efficient.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of using AI-OCR and show you how to create a Flowbot that simplifies the process by integrating it with Google Sheets and Gmail.
Meet Yoom: No-Code Automation
Yoom is a next-generation no-code automation that lets you connect and automate tasks between your favorite apps. Connecting different apps can be challenging for non-engineers, but Yoom makes automation accessible to everyone.
🌐 Connect with apps like Gmail, Google Sheets, and more.
📖 Use automation templates - no technical setup required
📈 Boost productivity and reduce human errors
You don't need to go through a complex setup and IT jargon, you can build your automation workflows with just a few clicks :) It's designed for those who want to streamline their daily work and save hours of time and stress from repetitive work.
In this guide, you'll learn the step-by-step process of how to use Yoom to automatically capture business card details, store them in Google Sheets, and send a thank-you email using Gmail.
✨ Recommended for
Sales teams who want to create a Google Sheets database without manually entering business card information
Those who want to centrally manage business care data in Google Sheets and share it across the team.
Sales managers looking to integrate with Gmail to automatically add business card info to customer lists and streamline email sending.
Anyone who wants to try AI-OCR
Teams that want to move from managing paper business cards to cloud-based systems.
✔️ For Those Who Want to Try It Now
Yoom offers ready-made templates for easy setup. Click the "Try it" button to get started now!
🚀 Let’s Set Up a Flowbot To Automatically Capture Business Card Details and Send a Thank You Email
Let's walk through how to set up a flow that automatically scans business card details, saves it to Google Sheets, and sends a thank-you email via Gmail.
⏱️ Setup time: 10 minutes
🔧 What You’ll Need
A free Yoom account
Access to Gmail and Google Sheets
If you don’t have a Yoom account yet, register now from thisregistration form!
⚠️ Note: OCR (reading text) used in this Flowbot is only available in Yoom's certain plans. If you're using the Free plan, the Flowbot may face errors due to limited access. But don't worry - all plans have a 2-week free trial! You can try all features without restrictions. For more details on Yoom and its plans, visit our Yoom Help Center.
Step 1: Register Apps in Yoom
After logging into Yoom, go to "My Apps" from the left side menu and click "+ Add".
☝️ Tip: To test the flow settings, you'll need to prepare a Google Sheet database in advance. While the content entered can be temporary, it’s important to create the necessary columns and fields in the sheet to ensure that the data can be properly processed.
Search for "Google Sheets" from the app list and select it.
Log in using your Google account to link with Yoom.
Click “Continue”.
Click “Continue”.
Since Google Sheets and Gmail are both part of the Google ecosystem, they can be integrated using the same procedure. Therefore, you can follow the same steps to integrate Gmail as well.
Step 2: Copy the Template
Click the "Try It" button to copy the pre-built template into your project.
Click "Try this template".
Click "OK" and give the Flowbot a name to recognize.
The template will be copied to your "My Project".
Step 3: Set Up Form Trigger
Click on the form trigger action.
Create your form.
Define the title and description (optional). Choose the question type, such as "Files" for file uploads. Add additional question sections if you need multiple-choice or other items.
Review by checking the preview pages.
In the "Retrieved Values", set sample values for use in testing in the following steps. For this example, we’ve selected a file titled "card" for testing.
Business card details are automatically extracted from the form submissions, but since the flow hasn’t been activated yet, you will need to upload the data manually.
Once all fields are set, click "Save."
Step 4: Set Up OCR Action
Click on the OCR action.
The title and action are pre-configured. You can change them if needed. For the action, select it based on the file type relevant to your need.
Once selected, click “Next”.
Select the file type for testing. Choose between "Use Retrieved Values" or "Upload File." Since we want to use the file retrieved from Form, we will choose the "Use Retrieved Values" option.
Next, specify which data you want to extract from the Form file.
📚 References: For more details on how to set up the “Extract Text from Images/PDFs” action, you can refer to the full guide here.
Conduct a test. If the test is successful, the retrieved value will be updated.
Then, click "Save".
Step 5: Add Record to Google Sheets
Click on the action with the Google Sheets icon.
Select Spreadsheet ID: Choose the Spreadsheet ID from the displayed options.
Select Tab Name: Choose the Tab Name where the data will be stored.
Define Table Range (Optional): You can optionally specify the Table Range where data will be saved.
📚 Reference: For more details on table range settings, check this guide.
Map the Data: Click on each item field and assign the corresponding data from the retrieved value to each field.
Test the Setup: After setting the data, click Test to check if everything is configured correctly.
Once you confirm the test is successful, click "Save".
Step 6: Send a Thank You Email
Click on the action with the Gmail icon.
Create an email template using the information you’ve gathered and set it up to send automatically. The recipient’s details will already be populated, so you just need to enter the sender’s email address, subject, and other necessary details.
Use the retrieved value to generate the email body, making use of the business card details you’ve captured in the previous steps. This will allow for a personalized email that includes the relevant details.
Once you’ve configured everything, preview the email on the next screen.
Click “Test” to ensure the email is sent correctly. If the test email is delivered as expected, click “Save” to finalize all settings.
Step 7: Activate the Flowbot
Toggle the "Trigger On" button to activate your flow! Check if the Flowbot you set up is working properly.
That’s it! 🎉 The Flowbot is now complete!
⚙️ To Further Automate
Branching Based on Form Content
You can set up automation to save data in specific locations in Google Sheets or trigger email sends based on the information submitted in the form.
After exchanging business cards, you can ask them whether they’d like to schedule a meeting within the next week. Based on their responses, you can adjust where the data is saved and whether to send the email.
This automation allows you to easily identify clients who need follow-up. You can also customize the branching conditions based on your form content, so feel free to adjust them according to your specific business needs.
Receive Notifications After Sending Emails
You can also set up notifications to alert yourself after a thank-you email is sent.
Tracking these notifications is important for managing your next steps in client engagement. For example, you can set reminders to follow up after a certain period, improving your support system and ensuring timely follow-ups.
💡 Other Automation Examples Using Google Sheets and Gmail
By using Google Sheets, Gmail, and OCRfeatures, you can unlock a wide range of automation possibilities that simplify your workflows. Here are some examples you can explore for your next automation!
Automation Example Using Google Sheets
Automatically Notify via Chat Tools When a Row is Added in Google Sheets
Notify Microsoft Teams when a row is added in Google Sheets.
■Overview Are you manually notifying stakeholders in Discord every time a new row is added to a list managed in Google Sheets? This routine task is not only time-consuming but also prone to missed or delayed notifications. With this workflow, when a row is added in Google Sheets, it automatically sends a message to the specified Discord channel, streamlining information sharing.
■Who we recommend this template for ・Those who manually copy updates from Google Sheets to Discord each time ・Those who want to speed up information sharing within the team and strengthen real-time collaboration ・Those who want to prevent missed or delayed notifications caused by manual work and improve operational accuracy
■Notes ・Connect Yoom with both Google Sheets and Discord. ・You can set the trigger interval to 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes. ・The shortest trigger interval varies depending on your plan.
Overview Are you manually sending notifications to Slack every time you update information managed in Google Sheets? Such routine reporting tasks not only require effort but can also lead to errors such as delayed or missed notifications. By using this workflow, you can use row additions in Google Sheets as a trigger to automatically send a message to a specified Slack channel, streamlining information sharing.
Who this template is recommended for - Those who report each update made in Google Sheets to their team on Slack - Those who want to prevent human errors such as notification time lags and missed reports caused by manual work - Those who want to automate information-sharing processes within a team or department and improve operational efficiency
Notes - Please connect Yoom with both Google Sheets and Slack. - For the trigger, you can choose a run interval of 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes. - Please note that the minimum run interval varies by plan.
■Overview The "Sync to Google Sheets when a record is created in Airtable" workflow is a business workflow aimed at improving data management efficiency. When new data is added to Airtable, the same information is automatically reflected in Google Sheets as well, eliminating the effort of manual data entry and enabling centralized management of the latest information. This makes information sharing across the team smoother and improves the accuracy of operations.
■Recommended for - Those who manage data using both Airtable and Google Sheets - Staff who spend time on manual data transfers - Team leaders who want to maintain data consistency and up-to-dateness - Business owners considering workflow automation - Those who want to simplify data integration across multiple SaaS apps
■Notes - Please connect Yoom with both Airtable and Google Sheets. - For the trigger, you can choose a run interval of 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes. - Please note that the minimum run interval varies by plan. - Airtable output can be obtained via JSONPath. For how to obtain it, please refer to the following: https://intercom.help/yoom/en/articles/9103858
■Overview This is a flow to issue a document and save it to Google Drive when a row in Google Sheets is updated. With Yoom, you can easily connect apps without programming.
■Recommended for 1. Those who manage data with Google Sheets ・If you manage data such as customer information using Google Sheets but find it cumbersome to issue documents manually
2. Companies that use Google Drive for file storage and sharing ・If you use Google Drive regularly and want to utilize it for saving and sharing invoices ・If you want to automate but don't know where to start
■Notes ・Please connect both Google Sheets and Google Drive with Yoom. ・You can select the trigger interval from 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 60 minutes. ・Please note that the shortest trigger interval varies depending on the plan. ・Branching is a feature (operation) available in plans above the mini plan. In the case of the free plan, the operation of the flow bot set will result in an error, so please be careful. ・Paid plans such as the mini plan offer a 2-week free trial. During the free trial, you can use apps and features (operations) that are subject to restrictions.
■Overview The "Read attachments received in Gmail with OCR and notify Discord" workflow automatically analyzes the content of email attachments and quickly shares the necessary information with the team. By utilizing this workflow, you can automatically perform OCR processing on attachments received in Gmail and notify Discord. This facilitates smooth information sharing and improves work efficiency.
■Recommended for ・Business persons managing a large number of attachments in Gmail and looking to improve efficiency ・Administrators using Discord as the main tool for team communication ・IT personnel looking to advance document digitization using OCR functionality ・Team leaders spending time on manual information sharing
■Notes ・Please link Gmail and Discord with Yoom. ・You can select the trigger interval from 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes. ・Please note that the shortest trigger interval varies depending on the plan. ・AI operations for OCR or transcribing audio to text are available only in the Team Plan and Success Plan. In the case of the Free Plan or Mini Plan, the operations set in the Flowbot will result in an error, so please be careful. ・Paid plans such as the Team Plan and Success Plan offer a 2-week free trial. During the free trial, you can use restricted apps and AI functions (operations).
■Overview The flow "Share files to Microsoft Teams channel when receiving emails with attachments in Gmail" is a business workflow leveraging the integration of Gmail and Microsoft Teams. It reduces manual file transfer tasks and enhances business efficiency.
■Who we recommend this template for - Those who want to share attachments received in Gmail on Microsoft Teams - Businesspersons aiming to automate and improve efficiency in team information sharing - Those who wish to automate daily processes using Yoom - Administrators who feel challenges in integrating email management and team collaboration - Companies looking to save time and enhance productivity through workflow automation
■Notes - Please connect both Gmail and Microsoft Teams with Yoom. - There are consumer and general business plans (Microsoft365 Business) for Microsoft365 (formerly Office365), and if you are not subscribed to the general business plan, authentication may fail. - Branching is a feature (operation) available with plans above the Mini plan. For free plans, operations set in the Flow Bot will result in errors, so please be careful. - Paid plans like the Mini plan offer a two-week free trial. During the free trial, you can use the restricted apps and features (operations).
👏 Benefits and Use Cases of Integrating Google Sheets and Gmail
Benefit 1: Streamlining Data Entry Tasks
By using OCR, you don’t need to manually enter data or business card information, saving time and reducing errors. For example, when you receive multiple business cards at an event, you can scan them to digitize the data, which is then automatically organized and stored in Google Sheets.
Benefit 2: Simplified Searching and Utilizing Business Care Data
Storing business card information in Google Sheets makes it easier to search and use the data. With physical cards, finding a specific contact can take time, but by digitalizing the data, you can quickly search for names or companies in the Google Sheets database. For example, if you want to create a list of clients from a particular industry, you can quickly filter the data in the database to find the relevant information.
Benefit 3: Smoother Information Sharing Across Teams
Since Google Sheets is cloud-based, information can be shared instantly with your team. This allows everyone to access the most up-to-date customer information, instead of each team member managing their own data separately. For example, if you add new clients to the Google Sheet database, everyone can quickly access the client information.
📖 Summary
To simplify business card management, we recommend integrating Google Sheets and Gmail with AI-OCR features using Yoom. By leveraging OCR, scanned business card data is automatically saved in Google Sheets, and thank you emails are sent from Gmail, streamlining customer interactions.
Best of all, no technical expertise is needed, and anyone can easily set it up! Ready to simplify your workflows? Sign up for Yoom and try it today!
With five years of experience as an SEO writer, I continue to write with the motto of being "easy to read" and "easy to understand." I want to convey the convenience of Yoom, which allows app integration without programming knowledge, to as many people as possible!
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