What is a Barcode Scanner And Its Relevance
Emerging as a technological advancement of major use to the retail industry, the barcode scanners have come a long way in facilitating ease and simplification in a variety of business and service-related tasks, at multiple levels of work. Speaking of it in technical terms, barcode scanners are devices that perform the task of recording and translating barcodes from scanned images that are realized into alphanumeric digits.
Barcode scanners have heightened scope of use in-
- Inventory movement management
- Business tracking
- Check-in and check-out systems
- Safety of theft and related management associated tasks in industries.
Eliminating the possibility of human errors that are caused d0ue to manual entries, barcode systems pose a variety of benefits revolving around reliability and speed thereby serving substantial reasons for businesses to invest in purchasing barcode scanners.
However, before finalizing the best barcode scanner, certain technical considerations are required to be attended. Major most 6 of which are listed further-
6 Key Considerations Before Buying A Barcode Scanner
1. Wireless Connection
Driving across the variety of available options, it is necessary to narrow done the requirement of a bar code scanner per the networking connections of the organization.
- If the firm has an information system based on cloud data collection, then a wireless barcode scanner is the one to be looked after.
- Ensuring the right wireless connection’s availability in the scanner is a must in the case where real-time data is not being collected majorly.
- If scans are conducted within a central location and shared over wifi, the transmission will be eased using a barcode scanner with a wireless connection feature.
2. Wired Connections
If the scanning and data collection in the firm is facilitated via wired networks, then a barcode reader with wired connection feature is extremely important for the networking to continue functioning flawlessly.
The wired scanner must have no compatibility issues with the computer systems in use within the organization. The cabling prospects and connection capacity of the barcode scanner must be calculated before purchase.
3. Screen
The screen is a feature that is not common to all barcode scanners. While looking for the best barcode scanner it is essential to ponder upon the need for one with an embedded screen. The main purpose of a screen in a scanner is to provide transaction feedback to the employees. Any errors detected in the product thus scanned are displayed over it and a quality check is facilitated thereby.
The screen feature adds much more depth in the scope of uses that a barcode scanner can extend in organizations. Information can be extracted from and inputted in systems through a type of these and some of the highly advanced models are also equipped with the latest technology that enables them to act as a cell phone cum barcode scanner.
4. Profitability and Ideal Environment
Profitability is by and far one of the major concerns taken into account while purchasing devices of intended long term use. The environment of use and profitability are closely linked concepts.
Whether or not the device is required to be used in-house, on a travel basis, under harsh weather or for longer than normal work hours, determines the durability. One can find barcode scanners devised for different uses from being used in retail stores to on-field or portable jobs, thereby choosing the one that aptly suits the requirement would help with profitability being enhanced in multiple folds.
5. Barcode Reader
A much understandable and most basic consideration while buying a handheld barcode scanner is the type of barcode that is to be scanned.
Barcodes are of two major types-
- 1D ( One dimensional, linear)
- 2D ( Two dimensional, vertical and horizontal data)
The amount of data that both of these types can hold is the major point of difference between the two. The character containing capacity of these barcodes differs and so do the scanner requirements.
Taking a tour of the barcode types in use or to be used in the firm is a must before purchasing a barcode scanner.
6. GPS
Some Barcode scanners come equipped with GPS features to help in tracking the products that move to different storage locations, majorly for inventory movement management tasks. Using the scanner with the feature is highly recommendable for expensive or shared equipment tracking.
Thereby, it is essential to consider that with a boost in technical advancement, a wide array of technical variations is awaiting us. It is on us to decide for the most efficient, apt and profitable option while accounting for the available ones.