In order to pull off a barcode solution you need hardware to go with it. That is where we come in, working with every type of situation. We know the products on the market and can always make our best recommendation.

But today I had a potential customer call in looking for a heavy industrial scanner. He had 3 requirements. It had to be wireless, long range, and be able to work in -10 degrees Fahrenheit.

My first thought was the Symbol LS3578-ER which is both Wireless and long range. But what about the operating temperature? -10 is no where near a normal scanning environment, and after checking found it is advertised to work at -4. That was not going to work for the customer.

Then I started thinking… A long range scanner uses a precise laser to read these barcodes. It only makes sense that moving parts in a scanner do not work well when it is that cold! Sadly, I had to tell the customer he may be chasing a ghost of a product.

But then I learned something new. The Lorax scan engine is a long range scanner that works with 2d scanning technology. No moving parts while capturing long range barcodes. The only problem is I only know if this technology to exist on mobile computers. It is those screens on the scanners that are most susceptible to cold, so that ruled out the option.

So now I ask, is this a market that is not being tapped? Is there a product out there I do not know about? Only time will tell as I submit myself to rigorous research to track down the truth. I will report back with the answer to the Mystery of the Freezing Long range Scanner!

To be honest there are several out there that will work, as most higher end Restaurant POS software has some form of barcode reading retail inventory capability.

Here is what Danny, one of my sales peeps, came up against recently:

Karin Gehris called Danny from Boothill Saloon, a bar that also sells food and retail items. She needed POS software that could handle a restaurant, retail, and a bar. Danny decided that Amigo POS software would be the best fit because it is restaurant software that has a great bar interface, and can also handle retail items. The bar section in Amigo is separate from the restaurant interface, unlike Aldelo, and it has a drink recipes section and a “add round” button for those drinkers that just want more of the same. The retail function allows for adding to a restaurant or bar ticket while in the restaurant/bar sections. The retail section allows SKU look ups, even partial lookups. It also allows for price changes without having to dig into the back office sections. Also allows price by weight and rental functionality, which may or may not be important to a restaurant but it is there nonetheless.

On top of that, Boothill Saloon gets fairly busy at times (as you can see in the picture) so Karin wanted two complete systems with two cash drawers to each system. This was a simple matter of ordering a cash drawer splitter cable and compatible cash drawers. Amigo has no trouble running two cash drawers from one system, so that was that. We got Boothill Saloon set up with two complete systems, four cash drawers, and a back office management station. They are up and running and so far everything is working great, as shown below:

A customer called Tim saying he needed a wireless, cable free scanner that would read inverse barcodes. Specifically inverse 2D barcodes.

Inverse barcodes are either 1D (ladder on the side code 39 or 128 type) or 2D (maxicode or Aztec variety like shipping documents contain) that are literally inverted. Where you normally find white you find black and where you find black you find white.

After some intensive research (and a little Q&A with our tech department) Tim finally determined that the best 1D scanner for reading 1D inverse barcodes was the POS-X Xi-3000, and the cordless version the Xi-3000BT. Now since this customer actually wanted 2D inverse barcodes, Tim decided to recommend the good ole’ Metrologic FocusBT. Also a contender was the Honeywell/HHP 4820. The Honeywell/HHP 4820 would work in a more industrialized setting, like warehouses and space stations.

Something to remember is that only an imager would do the trick…laser scanners need not apply.