Many months ago I wrote an article (on this web site) about Quick Response (QR) codes.  These are these funny looking guys.

 

The above barcode is essential the same thing as clicking on this link:  AKOR Services.  (But don’t do it yet, or you will leave this article).

The above one, for example, takes an internet-enabled cell phone, with a barcode scanning app (application), with your approval (click on the resulting link), loads your browser of choice, and delivers you to this (www.akorservices.com) web site, just like you had typed in the address, or clicked on a typical web site link.  (But don’t scan the links just yet, until you’ve finished the article.)

These were designed to be used with barcode scanners, which, these days, reside on most of our smartphones or tablet computer/ipads/etc in the form of a barcode scanning app (application).

These are very useful little things.

 

 

As the caption above implies, they can also be used for telephone numbers.  Scan it, and it should bring up your phone app and dial the phone number for you.

The above one takes you to AKOR’s photo portfolio on Google.  This is an example of a URL (address), which also takes you to a web site with an internet-enabled device, with a barcode scanner app.

You might notice that they all have different shapes and amounts of data.  The more information, the more complex the QR Code will be.  But one thing that they all have in common are the three squares-inside-squares in the bottom-left,top-left, and top-right corners.  These are necessary for the scanning device and app to “orient” itself so that it can correctly read the barcode.

This is by far, the busiest and most complex barcode of them all.  It contains all the information for the complete contact information for AKOR.  A person that scans this should be able to see the resulting data, and simply “accept” it right into their contact database.

So, you can see that these QR Codes can be very useful and versatile.  You see them used in retail stores and other businesses for inventory control applications.  Best Buy™, for example, uses them to take you to web sites to see product specifications and reviews for the products on their shelves.  Bus stops have them to take you to see when the next bus is due at that specific stop.  I was using barcoding apps over 20 years ago for paperwork and inventory control purposes to cut down on data entry while improving accuracy.

Generally speaking, where a link that you click on (on a web site) has the exclusive purpose of taking you to a specific URL (address), you can see, as I have demonstrated, that QR Codes have a much larger capability to handle a variety of information.  Freight lines (e.g. UPS/FedEx™) and airlines use this technology extensively because of the large amount of information that a single barcode can hold.

There is a downside, however.  Not everybody has internet-enable mobile smartphone devices (yet).  Not everybody has a barcode scanning app on their smartphone (yet).  Because of that, if you depend solely on QR Codes, you will be excluding a certain segment of the population.  The solution is to utilize QR Codes where they make sense, while still utilizing human readable (HR) text, links and other information where it makes sense.  While QR Codes are actually quite commonplace these days, their time has not fully arrived yet.  Give them some time.

Utilizing the proper technologies in their proper environment and context is critical for success.

Give us a call if you need help figuring out what is right for you.

Allen Beck

AKOR Services

(scan above QR Codes for more contact information)

© 2015, Allen Beck, AKOR Services, All Rights Reserved