Wireless Barcode Scanners

Wireless Barcode Scanners are indespensible when you need to collect data away from a PC. Mobility makes all the difference for ease of input, and many times you'll find that extending the cord of the existing barcode scanner isn't possible or practical. Only wireless barcode scanning will do.

Top Selling Wireless Barcode Scanners
Metrologic MS9535 VoyagerBT	Symbol LS4278	Datalogic Gryphon Bluetooth

There's a bit of confusion when most people think of wireless barcode scanners. Sometimes, an application will beg a device that works just like its corded brother, but you need the mobility of being able to walk away from the PC to capture the data. Other times, you'll want to collect data far away from any PC but then have it moved from the device to the PC when you return. Because the scanner is portable, it can be called a wireless barcode scanner. Still another scenario is when you want to be independent of a PC but want to read and write to a database somewhere on the network. In this instance, the barcode scanner will have a wireless network connection, and the software will be navigating to the data source to update the data. All of these examples can be classifed as using wireless barcode scanners.

Before you make the choice to go wireless, you've got to determine whether you just need to extend the distance from the PC, and you could do the job if you had a longer cord, or you need a truly portable data collection method, with a hand-held mobile computer with an integrated barcode scanner. If your data collection would work by just extending the cord, a "wireless wedge" scanner will do the job nicely. These scanners are less expensive than their technologically advanced and more expensive brethern.

Wireless Wedge Scanners act just like corded scanners:

Wireless wedge scanners have 2 components, the scanner and the base station. The scanner will communicate with the base station, and the base station will send the decoded barcode information into the computer it's connected to. Base stations connect to the computer the same way wired scanners do, using a PS2, USB or RS232 connection. With the former 2 connections, the data is sent to the keyboard buffer of the PC as ASCII text, and the text appears on screen on the host PC wherever the cursor is flashing. The computer acts as if you just typed in the text that is in the barcode label. If you have a program that is taking the scanned input without displaying it at the flashing cursor, its probably using the RS232 interface, and the program is taking the data from the scanner and putting it where it needs to go.

There are 2 types of wireless wedge scanners, and the difference has to do with how the scanner talks to the base station. They could use a frequency hopping algorhythn using the 14 channels availiable in the 2.4ghz spectrum for wireless communication or they can use the Bluetooth protocol. Both are similar in range and performance. The interesting thing about using Bluetooth communication is that, generally, you can connect the scanner to any Bluetooth enabled receiver, and the ASCII text will be sent to that device. Using this connection method, you can connect direct to another Bluetooth device and by-pass the base station. Before purchasing for this reason, make sure that the scanner has a driver that will enable the host device to communicate. Most of the scanners we sell will work with PocketPC devices.

Here are links to popular wireless wedge barcode scanners:

Wireless Barcode Scanners Definitions:

Before we go on to discuss wireless barcode scanners, we need to get some definitions out of the way. In any of its forms, a wireless barcode scanner that isn't a wireless wedge is really a Mobile Computer with an integrated barcode scanner. Because there was no consensus about what these devices were when they first appeared, the manufacturers referred to by various names: "Portable Data Collector", "Portable Data Terminal" and "Personal Pocket Terminal". Anytime you see a device with an integrated barcode scanner that doesn't have a tether to a PC, and it isn't a wireless wedge, you're looking at a mobile computer, and luckily, the manufacturers have pretty much settled on this term to describe their devices.

"Batch" units don't communicate with any host while they're doing their job. They just load up a program, maybe some verification lookup data, and then you disconnect it from the host. You can then scan barcodes or key enter other data. The information is stored on the device and downloaded to the PC when the mobile computer is attached to the PC again via a a trasfer cable or recharging cradle. Batch Mobile computers can be either Tier 1 or Tier 2 devices.

"Wireless" units communicate with a host using a wireless connection. In state-of-the-art Tier 1 Mobile computers, this wireless connection will be a WiFi 802.11b interface to some other computer in the network. It may be using a web browser to enter data, it may be reading and updating a server database in real-time, or it may just be transferring data to a static file somewhere...but these are the truly wireless units we think of when you ask for a wireless barcode scanner. Generally speaking, these devices depend on software, and there are no "over the counter" software products available for wireless mobile computer communication. In short, unless you're writing or having someone write the program for you, these products are difficult to implement.

With the definintions out of the way, lets discuss the way to solve your problem - you need to collect data while far away from a PC.

Wireless Barcode Scanners - Batch Data Collection:

The easiest and least expensive way to do this is with a Tier 2 batch device, running a program you design using the included program generator. That way. It would work something like this....

You determine that you want to take inventory information so that you know how much product you have on hand at any given time. You design a program using the program generator for the Mobile Computer (that you purchased from National Barcode, of course) that prompts for the Operator ID, Rack Location, Shelf Location, Item Number and Quantity. You load the program onto the device, and collect the data. When you're done, you come back to the PC, plug in the device, start the transfer program on the desktop and press a button on the device, and your data shows up in a text file on the PC. You open the text file in Microsoft Excel to manipulate the data and print reports. You press a key on the device to delete the data.

Naturally, this is a simplified example. You may want to upload a list of products to the device so that when you scan the Item Number, the description displays. Your inventory system may allow you to import text files, so you design the way the data is stored on the device and in the text file in a certain format. In the program generator, you can set up "validation", that is checking the data scanned to make sure it is in the right format....you wouldn't want the location information in the Item Number position in your device or text file.

You can do the same type of data collection with a Tier 1 device as well, but you have to identify the program you'll run on the device. Sometimes you can get away with using the Excel or Word programs that come on a device with a PocketPC device, and the data will be transferred right to the same type document when you put the device in the cradle. Unfortunately, this method doesn't allow for validation. Most times you'll want to get a program from an outside source, write your own using Microsoft .NET Compact Framework, or have someone write a program for you (we can do this).

The important thing to remember is that the data is going to show up on the desktop after you connect the Mobile Computer to the desktop. Here are links for the Tier 1 and Tier 2 batch Mobile Computers that we carry:

Wireless Barcode Scanners - Wireless Data Collection:

Truly wireless barcode scanners have the ability to talk to a networked "Access Point" that acts as an interface between the scanner and other resources on the network. These Mobile Computers are just like PC's on the network, and have an IP address. With the Tier 1 devices, you can update databases on the network, read information, surf the web and print to networked printers.

Wireless Barcode Scanners or Wireless Mobile Computers are software dependent. If the device has the PocketPC operating system, you'll have the ability to browse the web, send and receive email, and put data into Excel or Word documents...but not much else. The ability to read and write to a database are software dependent, as to date there aren't products available (which are independent of the hardware you choose) that you can use to do this. You'll need to develop the software, or have someone develop the software for you.

A lot of the Wireless Mobile Computers have a GPRS/GPS radio in them, so you can actually use the device as a cellphone! The cellphone feature was installed not so you can talk why you take an inventory, but to give you the ability to transfer data using the internet. A lot of clients find this a convenient way to connect the device no matter where the operator is...and this option is used a lot in the transportation and delivery industry. You may want to consider it anywhere that its inconveneient for your operators to come back to a PC or within the range of your wireless network to transfer data.

Truly wireless communication is the pinnacle of current technology of the mobile computers. Although its the most costly alternative, it gives you the ability to read and update information on network resources in real-time. Here are some links to Tier 1 and Tier 2 Mobile Computers that have 802.11 wireless cards in them:

Wireless Barcode Scanners - Which is for you?

Although the technology is sometimes confusing, data collection with a mobile computer can be the most effective way for you to solve your current data collection problems.

If you're not sure which type of device is right for you, just give us a call. The sales representatives at National Barcode all have experience writing and installing program for mobile computers, and can direct you to the information you need to make an intelligent choice.Give us a call at the number below and we'll help you any way that we can.