Honeywell Scanning & Mobility recently announced the launch of its Honeywell Developer Program to give independent software vendors (ISVs) and end-users a voice in the development of Honeywell mobile computing products that will utilize the Android operating system. Through the program, participants will also have the opportunity to develop and test Android-specific applications on Honeywell’s newest mobile computer, prior to launch.

Overland Storage was in need of a new inventory solution to better track their physical and virtual storage products. The current inventory solution they were using was based on one central computer which forced employees to conduct any inventory needs at a single location. To make their solution more mobile and flexible, they used Barcodes Inc who set them up with GammaTech Durabook U12C rugged laptops and Motorola LS3478 Bluetooth scanners. This solution allowed workers to cover more ground and have access to the inventory simultaneously.

Sales Engineer: Johnny White

Cablevision makes payment center transactions much easier with the use of quick, durable receipt printers and easy to use payment terminals.

Executive Summary

Cablevision wanted to make the payment process more customer-friendly in their payment centers. They were looking for something that was easier than manually entering credit card information yet can validate that a payment was made. Additionally, they wanted to minimize the amount of time spent per customer, thus providing a better experience for the customer and cutting down on employee man-hours.

The Business Challenge

Cablevision originally wanted to purchase a signature capture pad, a magnetic stripe reader, and a receipt printer in order to provide a self-service Solution to their customers. Cablevision had even begun testing their Solution on a black and white signature capture pad. However, the products identified were found to exclude confirmation to the customer that a payment was made, which was critical in the eyes of the CEO. Furthermore, Cablevision would have to pay more for a magnetic stripe reader, which would in turn make the device even bulkier.

Solution

After detailed discussion with Cablevision on the exact objectives of the Solution, Barcodes Inc recommended the Hypercom L4150 Payment Terminal, which also allowed Cablevision to display advertisements targeted at their customers. After some custom programming by Barcodes Inc, Cablevision was given a product that allowed their customer to see a full breakdown of their bill and approve/decline a specific charge amount.

Cablevision was also leaning towards using the Star Micronics TSP100 receipt printer before Barcodes Inc recommended they choose the Star Micronics TSP100ECO receipt printer. Along with being Energy Star compliant, the Star TSP100ECO would reduce Cablevision’s power consumption by 75% and provide them a cost savings of up to 70% in paper consumption.

Cablevision has since deployed 250 Hypercom Payment Terminals, and 250 Star Receipt Printers to 50 payment centers. Their deployment went well thanks to months of testing and help from both their Barcodes Inc Sales Rep and the Technical Staff at Hypercom.

Benefits

Cablevision is now able to offer in-store marketing to their customers and provide new services in a more efficient manner. More so, their marketing advertisements can be updated from a remote location by their marketing team at any given time. Barcodes Inc also recommended a payment terminal that would allow Cablevision to offer debit in the future, should they choose, without having to purchase new equipment. This in itself will save Cablevision thousands of dollars when they decide to make an upgrade.

The Future

Cablevision has since deployed 250 Hypercom Payment Terminals and 250 Star Receipt Printers to 50 payment centers. They will continue to use Barcodes Inc as their Solution provider, as they expect to open new payment facilities in the future.

The head of IT Infrastructure at Promega Corporation was overseeing a multi-million dollar SAP system implementation and needed a streamlined solution for inputting information on new products created in the lab and sending all relevant data to their production department Barcodes Inc helped them choose rugged tablets as the best solution for their labs, placing Motion Computing C5V and F5V units based on the condition of each location. These tablets allowed them to easily manage their information and eliminate any human errors in their data capture process.

Account Manager: Angela Foshee

Newegg.com is a rapidly growing technology sales company, and they were about to open new warehouses. In order to keep up with ever growing demands, they needed to equip all of their warehouses with new equipment for more efficient inventory management. They turned to Barcodes Inc who suggested a hands-free mobile computing solution, featuring Motorola WT4090 wearable scanners. Newegg found that this approach streamlined their order picking process, saving their team a lot of time and preventing reporting errors.

Account Manager: Matthew Evans

Acquisition is the third major auto-identification and data collection company to become part of Honeywell.

Honeywell announced that it has completed its acquisition of EMS Technologies, Inc., parent company of LXE.
EMS is a leading provider of connectivity solutions for mobile networking and rugged mobile computers.

The acquisition will enhance Honeywell’s existing capabilities in rugged mobile computing technologies. EMS’s Global Resource Management (GRM) division provides highly ruggedized mobile computing products and services for use in transportation, logistics, and workforce management settings as well as secure satellite-based asset tracking and messaging technology for search and rescue, warehousing, and field force automation environments.

“Acquiring EMS Technologies demonstrates our commitment to build on our leadership position in the global barcode scanning and mobility industry,” said Darius Adamczyk, president of Honeywell Scanning & Mobility. “By adding EMS Technologies to our business, we will acquire complementary rugged hand-held and vehicle-based products and expand our presence in warehousing, manufacturing and port segments. These new products and segments will be growth drivers for our business.”

Honeywell Scanning & Mobility was formed in 2008, following Honeywell’s acquisition of two leading manufacturers of automatic identification and data collection (AIDC) solutions, Handheld Products and Metrologic Instruments.

For an updated compatibility listing refer to this post.

These USB (HID) credit card readers are supported by Authorize.net VPOS:

• Magtek USB HID Mini Swipe Reader (white) – 21040101
• Magtek USB HID Mini Swipe Reader (black) – 21040102
• Magtek USB HID SureSwipe (black) – 21040140
• Magtek USB HID SureSwipe (white) – 21040146
• Magtek Dynamag (Formerly known as Centurion) HID Cardreader (black) – 21073075
• IDTECH MiniMagII USB/HID MagStripe Reader (beige) – IDMB-335133M
• IDTECH MiniMagII USB/HID MagStripe Reader (black) – IDMB-335133BM
• IDTECH MiniMag Duo USB/HID Reader (beige) – IDMB-355133M
• IDTECH MiniMag Duo USB/HID Reader (black) – IDMB-355133BM

Customers Can Seamlessly Integrate Scanned Data Into Apple iOS Applications

Socket Mobile announced the availability of its latest Socket Bluetooth Cordless Hand Scanner (CHS) Series 7, which has been certified by Apple as a “Made for iPad, iPhone, iPod” accessory.

The CHS 7Xi and its antimicrobial equivalent, the CHS 7XiRx, have been tested and approved by Apple to meet all of their performance standards, assuring a seamless and reliable integration for developers who incorporate either of these Bluetooth barcode scanning options into their iOS applications.

The CHS 7Xi and 7XiRx and the associated SocketScan 10 software development kit (SDK) are highly versatile barcode scanning tools that enable developers to add commercial-grade rapid and robust barcode scanning capabilities to their iOS devices. The SDK also supports many other smartphone, tablet, notebook and desktop applications.

“This is the best performing barcode scanner for developers who are creating applications incorporating barcode scanning for the Apple iOS,” said Samantha Chu, data collection product manager at Socket Mobile. “There are numerous applications that stand to benefit from barcode scanning in a range of vertical markets, and we believe the CHS 7Xi provides the Apple developer community with a level of control and data integrity that didn’t exist previously.”

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Misperceptions about 2D imagers are changing fast, which is why 2D imagers are the fastest-growing category of barcode readers. Only a few years ago 2D imagers were (wrongly) considered a niche technology mostly used for reading 2D barcodes. Now they are becoming the technology of choice for most barcode applications, and lasers are on the way to becoming a niche technology. The reasons: 2D imagers are as fast or faster than laser scanners, can read all the same barcodes as lasers plus 2D symbols that lasers can’t, and can do much more.

Not only can 2D imagers read more barcodes than lasers – including QR Codes, Data Matrix and other popular 2D symbols – they can also do more than read barcodes. Imagers can take digital pictures, shoot video, capture customer signatures,
scan documents and even process the scanned data. These capabilities, which are outlined in the graphic below, enable new business processes that are not possible with older-generation technology. In an era where workers are tasked with doing more – collecting more information, providing more documentation, being more productive, etc. – 2D imagers provide more flexibility.

2D imaging technology gives businesses the two things they need most from their barcode readers: outstanding performance in today’s applications, and investment protection to meet future needs. This white paper is a guide to 2D barcode imaging technology, including an overview of capabilities and how 2D imagers perform in traditional applications, the beneficial new business processes that imaging enables, and the advantages 2D imaging provides compared to laser scanners.

Analyst Insight
“In 2008, laser scanners were the preferred handheld solution. However, the proportion of users planning subsequent investment in laser scanners is disproportionately lower than in other faster growing product categories i.e., linear and 2D imaging solutions. Imaging is expected to emerge as the fastest growing technology segment.”

VDC Research Group, 2009

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UGN Auto installs noise reduction headliners into cars of all makes and models. They use parts to help verify the correct components and where they need to be installed. With an automated system already in place to verify the correct colors, UGN wanted to make it even more efficient. Barcodes Inc recommended machine vision technology to make the process as simple as possible and helped UGN implement Cognex Checkers to take pictures of these components for fast and easy verification and quality assurance – speeding up the process, boosting efficiency, and enhancing productivity at UGN.

Account Manager: Patrick Martin