So, you've got
some labels or tags with bar codes on them. How
do you know they're readable by other bar code
scanners? If your bar codes are going to go
beyond the four walls of your business, then you need
to know that they're "within spec" — or
else you may have a significant liability
problem!
The way you
determine the quality of a given symbol through a nifty device called
a bar code verifier. Note that it's more
than just a scanner, since having your scanner
successfully read your bar codes only confirms
that your scanner is capable of doing so.
A verifier is a kind of a "referee" that
analyzes a given symbol against a number of
industry benchmarks to determine whether it meets a given
set of standards.
Verifiers
basically come in two different flavours: mobile
and fixed. A mobile verifier allows its user to
take the device to where the bar codes are
located. Through multiple scans of given test symbol,
the verifier displays the results on the
device's LCD screen. The operator might then
print a brief report of the analysis on a mobile
printer, interfaced with the verifier, as
written proof of the symbol's quality.
Fixed verifiers
typically attach to a desktop or laptop PC.
While that doesn't make them as mobile as the
other type, it offers a couple of advantages:
the ability to store the verification results in
a database, and the added function of
potentially printing the report on a standard
report printer (e.g. laser), interfaced to the
PC.
There is a wide
range of prices with verifiers. In short, the
more you pay, the greater the number of analyses
that are conducted by the verifier and the more
exacting they are.
Virtually all
modern verifiers use ANSI standards as their
reference when verifying bar code symbols.
Aurora Bar Code
Technologies
8944 182 Street NW, Suite 316 Edmonton, AB T5T 2E3
Canada
Phone: 800.689.7696 Outside of NA: 780.483.6025 Fax: 780.484.8767
