These scanners allow you to walk up with a scanner in your hand, go beep, beep, beep and beep. Then go to a computer and feed into your point of sale software the results. This can save a lot of mucking around and carrying.
Also many can scan from a decent distance away some 10 to 15 metres away, so you do not have to get right up to the item to scan it, this for some of our clients is very useful.
So overall these scanners are great but like everything you do need to be aware of a few points.
You need to check whether it can work with all the software you want too. Different software often has different requirements.
Also, check whether it can work with all the Windows operating system you use. If you have some computers running XP and others Windows 10, many times you will have problems.
A word of caution:
Many of these scanners put themselves in sleep mode when not in use, to get them to work, you need to do a wake-up scan. This wake-up scan does give a beep. The problem is that if you are not careful, you may think the wake-up scan is a successful recording of a scan and so accidentally miss an item. This may be the cause of why some users report that these scanners are missing items. Some people what they do to overcome this problem is while scanning remotely is they count the items. Then when they feed the results into the computer, they make sure that the count is the same.
A successful scan is always an issue as it is with any scanner. Like any scanner, you need to learn what angles, distances and lighting work best. This is particularly true if you deal with curved items. Some problem items are wet, curved items like drink cans or rings in jewellery shops that are both small and curved.
Can they take punishment, as these scanners need to be solid? As sure as day follows night, they will be dropped by someone.
Check the grip.
Some scanners do not have a good grip. What might help is if it is not a good grip try putting elastic bands around the handle, this often improves the grip.
Battery and power
Some batteries are better than others, it worth checking the battery life before buying.
Can the scanner be used while charging? Many people want to use these scanners as fixed and portable. If it can be check if the cable long enough for your needs?
How long does it take to charge? Generally, it is a few hours. They will tell you when they are running out of power but what do find annoying is that some do not show how much charge they do have, so you do not know how much longer you can use it.
Hope this is of help and like always I’d love to know your thoughts.
