Simplified Scanning

Imagine scanning a bar code on a box with a mere wave of your hand. That's the selling point for Socket Communications' Cordless Ring Scanner (CRS) 9P, currently being evaluated by VARs before being released to the wider market.

The wireless scanner is worn on the middle or index finger and communicates via Bluetooth technology to a device worn around the wrist. The wristlet, which weighs around 100g, then communicates to a mobile computer. The scanner is constructed of a patented LiquidMetal alloy and is IP54-compliantresistant to dust and water damage.

Scott Allen, the Midwestern regional sales manager for InfoLogix, a Hatboro, Pa.-based solution provider specializing in mobile computing, has been evaluating Socket's new wireless scanner as a possible addition to his company's product portfolio.

"Most companies have done some sort of automation as it relates to supply chain, whether it's shipping, receiving or trucking. Companies have made a lot of investment in [automation] over the last 10 years," Allen said.

Socket's mobile ring scanner represents another step in the compression of technologies designed to make moving objects from one location to another a more efficient process, he said.

The solution provider is considering pitching Socket's CRS to customers that handle shipping and receiving. Wireless bar-code scanning can help reduce human error in situations where employees are moving packages and products, or packing products for shipment to customers, Allen said.

"Here's something that provides us with a device where we can mount it on our bodies. It's not intrusive, and it communicates back to the handheld device," he said.

Allen thinks his customers will be interested in using the scanner once it's released.

"We've been showing it around. We've been putting it in prototype situations such as in airline transportation and in pharmaceuticals. We've gotten very good feedback thus far. It's something that the clients have been asking for for a couple of years," Allen said.

John Walls, managing director of The Bar-Code Warehouse, a Nottinghamshire, England-based reseller of scanning products, said not only has the new Socket scanner made a "significant leap forward" from its predecessors, but Bluetooth functionality is a tremendous asset to the Socket product when pitching it in different vertical markets.

"We are currently talking to businesses that operate across a wide variety of sectors, including parcel carriers who require hands-free vehicle unloading and loading, and logistics and distribution companies," Walls said via e-mail. Clients are interested in a system that allows them to keep their hands free to pack shipments, he added.

Walls also noted that selling the Socket ring scanner has the potential to generate revenue for The Bar-Code Warehouse as an effective hands-free scanning solution.

"There are a large number of businesses in the U.K. and Europe that have been waiting for a truly effective hands-free scanner for some time. Now they all will have the opportunity to look at the ring scanner," he said.

Samtec, a manufacturer of PC board-level interconnects, is evaluating the ring scanner while revamping its inventory control system.

The New Albany, Ind.-based company is looking to include bar-code scanning in its tracking process.

"Our inventory associates are going to be given a list of materials. That list will appear on a tablet PC that's connected to a cart. When [associates] pull materials off the shelf, they will scan the bar code and the system will confirm," said Jon Riddle, a software architect on Samtec's project.

While the scanner has yet to be deployed in a test environment, Riddle thinks it will be appealing to the company's employees.

"The people that will be using it are going to need to have their hands free at all times, and it keeps them from having to pick up and put down a hand scanner," he said. "We also like that it has Bluetooth technology so that [employees] are not tethered to a computer."

Samtec also is evaluating handheld Bluetooth scanners and some wired handheld scanners.

"We have not made any decisions. We'll leave the decisions up to the people who are actually doing the work. We're going to give them a ring scanner and a Bluetooth handheld scanner and see what they like best," Riddle said.

"In the end, it's going to be whatever's most comfortable for them," he said.

Socket said the CRS RP is expected to be available this month and has a suggested retail price of $1,199.