BILL'S BARCODE BLOG

The Future of the Barcode

2011-07-20T14:54:00Z

Technology is changing at lightening speed, but how is the barcode itself changing with the times? The most basic barcode is made of vertical black and white stripes (a 1-dimensional or 1D barcode) which usually represents a set of alphanumeric characters. Those characters are then linked to an item, product name, price, etc. in a database. Now, 2-dimensional or 2D barcode are able to encode more data in a smaller space using various geometric patterns. So, for example on a driver's license the name of a person, their age and their address can all be encoded in a 2D barcode the size of a postage stamp. A couple years ago, MIT reportedly came up with a completely new type of "barcode," called the Bokode, which is only 3 millimeters wide (about the size of the @ sign on a typical keyboard). The Bokode can hold much more information than either a 1D or 2D barcode and can be read from a further distance using a camera-based interaction. Currently, the Bokode requires a special lens and light source to work, but in the future it could be much less expensive and easier to use. The new technologies promise more productivity and greater savings, however organizations can still greatly benefit from the tried and true technology of the basic 1D barcode. All barcodes, if used properly, help save time, money and effort by automating tasks that used to be done by hand!

Barcode Attendance Tracking Needed in Our Schools

2011-02-07T14:54:00Z

Enough of this craziness. Recently, a couple of cases have highlighted the need for barcode attendance tracking in our county’s schools. Last week in Anne Arundel County, Maryland two young girls leaving school were put on the wrong bus, according to an article in The Washington Post (February 5, 2001). They were ages 5 and 7 and were mistakenly dropped off by themselves 30 minutes after their normal time. Naturally, the father got quite upset with school officials when they couldn’t tell him exactly where his kids were. In another article, The Sacramento Bee (February 6, 2011) reported that a 15-year-old severely disabled boy was taken to the wrong school for several days. He was even put in a class with other special needs kids, even though no one at the school knew his name. The boy is cognitively impaired and also legally blind. How could this happen? Did the teacher know the boy wasn’t enrolled in her class (or school)? Did the bus driver know what kids he was taking where? A simple solution that would assist school administrators, bus drivers, teachers and parents would include a barcode attendance system. It could be used both with buses and with classrooms to track student attendance. Every child at the school would wear a barcoded identification badge, and the bus drivers and teachers simply scan each child as they enter or leave. The barcode scanner would alert the user, if a child was in the wrong place or missing. It’s that easy. UPS and FedEx have been tracking packages for years, why can’t the schools do the same thing with our kids? Some barcode attendance systems could even cost as little as $2,000, depending on the number of scanners needed. At MSS Software we have a barcode attendance system called Student Attendance Tracker, which does the job. Let’s get with the 21st century and implement barcoding in our schools to protect our children!

Inspector Video Up

2010-08-20T14:54:00Z

Our product video for the Inspector Kit is now posted on YouTube if you want a quick overview of what is included in the kit and how it works. You can check out the video by clicking the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC3XQD8B_bQ

E-Commerce Live

2010-08-16T14:54:00Z

We have completed the ecommerce portion of our site. We hope this makes purchasing with us easier for our customers. Of course we are still available over the phone as well if you need your barcoding questions answered by a professional.

Rental Articles

2010-07-14T14:54:00Z

Written by freelance writer Cristian Hernandez about the benefits of renting barcode scanners and readers. Cristian interviewed a few of our clients and they expressed their pleasure and success with renting from us in the past. The articles go into detail about the benefits of renting over purchasing due to cost. Customers are able to get their periodic inventories and event attendance tracking taken care of at a fraction of the cost of purchasing. The barcode readers come programmed and ready to go right out of the box. You can take a look at the first article here and second here.

Blog is Up!!!

2010-07-14T14:54:00Z

The official MSS Software blog is up. We are excited to share with you all the aspects of our business, and listen to what you all have to say. We will be posting news about our products as well as important news in the industry. Check daily for new posts and leave your feedback.

MSS Software History

2010-02-02T14:54:00Z

MSS Software, a division of Manufacturing System Services, was founded in 1984 in Pennsylvania by three software developers who specialized in applications for the barcode industry. The company continues to work hand-in-hand with many of the major barcode manufacturers. Over the years we have dealt with just about any type of data collection problem you can imagine. Our customers have ranged from large government and commercial organizations to small businesses. In 2003 MSS Software moved to Fairfax, Virginia to be near our nation's capital. We are incorporated in the state of Virginia.