Cash Register Care and Maintenance
Choosing A Barcode Scanner
Bar code scanners obviously increase efficiency by reading barcode information considerably faster and with much greater accuracy than you possibly could, when typing the same information manually. Scanners are great tools that will help you to speed up and improve the checkout experience for your customers, reduce pricing and inventory errors and generally save time. If you have UPCs on your merchandise, you won’t have to put the 
price tag on the product itself, saving time and reducing handling costs. Accuracy overall is improved.
1. Serve Customers Faster
And also improve service by quickly scanning bar codes at the point of sale instead of typing a SKU.
2.Reduce Pricing And Inventory Errors
The typical error rate for human data entry is 1 error per 300 characters. Barcode scanners can be as good as 1 error in 36 trillion characters.
3. Save Time And Improve Efficiency
If all your merchandise is bar coded you can save time by checking out customers faster, instantly implementing mark downs and eliminating the problem of price tag switching.
4. Reduce Costs
If you have UPCs on your merchandise then you don’t have to put the price tag on the product itself, which saves time and reduces handling costs.
5. Improve The Accuracy Of Your Inventory
Bar coding reduces errors at receiving and at the point of sale so your inventory stays accurate. You basically have 4 different styles from which you can choose:
1. Hand held wand / pen type scanner. This is the simplest and least expensive scanner available. Wands require you to hold them at a certain angle and be passed directly over the barcode at a consistent speed. Wands, however, present a variety of challenges making them the most useful when price is the most important factor.
2. CCD (Charged Coupled Device) scanner. These scanners will be more practical and reliable for your point of sale scanning. They cost more than a wand but they’ll be more reliable and efficient, and also work great in bright outdoor environments. CCDs can only read barcodes from a close distance of 6 inches and the item scanned must be flat. They can’t read bar codes on bottles or cans.
3. Laser scanner. Most retailers use laser scanners because they’re reliable and versatile. They can read from long distances and they’ll handle uneven surfaces like bottles. A standard laser will read a barcode from 8 to 24 inches away, and a long range scanner will read a barcode from 40 feet away. Lasers cost a little more than CCDs, ranging from $200 to $2000, but they’re well worth it in the long run.
4. Linear Imager. These have become a very popular and viable alternative to laser scanners. They’re fast, durable, affordable and they work in bright sunlight. They are not good with long range scanning. Linear imagers use an advanced imaging technology that allows for much faster scanning and better performance on poor quality codes. Plus linear images are generally less expensive than laser scanners.
Connectivity Scanners can plug into serial ports, keyboard wedges or USB ports on your computer. In order to decide which connection to use, you should contact your POS software provider and find out what type of connection they support. You also need to make sure that type of connection is available on your computer.
