Hi Kirstin,
That sounds like QR codes, here a Wikipedia explanation which mentions
"Document Management" in the second paragraph:
QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type
of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed for the
automotive industry in Japan; a barcode is an optically machine-readable
label that is attached to an item and that records information related to
that item: The information encoded by a QR code may be made up of four
standardized types ("modes") of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte / binary,
Kanji) or, through supported extensions, virtually any type of data.
The QR Code system has become popular outside the automotive industry due to
its fast readability and greater storage capacity compared to standard UPC
barcodes. Applications include product tracking, item identification, time
tracking, document management, general marketing, and much more.
A QR code consists of black modules (square dots) arranged in a square grid
on a white background, which can be read by an imaging device (such as a
camera) and processed using Reed-Solomon error correction until the image
can be appropriately interpreted; data is then extracted from patterns
present in both horizontal and vertical components of the image.
The QR code system was invented in 1994 by Toyota's subsidiary, Denso Wave.
Its purpose was to track vehicles during manufacture; it was designed to
allow high-speed component scanning. It has since become one of the most
popular types of two-dimensional barcodes.
Originally designed for industrial uses, QR codes have become common in
consumer advertising. Typically, a smartphone is used as a QR-code scanner,
displaying the code and converting it to some useful form (such as a
standard URL for a website, thereby obviating the need for a user to type it
manually into a web browser).
"In the shopping industry, knowing what causes the consumers to be motivated
when approaching products by the use of QR codes, advertisers and marketers
can use the behavior of scanning to get consumers to buy, causing it to have
the best impact on ad and marketing design." As a result, the QR code has
become a focus of advertising strategy, since it provides quick and
effortless access to the brand's website. Beyond mere convenience to the
consumer, the importance of this capability is that it increases the
conversion rate (that is, increases the chance that contact with the
advertisement will convert to a sale), by coaxing qualified prospects
further down the conversion funnel without any delay or effort, bringing the
viewer to the advertiser's site immediately, where a longer and more
targeted sales pitch may continue.
Although initially used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR codes
are now (as of 2012) used over a much wider range of applications, including
commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product/loyalty
marketing (examples: mobile couponing where a company's discounted and
percent discount can be captured using a QR code decoder which is a mobile
app, or storing a company's information such as address and related
information alongside its alpha-numeric text data as can be seen in Yellow
Pages directory), and in-store product labeling. It can also be used in
storing personal information for use by government. An example of this is
Philippines National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) where NBI clearances now
come with a QR code. Many of these applications target mobile-phone users
(via mobile tagging). Users may receive text, add a vCard contact to their
device, open a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), or compose an e-mail or
text message after scanning QR codes. They can generate and print their own
QR codes for others to scan and use by visiting one of several pay or free
QR code-generating sites or apps. Google has a popular API to generate QR
codes, and apps for scanning QR codes can be found on nearly all smartphone
devices.
QR codes storing addresses and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) may appear
in magazines, on signs, on buses, on business cards, or on almost any object
about which users might need information. Users with a camera phone equipped
with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR code to
display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a
web page in the telephone's browser. This act of linking from physical world
objects is termed hardlinking or object hyperlinking. QR codes also may be
linked to a location to track where a code has been scanned. Either the
application that scans the QR code retrieves the geo information by using
GPS and cell tower triangulation (aGPS) or the URL encoded in the QR code
itself is associated with a location.
QR codes have been used and printed on Chinese train tickets since 2010
In June 2011, The Royal Dutch Mint (Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt) issued the
world's first official coin with a QR code to celebrate the centenary of its
current building and premises. The coin was able to be scanned by a
smartphone and link to a special website with contents about the historical
event and design of the coin.
In 2008, a Japanese stonemason announced plans to engrave QR codes on
gravestones, allowing visitors to view information about the deceased, and
family members to keep track of visits.
QR codes can be used in Google's Android operating system and iOS devices
(iPhone/iPod/iPad), and Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, as well
as by using Google Goggles, 3rd party barcode scanners, and the Nintendo
3DS. The browser supports URL redirection, which allows QR codes to send
metadata to existing applications on the device. mbarcode is a QR code
reader for the Maemo operating system.
In Apple's iOS, a QR code reader is not natively included, but more than
fifty paid and free apps are available with both the ability to scan the
codes and hard-link to an external URL. Google Goggles is an example of one
of many applications that can scan and hard-link URLs for iOS and Android.
With BlackBerry devices, the App World application can natively scan QR
codes and load any recognized Web URLs on the device's Web browser.
Windows Phone 7.5 is able to scan QR codes through the Bing search app.
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of Kirsten Edmondson
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 11:56 AM
To: Viphone Group
Subject: Perhaps slightly OT.voiceye
I have recently learnt about this product. I understand that it is a way of
incorporating an entire text into a bar code. You then use the app,
available on iPhone etc, or an existing piece of software, in the UK,
available from sight and sound technology, to read the bar code and work out
what the text is inside. Does anyone have any experience of using this? Is
it worth looking into and getting? It sounds very intriguing, but
potentially, it could be very complicated too! Do a lot of things now
automatically use such barcodes? Or is this something you have to set up
manually every time?
Any thoughts would be very welcome!
Thanks in advance,
Kirsten
Sent from my iPhone
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