Socket Mobile has just made the BlackBerry a notch cooler and more useful than it already is.  Socket now supports their 7 series Bluetooth bar code hand scanners with the BlackBerry Curve, Pearl and Bold.

A few applications that come to mind are:

-Inventory tracking for route sales

-Bookscouting (searching for bargain books to resell)

-Mobile price checking

-Retail market research

You only have to load a small application on the BlackBerry and then pair it with the Socket Bluetooth scanner and you are ready to start scanning.  The BlackBerry will treat the scan as data entered from the keypad; so the scan will input anywhere you have a cursor.

Don’t have a BlackBerry or need an application developed for the BlackBerry?  No problem, contact RACO Industries to speak with a representative about your specific needs.

Looking to give your old scanners and printers a proper burial? Sure you do.  You don’t want it sit in a landfill for hundreds of years slowly poisoning Mother Earth.  RACO Industries can help you. 

Increasing government regulations and “green” efforts limit the disposal of these products in landfills across the US and Canada. Add to that security regulations such as HIPPA & FACTA and simply throwing out old equipment without deleting information on the machines can be costly. RACO can help provide an alternative to landfills, ensure data destruction and possibly create a financial return on your equipment.  

We’ll evaluate if there’s still value in your end-of-life equipment and apply it towards replacement products.  When we receive the devices, we’ll sanitize the drives to Department of Defense standards (DoD 5220.22-M Erase) and send the necessary documentation to you supporting appropriate destruction of data and the equipment in accordance to security and environmental regulations. The overall process is simple and can be completed in a very short time.  

For more information on how to retire your obsolete technology products, please contact your RACO Representative at 1-800-446-1991.

Save the Tech Call

What many people don’t realize after the purchase of a handheld scanner, editing capabilities are already programmed in when the product leaves the factory. Scanners such as the Motorola LS2208, Honeywell 3800g or the Datalogic Powerscan are configured with a simple editing tool that allow the users to make changes in the scanner without making costly changes to the software application. 

The most common problem that arises is when the scanner arrives and either the Enter Key has been programmed in or not programmed in at all. For example, when any of the scanners from Motorola –either corded or cordless – are shipped, they are pre-configured with no post amble. In other words the data that is scanned is sent to the screen ‘as is’ with no CR / LF / RETURN or Enter Key. However, many users want the Enter Key to be automatically sent to the application after a scan. This allows users to do a scan one bar code after another without having to hit an Enter Key on the PC keyboard.  

The solution is quick and simple. Get the reference guide or the product manual from you handheld scanner.  Then go to Scan Data format page and scan the Data + suffix barcode. This will add the Enter key or CR/LF to be automatically sent with the data stream. In case you should ever need to remove the CR/LF or Enter Key, just scan the Data as is barcode.  That’s all there is to it. 

The manufacturer’s product manuals provide instructions to do more advanced formatting, such as tabs or other special characters, but this can be tricky. Contact your RACO representative for assistance with additional handheld scanner programming instructions.

Wireless Guru,

My company has twelve 802.11b/g wireless access points installed throughout a 185,000 square foot facility.  We recently deployed a large number of WiFi enabled mobile computers running the Windows Mobile 6.0 operating system.  We've encountered issues where devices freeze up regularly and lose their IP address.  Many times, the devices require a restart in order to reconnect to the WLAN.  We've verified that the signal stregnth is adequate throughout the building and all devices are configured correctly, what could be causing this?  Please Help.

Initially here is the problem that I think you are running into with your wireless infrastructure.  Though it may seem like a converged network, the stand alone access points/wireless routers will not communicate together and will therefore never negotiate a handoff or roam from one access point to another.  Each access point is broadcasting the same SSID and quite possiblly the same channel, and know nothing about each other.  Therefore there is a huge disconnect between what the handheld expects and what the multiple networks can deliver.  Bottom line, if a device ever roams correctly it is not by design but by chance and luck.  Whenever a device does have to roam it will have to disconnect from the network and then reconnect again, and that will only work if every access point is setup exactly the same.  And even if they are setup correctly you will still not be able to effectively roam.  In this setup each access point is a completely separate network.       Now you did not mention DHCP, but each of these units could be acting as a DHCP server, however in practice you never want to have more than one DHCP server and one in this scenario, will not work.

The solution to the problem is a converged network, a central controller which then controls all of the access points.  The controller has all of the network configuration and it manages all of the access points.  The controller will also manage all of the roaming and ensure that devices are always connected to the wireless network.    

To avoid the problems you are experiencing, centrally controlled or mesh is the only way to go in a multiple access point environment.  These type of networks are something we do have a lot of experience with, either troubleshooting or design and installation.

In the past year, we’ve been working on creating videos to help demonstrate products, show troubleshooting techniques, and point out solutions to help your business.  We recently hit a mini-milestone with our 50^th video.  

The fine folks from Datalogic stopped by for a visit to show off their products and point out which ones would be useful for certain industries.  This particular demonstration highlights scanning solutions for healthcare environments.  It’s an important distinction because this equipment needs to withstand regular sterilization and operate in such a way as to not disturb resting patients.  Datalogic has created a number of products that do just that and you can see that in the above clip. We’re already ramping up production on more videos to show you what RACO has to offer.  It shouldn’t be that much longer before we hit our 100^th video.  Keep checking back on RACO Industries’s YouTube channel for more helpful tips and solutions.