HOW IT WORKS

QR codes or Quick Response codes is a two-dimensional (2D) bar-code that may be decoded using QR code readers. Software can be installed on modern smartphones to enable the phone’s camera as a QR code reader. Information can thus be transferred to cell phones where it can be used to access websites, mobile sites, send an email, make a phone call, save contact information and much more.

QR codes were initially used as a tracking mechanism for auto parts; however QR codes have proven to be very useful in marketing and convenience related applications that are well adapted for smartphone users. In the recent months, we have seen QR codes show up on marketing materials such as business cards, flyers, catalogues, brochures, billboards, promotional posters for various products and movies, among other things. These have also been seen on newspaper and magazine ads, artwork, promotional products on display, business entrances in and other everyday things.

There are two main things that need when you deal with QR codes:

1. A mobile phone with a camera and Internet connectivity.
2. QR code reader software.

WHERE DO I GET A QR CODE READER?

Most smartphones coming out nowadays have a QR code reader already installed. For some, you would need to download the reader and install it yourself. It is recommended that you visit the website of your phone manufacturer to search for a QR code reader approved for your phone. Ensure that you choose a QR code reader with all the basic functions. Some code readers can also scan one-dimensional (1D) bar codes that allow you to verify product prices and other product information in shopping centres.

Note that you would have to check on the compatibility of these readers with your phones as some readers work only on iPhones or Android phones. There are readers that work on the Symbian OS found on Nokia phones and Java found on lower end smart phones.

HOW DO YOU SCAN THE QR CODE?

After you have installed your reader, fire up the application and snap a picture of the QR code. Make sure that your hand is steady and that you are able to include the whole code into the picture. There will be some instances when the scan would fail, do not worry, just keep on snapping.

RESOLVING THE LINK

Depending on your software, it may take some five to thirty seconds for the application to resolve the information for you. That is to say, to decode the information written behind the code. If it is a URL, the QR code reader will open your browser and let you surf the mobile site the code links to.

If it is a VCF card, a file that contains a person’s contact information, it will offer to save the information into your address book.

QR CODES EVERYWHERE!

You don’t have to be a business owner in order to benefit from the emerging QR code technology. However, if you are a businessperson, it is an incredibly versatile and cost effective technology that is available to you. A wave of acceptance is sure to hit the world as soon as more people become aware of its great many uses.

Ordinary people can generate a QR code for free and get other people or customers to go to your website, blog, social media profile, product pages, articles, media sites, your own personal Facebook or other online social networking sites, among other.

It also acts as a business card. People are already beginning to print QR codes onto their business cards, but who wants to keep a business card if the QR code enables you to save the relevant contact information directly to a cell phone’s contact manager. QR codes are expected to replace business cards, yellow pages advertisements, brochures and many other forms of printed advertising. Printed marketing material is expected to fade into history as people can now access information directly from the Internet using their cell phones, and no longer need to keep the printed versions in their briefcases. With mobile text readers, your cell phone can even read the local news or other information on the Internet to you while on your way to work.

With QR Codes, it simply means that you now have a bridge between your offline product and online information. The separation between the two is now blurred. What’s more, with mobile smart phones, you can get connected to anything that is online, no matter where you go.

While QR codes alone may be great to achieve some marketing objectives, it is worthwhile to consider the modernization of your business strategies for the mobile Internet era. AmpleTech’s consultants assist businesses with integrated VoIP services, web hosting services, mobile websites, dynamic internet facilities with RSS news-feeds, electronic discount coupons, public perception management, social networking, mobile SMS and email subscriptions, Google places, search engine optimization and much more. Contact us if you need professional services to modernize your business for the mobile era.

TOP 4 REASONS WHY QR CODES ARE GOING TO HIT IT BIG

1. QR codes is FREE to generate and use. You can easily get your own QR code and embed these to your promotional materials, business cards, company letterheads and merchandise. What’s more, it is easier to deploy QR code strategies and measure their effectiveness than traditional marketing with Internet marketing combined.

2. You are not limited in terms of length, size and space of a mobile site. Traditional advertising works on limits as you pay for additional advertising space, additional airtime, additional newspaper columns, etc. By fixing a QR code to your offline advertisement, you are literally limitless in the amount of information you can include on the Internet landing page of your ad.

3. Even older mobile phones that have Java capability are now able to get a QR code reader. More and more people are getting on the Web through their mobiles. Global mobile data traffic has steadily been increasing with the advent of wireless connectivity, high speed Internet and Internet-enabled mobile phones. According to a study conducted by Opera, mobile data traffic in August 2010 increased by 10% in over a month’s time, marking the fastest increase in the preceding six months. This upward trend has also been continuously observed since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 and search engines like Google investing in mobile technology.

4. People, using their computers to access the Internet, reached the 1.5 Billion mark during 2010 while more than 53 million smartphone users in the United States alone accessed the Internet via their mobile devices. Worldwide there are more than 4.6 Billion cell phone users that are steadily switching to smartphones when their contracts expire; which are more than three times the amount of Internet users by the end of 2010. With more mobile service providers providing Internet access, cell phones are becoming the default gateway to access the Internet by those who do not have other access to Internet facilities or computers. There is an audience for QR codes that is just waiting to be tapped!

WHAT ARE DYNAMIC QR CODES?

Normal QR codes are static as the website address is hard coded in the actual image, so you’ll always be directed to the same web page when the QR code is scanned. If you change your website address or simply want surfers to be directed to a different page other than what you had originally set your QR Code to point to, then you need to create a new one and redistribute your literature.

We are using a dynamic QR Code at this site. QR Codes and Mobile Pages are generated automatically for each webpage or URL we create. Just scan the QR Code with your smartphone’s scanner to visit the mobile version of any webpage you visit. If you don’t have a scanner, just look for the link at the bottom left corner of this page with the words “switch to our mobile site” to see what a automated mobile website looks like. Automated mobile sites are text only; however we also design graphic enhanced mobile sites, which looks like a normal website on mobile devices. To switch back to our regular website, just click om “switch to desktop site” at the bottom of the mobile site.

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