I’m sure you’ve seen QR codes before. In fact, I’m positive you have. These little, black and white two-dimensional codes are taking over. You can find them on posters, billboards, business cards, coffee mugs, mouse pads… You get the idea. They’re all over the place!
These codes are able to be scanned by a smartphone, as long as the owner of the phone has downloaded a QR “reader” or “scanner” off of the Internet. These readers are available for free and can be added to an iPhone, Blackberry, or an Android phone. Once downloaded, a user can quickly and easily hold their device up to a QR code and “scan” it.
The ‘QR’ in QR code is an abbreviation for “quick response” code. As the name implies, these codes deliver a very “quick” response when scanned by a mobile phone. What is the response, you ask? The great thing about QR codes is that the “response” can be virtually anything.
In essence, a quick response code is simply a barcode that encodes information. In this way, it can be likened to a hyperlink on the Internet. When the device scans the code, the phone’s browser will launch and transport the user to the landing page that was programmed into the QR code. Because landing pages can be programmed to be absolutely anything at all, QR codes are therefore incredibly versatile.
A quick response code can be likened to a vehicle, and the landing page can be likened to the destination. If you’re traveling along in a Mustang convertible, does that mean you’re automatically headed to Tallahassee? No, of course not. You could be headed anywhere in North America. In the same way, quick response codes aren’t limited to arriving at one destination. This makes them incredibly useful and innovative, because they are, to continue the analogy, very fast and effective vehicles.
Do you want some concrete examples of just what QR codes can accomplish, when programmed correctly? QR codes can:
· Open a video
· Collect contact information
· Process a donation
· Make a phone call
· View a map
· Enter a contest
· Interact with social networking sites
· Coordinate a scavenger hunt
And much more!
I could go on with hundreds of things that quick response codes can do, but I won’t waste your time. I think you get the basic idea: These codes can do anything that they are programmed to do. Therefore, if you are able to locate a Mobile Solutions company that can provide you with this technology, you’ll be able to jump on the Quick Response bandwagon.
