Does my Barcode Scanner Have to be Purchased From Clover?

Call Type: Support Call

Products Discussed: Barcode Scanner

Problem Statement:

Merchant: Here is the scenario I am working with: 

  • We use a Clover station 2018.

  • I have the item set up according to the instructions. I set up a few different items in the system. 

  • I tried to utilize an external scanner (usb) and it would not work. 

The external scanner seems to be stripping the leading character away, but when I scan the item in notepad and/or in Clover, the leading digit is there. 

  • When I used the internal camera, the program worked just fine.

Solution:

CSI Works support: Is it possible that your external scanner is not purchased from Clover?

Merchant: I-is it that specific??

CSI Works Support: It has to be that specific. The built-in camera with a software scanner in the clover device can scan weight-embedded barcodes just fine, but a usb scanner not from clover works less like a linear camera and more like a keyboard, just outputting a string of numbers when it scans. Make sure to use a Clover barcode scanner for weight-embedded barcodes because other barcode scanners will not work. Fixed-price items work fine sometimes with non-clover scanners because you can enter their codes and serial numbers by keyboard, while the clover scanner will scan half the barcode to get the item code and then the other half of the barcode to get the weight or price.

Clover sells two scanners, one that is on a wire and you scan things with it; the other one is stationary so you can scan against it.

 

Merchant: So you’re telling me the built-in camera, which is a Clover-developed app, works just fine.

 

CSI Works support: So your external scanner is not from Clover?

Merchant: It is, it’s a Honeywell 2D image scanner, a little bit more sophisticated.

CSI Works support: I know it’s misleading because it works on fixed-price (and therefore fixed-barcode) items, but that’s only because fixed-price items are sufficient for keyboard entry, where as us, we’re putting a bit of a logic into it: only read this part of the barcode and then only read the next part of the barcode. That function is really breaking everything up, because we’re not really dealing with a scanner, we’re dealing with a keyboard.