QR codes (and their old-school buddies, barcodes) have seen a recent surge in use, with a lot of creative applications being developed.  DALLAS PRINTING recently printed 100,000 certificates with QR codes, which will be shipped along with the product so that customers can use their smart phones with the QR codes to directly register their product.  We also just printed a large number of laminated vinyl barcode labels for an inventory management project.  Each label had 6-8 unique barcodes and corresponding human readable verbiage, ready to install on vertical racks.

Our daughter graduated from college this last weekend with two degrees.  Her commencement ceremony at the University of North Texas was extraordinarily well organized and efficient, thanks to a creative and highly effective application of QR codes.  Approximately 400 graduates were individually recognized in just 30 minutes – personally by the college dean, visually on the coliseum jumbotron (live video feed along with name, degree(s), and honors), and auditorily with their name professionally spoken through the sound system.  If you’ve ever sat through an interminably long, disorganized graduation ceremony, you probably want to know:  How did they do it?  Each degree candidate had the opportunity to provide a verbal recording of the correct pronunciation of his or her name in advance.  That audio file was used to create a professional voice recording of the candidate’s name, which was linked to a graphics file created with the candidate’s full name, degree(s), and honors. 

When the graduates were lined up prior to the processional into the ceremony, they were each given a card with a QR code (which linked to the audio file of their name and the graphics file of their name/degree(s)/honors).  After the processional, national anthem, and obligatory remarks and speeches, it was time for the conferral of degrees.  Graduates from each department came up together and provided their cards as they came on the stage.  The QR codes on the cards were scanned, which pulled up the corresponding audio and graphics files, which then went into a queue.  When it was time for each individual to be recognized, their audio and graphics files were released from queue, which resulted in their name being professionally announced as their name, degrees, and honors were displayed on the jumbotron along with a live video feed of the dean shaking their hand and congratulating them on their achievements.  As soon as the process was completed, it was immediately repeated for the next graduate.  Each candidate got their appropriate recognition in a smooth, unrushed process. No disorganization, no dead time between candidates, no bungled name pronunciations, no bored family and friends – just a silky smooth, highly efficient process.  Kudos to the University of North Texas for their accomplishment in implementing an innovative and very efficient use of QR codes!

If you need printed QR codes or barcodes for your business, Dallas Printing can help!  Contact one of our friendly, helpful experts for assistance.