Have you ever noticed just how common QR codes are?

They are everywhere - from helping you vote for your favourite dancer on this week's Strictly Come Dancing to loading a video of how to put up your new roller blind or even booking your Taylor Swift concert tickets.

In fact they are so visible we've almost become blind as to just how common they are.

But how much do you actually know about the lovable QR code?

For instance, QR stands for Quick Response code and they are a two dimensional barcode that encodes data such as URLs, text, or contact information, meaning one simple scan using the camera on your smartphone and off you go.....to a web site, a document or addresses. No lengthy web addresses to remember, just a quick camera scan and an instant response, brilliant.

The pattern on each QR code is unique which is how the specific destination you will be taken to is encoded into the pattern with nothing obvious as to exactly what that destination will be.

Are they safe I hear you muttering?

Yes, in that simply scanning the pattern cannot damage your phone or cause a nice person in Africa to empty your bank account.

No, if you blindly click or tap the link loaded on your camera screen without being sure of the originator of the code. Ultimately, a dodgy website is still a dodgy website no mater how you arrived at it.

So, keep your whits about you and don't get snap happy on every QR code you see plastered on the wall of your local pub.

They are without doubt, an extraordinarily useful and convenient invention for many every day situations where your time is limited and scope for typing incorrect information is high.

We use them throughout the pro-Forms system for exactly those two reasons.

In our Online Forms plan they are one of the methods our customers can use to make a business form available to many people, very quickly and very cheaply. The form is company branded to help with validating the originator of the QR code for the person opening the form.

We also use them in our ENTERPRISE MANAGER asset management solution to help field workers quickly identify an asset they are working on rather then risk incorrectly entering a serial number or other identifier.

So in summary, QR codes are a great invention and hugely convenient - just be aware before you tap on a link returned from a scan just who created the code in the first place.

Tell me what you think to QR codes and what is the most quirky or unusual use you've come across : comment@pro-forms.co.uk

Jon, Co-founder & Director

Tel : 0330 1242 160

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