How it works. A handheld with a built-in scanner reads a code when you press its scan button, then types the text into the app, the way a keyboard would. Capture watches for that. Fast typing that ends in Enter or Tab counts as a scan. So the one job is to tell the scanner to type. The phone camera stays there as a backup. Makers call the button the trigger, side key or scan button, and your handheld may have one on each side. Either works.
1. What you need
- The handheld, charged. It needs to be an Android handheld with a built-in scan engine that can type what it scans like a keyboard. Most can. Check your maker’s manual if you are unsure.
- A connection. Wi-Fi, or a SIM with data. You need it to pair the device and to download the event. After that, scans keep working when the connection drops and upload when it returns.
- Your pairing code. Door staff need the QR code for their door key, from the Users page of the organiser console. Sponsors need the activation email from AdmitMe, or the activation QR code from their team admin.
- A QR code to test with. Any QR code will do, even one on another phone’s screen.
2. Set the scanner to type codes
Open the scanner settings app that comes on the handheld. The name varies by maker. Look for something like Scanner, Scan settings or Barcode settings in the app list. The names of the options vary too, so match them to your maker’s manual. Set these:
- Output mode: keyboard. It may be called keyboard simulate mode, keyboard wedge or keystroke emulation. Do not choose “input box mode”, “fill the input box” or “broadcast”: Capture only hears typing. Many handhelds come set to input box mode. If the list lets you tick more than one, tick keyboard only.
- Add Enter after each code. Tab also works. Pick one of them. This is the signal that a scan has finished.
- No prefix. A prefix would be typed in front of the ticket code.
- No delay between characters. Capture ignores keys that arrive more than 60 milliseconds apart, because that is a person typing.
- QR Code: on. This is the code on AdmitMe tickets and badges. You do not need the other code types.
- Single scan, not continuous. One press, one read.
If your settings are kept per app, in a profile, make sure the profile covers Chrome and Capture.
Why it matters. Capture cannot tell a scanner from a person unless the scanner types fast and ends with Enter or Tab.
3. Test it
Open any notes app on the handheld and tap into a note, so the cursor is blinking. Point the scanner at a QR code and press the scan button. You should see:
- the text of the code appears,
- the cursor drops to the next line, which is the Enter,
- nothing extra at the start or the end of the text.
If nothing appears, check the output mode. If the text appears but the line does not end, add Enter after each code. If there are extra characters, remove the prefix or suffix. Test again until it is clean.
4. Install Capture
In Chrome, open go.admitme.io/scan. Tap the menu at the top right and choose Install app, then Install. On some devices it is called Add to home screen. Then open Capture from the home screen.
Allow the camera when Capture asks. The scan button does the scanning, but the camera is a backup if the scanner fails or a code is too damaged to read.
Why it matters. The installed app opens full screen and keeps checking tickets with no connection. Use the installed app for the rest of this guide.
5. Pair the device
Use the camera for this step. The scan button is for tickets.
Door staff. In Capture, tap Pair a device, then Scan the pairing code, and point the camera at the QR code for your door key. Your event manager gets it from the Users page of the console. If the camera will not read it, use Paste the code instead. Capture then opens your event, or the event list if the key covers several. Open your event while you have a good connection, so the handheld downloads its tickets. The show-day guide covers door keys in full.
Sponsors. Open the activation link from the AdmitMe email on the handheld, name the device, then tap Activate. The name is what your team admin sees, so use one they will recognise. Each handheld uses one of your team’s seats. If the email is on another device, show its activation QR code on that screen (or ask your team admin to show it). Then tap Pair a device in Capture and read the code with the camera. The sponsor leads guide shows where the link comes from.
6. Scanning on the day
Aim the beam at the QR code, on paper or on a phone screen. Press the scan button on the handheld, on either side. Capture beeps once it has taken the scan.
At the door. Once the scan button has read a ticket, Capture knows the device has one. The scan screen then leaves the camera off and says Press the scan button. Tap to search finds someone by name instead, and Use the camera instead starts the camera. Stop turns the camera off again. The scan checks the ticket the way a camera read does. The result card shows the name, the ticket type and the outcome. If it has a button, such as Check in or Next, tap it.
Your last few scans are listed under Scan history on the same screen. Tap one to open that ticket again.
On the lead screen. The ticket loads, without the on-screen keyboard opening. Then:
- Choose Hot, Warm or Cold.
- Add a note, such as what they want and when they will decide.
- Tap Save lead.
Save the lead before you scan the next ticket. If you have typed notes for the ticket on screen and not saved them, Capture asks before it throws them away.
Once you have used the scan button on a device, the lead screen stops starting the camera by itself. That saves battery. The camera button still works when you want it.
If the beeps are too much for your stand, tap the speaker icon in the top bar. Tap it again to turn the sound back on. Your scanner may also beep on its own. You can turn that off in its settings.
7. Look after the battery
If your handheld has a removable battery, carry a charged spare, so a long day does not need a charger at the stand. After a swap, open Capture again and check the waiting count reaches zero, so every scan has uploaded.
While the screen is on and Capture is open, each paired device reports its battery about once a minute. Organisers and supervisors can see it on the Devices screen in Capture, so they can send the spare before a device goes flat. The Devices monitor on the Lead scanning page of the console shows it for lead scanners too.
8. If something goes wrong
It beeps, but nothing happens in Capture
Your scanner may beep when it reads a code, before Capture has seen anything. Run the test in step 3 again. If the text does not appear in the notes app, the output mode is not keyboard, or a delay between characters is set. If it does appear there, then at the door, close any sheet or text box that is open in Capture and scan again.
Every code comes in twice
Continuous scanning is on. Change the scan mode to single scan, so one press makes one read.
The text has extra characters in front or behind
Remove any prefix and any suffix other than the Enter or Tab. Also turn off any option that adds the code type or an ID to the text. Then run the test in step 3 again.
The camera starts when you would rather it did not
Capture leaves the camera off once the scan button has read a ticket on that device. Until then it may still start by itself. To set it straight away, open Settings and turn on This device has a scan button. Turn it off to have the camera start by itself on the lead screen again. The camera is still there whenever you ask for it.