Every unit in TagRite has one address. An operator opens that address on their phone and the right checklist appears. How they open it is up to you: tap an NFC tag, or scan a printed QR code. Both land in the same place and produce the same record.
The short answer
Start with QR. It costs a sheet of labels, works on every phone in the building, and you can put it on a unit in the time it takes to peel a sticker. Move to NFC where a tap is faster than lining up a camera, or where a printed code gets too dirty to read.
Nothing stops you running both on the same unit. The tag and the sticker carry the same address.
QR codes
What it costs. Label stock and a printer. TagRite generates the code for each unit; you print it and stick it on.
What it needs. Any phone with a camera, made in roughly the last eight years. No app. Point the camera at the code and a link appears.
Where it wins. Mixed fleets of phones, including older and cheaper handsets. Cold storage, where a glove comes off to tap but a camera works from a distance. Anywhere you need a spare that can be reprinted in seconds if a label gets torn off.
Where it struggles. Grease, dust and sun. A code caked in hydraulic fluid will not scan. Low light needs the phone's torch. Lining up the camera one-handed while holding a clipboard is more awkward than it sounds.
Print it properly. At least 1.5 inches square, on a laminated or polyester label rather than paper, somewhere that does not get scrubbed, and not on a curved surface tighter than a fist.
NFC tags
What it costs. A few cents to a couple of dollars per tag, depending on how rugged. On-metal tags cost more and are not optional — an ordinary sticker tag will not read reliably on a steel mast.
What it needs. A phone with NFC, and the tag has to be written once with that unit's address before anyone can use it.
Where it wins. Speed and reliability in bad conditions. A tap reads through a layer of grime and in the dark, works with the phone held at any angle, and takes no aiming at all. Over a shift of forty checks the difference adds up.
Where it struggles. Older phones. NFC has to be switched on. And metal detunes the antenna, which is why the on-metal version exists.
Writing the tags
This is the part people do not expect, so it is worth being plain about it.
On an Android phone, TagRite writes the tag for you. Open the unit in the fleet list, tap Write tag, and hold a blank tag to the back of the phone. This uses Web NFC, which works in Chrome on Android and nowhere else.
On an iPhone, no web page can write an NFC tag — Apple does not expose that to browsers. Use a free app such as NFC Tools: choose Write, add a URL record, and paste the unit's address, which TagRite shows you next to the QR code. It takes about twenty seconds per tag.
Reading is the easy half. An iPhone XS or newer reads an NFC tag with no app installed at all — hold it near the top of the phone and the link appears. So the writing problem is a one-time setup job, not something your crew lives with. One Android phone in the building, or one afternoon with a free app, and you are done.
Choosing, in one table
| QR code | NFC tag | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per unit | Pennies | Cents to a few dollars |
| Setup per unit | Print and stick | Write, then stick |
| Works on older phones | Yes | Needs NFC |
| Works when filthy | No | Yes |
| Works in the dark | With the torch | Yes |
| Works with gloves on | Yes | Yes |
| Speed to open | A few seconds | Immediate |
| Replaceable on the spot | Yes, reprint it | Needs a blank tag |
| Survives a pressure wash | Depends on the label | Yes, sealed tags |
What we would do
Print QR codes for everything on day one so the whole fleet is live by the end of the shift. Then order on-metal NFC tags for the units that get checked most, or that live somewhere filthy, and add them over the following weeks. The record is identical either way, so switching a unit from one to the other changes nothing about its history.
Not sure which suits your floor? Email support@textrack.us and tell us what you run and where it lives. We will tell you honestly if QR is enough.