You can absolutely scan a barcode from the first screen of the start up wizard on the MC93 running 8.1 that will take you directly into StageNow. There is no need to manually input any wireless information. The process should be, from out of box, on a completely unconfigured device:

1) Scan SUW bypass barcode at the Welcome Screen

2) Scan StageNow barcode into StageNow, applying Wifi, downloading AE agent, setting it as DO, and launching the agent

3) Scan a QR code containing the Enrollment ID

3-4 barcode scans (depending on complexity of the WiFi) gets the device enrolled without any end user intervention or taps. It's faster than QR, DPC, and ZTE methods. 

In the future you should be able to even combine the first two barcode scans together, but the devices will need to be on a newer OS and MX version:

Thanks for the reply Matt. So, StageNow is already running the background when the Welcome Screen comes up after a factory reset.  When I create and attempt to use a wifi bar code at the Welcome screen, I get the scan to beep, but wifi never configures.  I have a pretty simple WPA2 with PSK barcode, so not sure what I am missing here.  I have tested the barcode with StageNow running and it works.  Also, what do you mean by " 2) Scan StageNow barcode into StageNow"  thanks

From the Welcome screen of the SUW you need to first scan the bypass barcode in order to launch StageNow. The bypass barcode should be in the top right corner of your StageNow barcode sheet. If it is not then you need to update your version of StageNow. That will launch StageNow automatically which will let you scan the barcode that you've generated containing WiFi.You're going to want to include the AE agent download, install, and DO permission granting in that barcode too otherwise you're not going to end up with an AEDO managed MC93. 

Once the devices are running a minimum MX version in the future (most likely when they start shipping with Pie) you'll be able to combine the bypass barcode logic with the rest of the StageNow logic. 

Matt, thanks for the past info.  I am certainly making progress now thanks to your suggestions.  I have been able to get the wifi setup working with the StageNow bar code (just didn't understand what the StageNow bar code in the top right was for...)  At this point I have config mostly working.  I think my only remaining issue is Mobi device policies are not applying now. I installed the AE agent and the mobi agent is installed.  Mobi shows as Work Managed.  I think I may be missing the DO permissions, not sure how/where that is added.  Any thoughts?

Hello Matt, I have been able to get my MC9300s configured using StageNow with one exception.   I haven't been able to find any mention of how to get a fully Managed Device under DO with the afw#mobicontrol hashtag configured during the StageNow setup. Do you have any insight into this?  I see general references to doing it but nothing related to automating it with StageNow.  Once again, your expertise is greatly appreciated!

There is a built in MDM enrollment option in StageNow that you can combine with WiFi config under Xpert mode. You point to the AE agent hosted on SOTI's website so that it can be pulled down and installed and set as DO. 

Hello Matt, 

Hopefully this will be my last question for this setup.  You mentioned on your last reply that the AE agent hosted on SOTI's website can be downloaded and set as DO.  What is the path needed for the soti AE agent?  I have been using... (https://docs.soti.net/mobicontrolagentdownloads/GoogleMobiControl1400_1579.apk).  What is the process for setting the AE agent as DO once downloaded?  Thanks again for your help.

Use the MDM Enrollment wizard in StageNow and it will do it for you. 

Matt,

Thanks for the patience with me.   I am struggling trying to find the JSON setting piece.  I thought I would just need to add the afw#mobicontrol as the json string, but that doesn't seem to have worked to get the DO piece configured.  I am using the Xpert MDM Enrollment wizard in StageNow and I had thought it was simply going to be adding the afw#mobicontrol line into the wizard.  

afw#mobicontrol is a DPC identifier that is only ever used via the Google Setup Wizard (SUW) at the account prompt as an alternative to other Google provided methods for AEDO enrollment like QR, NFC, and ZTE. That method is not ideal because it requires you to manually connect to a network first, requires manually inputting that text, and then downloads whatever the latest AE agent for MobiControl from Google Play, without giving you the ability to add any DPC extras. The StageNow method for AEDO enrollment is arguably the best around because the entire process can be reduced to 2-3 barcode scans with minimal to no user intervention versus all of the methods which require numerous taps or special hardware (eg. NFC Beam support or a physical tag, camera for QR). 

Matt,

Thanks for the detailed explanation.  I get it now. I have been able to successfully get it working using the StageNow method you described.  Now if only Honeywell had an option like StageNow my life would be much better.

Hello

With Zero-touch you may setup Zebra, Honeywell, Datalogic, etc, etc  with only 1 barcode read in the welcome screen, including WiFi configuration, Mobicontrol agent and enrollment ID.