Database-wide unique-yet-simple identifiers in SQL Server

Question

First, I\'m aware of this question, and the suggestion (using GUID) doesn\'t apply in my situation.

I want simple UIDs so that my users can easily communicate this i

Answer 1

I had a similar situation with a project.

My solution: By default, users only see the first 7 characters of the GUID.

It's sufficiently random that collisions are extremely unlikely (1 in 268 million), and it's efficient for speaking and typing.

Internally, of course, I'm using the entire GUID.