I have a system that generates a 24ch alpha-numeric string as a tracking number. An example looks like this - 189824000163150 1AKL003HS.

This is great for what it does (there is information embedded in that string that tells me stuff that I need to know).

However, when a customer tries to use an IVR or web site to self service (a tracking enquiry) the number is way too long and prone to error when being entered via DTMF,...