All sort of service-based industries is always seeking ways to improve customer experience and customer journey at their businesses or offices or customer centres. Satisfied customers mean a good brand reputation and more customer retention, which ultimately lead to steady business growth. The best way is to streamline your customer flow with a digital queue management system. In Dubai, UAE if a brand has a physical interaction with its customers and visitors, a queue management system is a must. No matter how small or how large a business is if they are interacting with customers and visitors at their premises then having a queue management system is a norm these days. The customers and visitors also expect a queue management system rather than long queues controlled by the staff manually. The queue management systems are built for certain scenarios as well as general-purpose, and the technology used to build the queuing systems is also widely available, which leads to too many innovations and types of the queue management system. This sometimes makes it difficult for some businesses to select the most efficient queue management system that can fulfil their needs.
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That is the reason we decided to write about it. This blog is a definitive guide to queue management systems. Here are some different types of the queue management system:
Linear Queuing
Linear queuing or linear queue management system is the most basic type of customer flow management. It is a first come first serve type of queuing. And is considered to be the oldest and most commonly used method to handle the queues. It consists of a single line and a single server. Although the server could be more too and the lines could be in parallel. Usually, this kind of queuing is used to maximize the throughput of the customer service centre. The Firs-In-First-Out or FIFO approach is the best for small delivery time-based services or quicker services. Mostly small service centres with fewer customers utilize linear queuing to maximize the efficiency of the system and the infrastructure.
Linear queuing is the most basic type of queue management systems and it also requires fewer system components and less sophistication. Multiple lines can be segregated on the basis of their required service, the queue management system enables the customer to choose the service they want to avail. Most of the time in case linear queuing when implemented in a scenario where there are multiple services available, then multiple parallel lines can be created and the customers and visitors can be segregated on the basis of service they want to avail. For example, all the customers who availed service with the higher service delivery time should be put in the queue against a particular counter.
See More: What is Linear Queuing Queue Management System?
Non-linear Queuing
Mostly the service-based industries are relying on non-linear queuing. Usually when you have more than 4 counters and/or multiple services to serve then the non-linear queuing is proven to be much better than linear queuing. In non-linear queuing, for example; there are two counters for Service A and four counters for Service B. Service A requires around 10 minutes and service B requires around 20 minutes for single service delivery. The queue management system automatically directs the customers to their required service counter regardless of their time of arrival if their required counter is vacant they will be directed to that counter without any delay. This is how non-linear queuing works, there are certain variables and conditions that may apply to the customers to determine where would they get the service from and how long will it took them to get the service delivered.
All types of queuing come under the umbrella of non-linear queuing in which the first-come-first-serve rule is not followed. For example, the exclusive counters for VIP or Premium customers are also examples of non-linear queuing. Another very common example is the telecom customer support and service centres, which usually offers a variety of services, and almost all counters can provide all sort of services too. Yet some of the services are addressed quicker than the others, it depends upon the company policy, for example, we can say that the company want to prioritize new leads and prospects who choose to purchase a new plan or service and so on. These types of queuing are all non-linear queuing.
See More: Features of an efficient Queue Management System
Multi-Counter Queuing
Multi-counter queuing is a little bit complex than other linear and non-linear customer flow management. In multi-counter queuing a customer will have to reach multiple or more than one counters to get a complete service delivered. In multi-counter queuing multiple queues has to be managed in parallel to ensure a shorter wait time. For example visa &immigration services or a clinic or bank or anything, there are so many different applications of multi-counter queuing. In multi-counter queuing the customer signup for a queue and gets a ticket number, once their turn came they arrive at the first counter, where most data entry is done, or the service is initiated. Then they have been either given a new ticket number or the same will be reutilized for the next stop. The customer can be guided to the next counter with the help of different signage and direction pointers. Then the customer reached the second counter, the customer data and/or details can be automatically pushed to the next counter upon their arrival. This saves a lot of time and improves customer experience. Either the full service is delivered at the second counter or the customer could be directed to the next counter and so on. This is how a multi-counter queuing work.
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Mobile Queuing
Mobile Queuing is aimed to improve the customer experience and customer journey by reducing wait time, preventing crowd formation in the waiting area, facilities to locate and reach the least busy branch, schedule a visit, customer feedback collection and contactless queuing experience. There is a lot more and the business and organizations can significantly improve customer satisfaction using a mobile application based queue management system. The customer journey can be improved by providing simple and basic features such as a branch locator, this feature helps the customers to locate the branches near them, the customer can also view the real-time stats of each branch and an estimated time of service delivery can also be provided. This way the customer can easily decide which branch they should go to to get the quickest service delivery.
This not only reduces the wait time but also helps to improve the customer journey as well. The customer can sign-up using their queue management system mobile application. The queue management system can also send push notifications, SMS and other alerts to inform the customer about their turn. This is a great queue management system feature that can help business to improve their customer journey. And it also enables the business and organizations to collect customer feedback via the same smartphone application, which can be later utilized to further improve the customer journey and customer experience.
See More: Benefits of Virtual Queue Management System
Virtual Queuing
Virtual Queuing is a queue management system that has the ability to allow the customers to sign-up for the queue without even being physically present in the queue. It not only enables a virtual sign-up but also provides the freedom of waiting anywhere even outside of the premises of the branch. Still, they can be served on their turn. Virtual queuing significantly improve the customer journey and customer experience. It also helps to reduce the workload of the staff and the management and there are very few chances of a crowd formation at the branch. These are the features that make it superior to other queue management system types. The customer can perform the tasks and monitor the queue progress on their smartphones or via a web portal or via SMS. The customer signup can be done via email, SMS, call, Smartphone Application or Online Portal/Website. The virtual queuing also reduce the workload of the staff which results in improved employee efficiency.
The virtual queue management systems support a lot of different methods to signup remotely. The most common methods are smartphone application and QR Code scan. The customer can log in to their smartphone application and then signup for the queue, or the customers can reach a branch and scan a QR Code which let them signup for the queue as well as also helps them getting access to the real-time live queue updates and status. Various types of notifications can be configured for the announcements and/or as a reminder for their turn. Virtual queuing can significantly reduce the wait time and automation also limits the resources required for customer flow management, which can save a lot of expenses. The system commissioning is fairly simpler and the ROI is excellent.
See More: 5 Features of Queue Management System
Online Appointment
The online appointment booking system is very common in the healthcare sectors. A lot many other industries are also utilizing the online appointment booking system. A queue management system can either be integrated with an existing online appointment booking or management system or an appointment booking module can also be provided packaged with the queue management system. The appointment booking system can be either provided by the smartphone application or by an online web portal. Mostly both methods are used. The customer have can access the appointment booking dashboard with or without logging in to the customer portal, or smartphone application or even via the website as well. The customer can choose a particular day and time of their choice, the system can provide them with the expected service delivery time, or the number of active queues at that particular time. A lot many other features can be provided too to further improve the customer experience.
The online appointment booking with queue management system not only helps reducing customer wait time and the service delivery time but it also reduces the workload of the staff and provides them with better control over the number of customer or visitors at any given point of time. The online appointment booking system also helps organizations to collect valuable data and other system stats even customer feedback too. This data is very helpful for business to take vital decisions and build up future strategies.
See More: Paperless Queue Management System – Dubai, UAE
Conclusion
These days not only in Dubai, UAE but all around the world, businesses are very concerned about their customer experience and customer journey. Especially in the competitive landscape, a proper queue management system can be a game-changer. The queue management system not only helps businesses in improving their customer experience and customer journey but also provides a vital business insight that can be utilized while making strategic decisions. Improved customer journey and customer experience results in better customer retention and increased sales. This ensures steady growth for the business. However, there are so many different types of queue management system and it is extremely important to understand which type is suitable for what kind of scenarios. Only a suitable queue management system can provide maximum efficiency and desired results.
There are basically two major classifications of the queue management systems, one is linear and the other is non-linear, the linear is first-come-first-served and all other types of the queue management system are considered to be non-linear. There are other types too which are based on the basis of service itself, whether the service requires a single counter, or multiple counters and so on. No matter whatever the scenario is a queue management system can be very helpful. We always suggest acquiring the services of a professional queue management system provider in Dubai, UAE such as RSI Concepts. We at RSI Concepts have helped hundreds of customers to achieve their business goals and objectives. Feel free to reach us out through our Contact Us page.
Check this out: Complete guide to Queue Management Systems in Dubai, UAE