What are advance components of Queue Management System?

Before we discuss what are the advanced components of a queue management system? Let me first explain why a queue management system is so vital for your business! The main objective of a queue management system is to let businesses streamline the customer flow to improve customer experience and to be able to serve more customers per day by each server/agent. It helps effectively managing the customer flow and queues which results in a reduction in wait time and ensures quicker service delivery. Any digital queuing solution would be very helpful for the staff and the servers/agents in improving their work efficiency as well. As the queues and the customer, flow is automatically managed by the queue management system so the servers/agents can easily focus on their prime tasks which will not only reduce the service delivery time but will also significantly improve the service quality and customer journey.

The customer journey can be automated entirely and the queue management system is also helpful in expediting the service delivery process. This helps businesses in building better relationships with their customers and visitors and it portrays a positive image of the brand as well. The positive brand reputation attracts more customers and visitors and it also helps improving conversion rates of all sorts of marketing efforts. However, there are so many different types of queue management systems advertised in the market especially in Dubai, UAE. This raises the question of which queue management system you should choose. The simple answer is to first understand the queue management system and its components then decide for yourself which solution would work for you.

There are so many advanced components of queue management systems available in the market. You should be able to choose according to your needs. That is why we are writing this blog to let our audience and customers easily understand the latest advancements in queue management systems.

How does a Queue Management System work?

A queue management system is a combination of software and hardware tools designed to help businesses effectively managing the customer flow. Its primary objectives include customer experience and customer journey, automated customer flow management, improved employee work efficiency, improved service delivery, and service quality, higher productivity, and profitability for the business. The working of a queue management system is very simple. The customers and visitors start with a signing up process, which is usually selecting the required service from an interactive touch screen kiosk and then printing their tickets for the queue. Then they are directed to the waiting room, where they can monitor the queuing status on digital screens and they are also notified by the audio announcements. Once their turn comes they can visit the designated counter/server to avail the service and that is it. Sometimes businesses also provide an option to submit feedback before leaving the premises.

Any queue management system consists of two major parts, software, and hardware. The software has its own list of modules and components, the hardware also has the same list. As the technology used to make the queue management systems is very widely available so the peripherals and accessories are also widely available. There is literally no limit to innovation in this market. Since around a decade ago so many big multinational manufacturers invested in the industry, then there has been millions upon millions of dollars had been invested only in R&D. This makes the industry very modern and innovative. However in Dubai and other parts of UAE, a certain market behavior or culture is established, so we will going to talk about only the popular components of the queue management system in our country and also in the gulf region.

Here are the advanced components of the queue management system:

What is a Queue Management System Software?

A Queue Management System Software is basically a server-side application that runs on the server and provides a different interface to interact with the system. In Dubai and other emirates of UAE, the most common type is the web-based interfaces for the agents/server and for the administration. For the visitors and customers usually, a touch screen interactive kiosk is used. However, these days other interfaces or methods are also used to interact with the customers and visitors.

Here are the details of some most popular advanced software component:

Customer/Visitor Interface via Self Service Interactive Kiosk

The customers and visitors can interact with the queue management system using an interactive touch screen self-service kiosk. The interface allows the customers to select the required service from the list of all available services and then automatically sign them up for the queue. The kiosk also prints a ticket bearing the queue number and some other basic information.

Queuing Information and Announcements

The digital screens and signage are used to display the current queuing information. These signage and displays are placed in strategic locations where everyone in the waiting area can view them. In Dubai and UAE mostly the information of the current tickets under process on each counter is displayed along with the next ticket number and estimated time along with some other information such as an advert or multimedia content is played to keep the customers and visitors engaged.

Agents/Servers Interface

The agent/server’s interface is mostly a web-based application that can be easily accessed from the computer browser. The agents can perform basic tasks such as customer calls, canceling or updating a ticket number or rerouting any ticket to a different counter, etc.

In some advanced configurations, much more can be done by integrating the queue management system with various other enterprise software and tools. This not only saves a lot of work for the agent/server but also expedites the service delivery process. The lower time for each service delivery results in happy customers and improved efficiency of the staff.

Administrative Dashboard or Control Panel

The administrative dashboard or control panel is the interface for the management, such as branch managers, supervisors, and/or head office management. The management can not only manage various processes but it can also extract valuable business intelligence in the form of statistical data, KPIs, system usage data, customer/visitor feedback, and customized reports in different formats. Regular automated reports can also be configured such as daily reports, weekly and/or monthly along with performance reports for the branch, particular service, agents, and so on. It entirely depends upon the business itself.

The administrative dashboard also allows the management to customize the customer journey, set and create policies, manage other system users and allow access by creating workflows and administrative hierarchies. All the branches can be monitored and controlled through the head office remotely. The head office can extract the data and prepare the reports from any branch. All the data is being updated in real-time, the live stats and monitoring are also available in some modern systems.

Virtual Queuing Module

Virtual Queuing is one of the modern forms of queue management systems. It enables the businesses to let their customer and visitors sign up for the queue before even physically arriving at the branch. The concept is that the customer and visitors can sign up for the queue remotely and then at the very exact time when their turn came they can arrive and get served immediately without even waiting in an actual queue. The system signs them up for a virtual queue and they can either plan their visit accordingly to reach at their estimated turn time or either they can wait outside. Very effective when your branch or office is located in a commercial area or near to recreational activities. It also helps to maintain social distancing. The customers and visitors can easily sign up using their smartphone applications, SMS, email, phone call, online customer portals, websites, etc.

Social Distancing Enabled Queue Management System

As we all know these days the social distancing, health and hygiene is the top concern of everyone, and social distancing is mandatory. Businesses are allocating more recourses to ensure social distancing and implementation of the government-suggested precautions. A queue management system with social distancing mode enabled could be a great help to strictly implementing the social distancing rules and it also helps to avoid the extra expense of allocation of additional resources just to maintain social distancing. The social distancing mode supports various different types of virtual queuing sign-up methods. The most popular method in Dubai and all across the UAE is signing up with a QR Code, which is usually posted outside of the entrance.

Queue Management System Integration

Modern-day Queue Management Systems also allow integration with other enterprise solutions and systems as well. The main objective is to make the queue management system more useful but integrating it with other databases and information centers. This also allows more superior customized features and a lot of other benefits including centralized management as well. The KPIs, stats, and reporting data can be linked to other systems, such as ERP or Intranet, or any other enterprise tool. The integration is very simple via secure web services or APIs. The queue system can also fetch data from any other system via APIs. For example, in order to identify the premium or VIP customers the business can set up an Emirates ID card scanner to identify the priority customers to route them to their designated counters and more such things.

Read More: What is Queue Management System?

Queue Management System Hardware

The queue management system hardware includes all the related hardware to support software functionalities. In Dubai and other parts of UAE, in fact, in the entire MENA region, the practice is to use some standard components. For example, the self-service interactive kiosk is used for sign-up. The digital signage and the screens are used to display queuing information along with media and content. The counter plates are used to mark the counters and the audio announcement system is for the customer call.

Here are the details of some most popular hardware component:

Interactive Kiosk or Ticket Dispensing Machine

An interactive kiosk or ticket dispensing machine is a very basic component, however, these days the touch screen interfaces are used to improve service delivery as well. For example, if you are a priority customer, or a premium customer, or just an ordinary customer or visitor, you can either scan your Emirates ID or any other mode to identify yourself to the system then the system automatically puts you on your respective queue. Furthermore, the Interactive Kiosk or Ticket Dispensing machines are also used to display the list of all the services along with a few other options which are designed to help to improve the customer flow and customer journey.

Digital Signage and Display Screens

Digital signage is traditionally used to display the queuing information and feeds. The information contains mainly the list of all the active queues and the counters along with the ticket number that is currently being served. However, the advanced queue management systems also include a digital signage module that allows the management to play multimedia content on those large displays. The content could be the adverts or any video or animation which keeps the customers and visitors engaged while they are waiting. As these screens also contain the queuing information so almost everyone looks at them and the content or information playing along with that could also be very helpful in reducing the stress of waiting. This improves the customer experience as well as provides a free marketing opportunity.

Customer Feedback System

The customer feedback system is not a new thing, however, integrating it with the queue management system is fairly a new phenomenon. Businesses can benefit a lot from this. Generally, the customer feedback system includes a small tablet stand, touch screen, or a kiosk, which provides an opportunity to easily submit feedback. The software of the feedback system is linked with the queue management system and if the business is already identifying their customers, the queue management system can automatically link the feedback submitted from that particular counter by matching the ticket number and the time of service. Such feedbacks could be very helpful in making future decisions and building strategies to further enhance the customer journey and customer experience.

Advance Hardware Accessories for Queue Management System

The queue management systems are built with very widely used technologies. The server-side application can easily be customized and integrated with tons of software and hardware accessories or extensions. The client-side or the customer interaction which starts with the interactive touch screen kiosk or ticket dispensing machine is also built using native applications or web-based interface. In both cases, the actual machine is either running on Windows or Linux operating system. In Dubai and UAE, almost 99% of the time windows-based systems are used. This makes the integration fairly simpler and easier.

Here are some most commonly used hardware accessories for queue management systems:

Emirates ID Card Scanner or Reader

The Emirates ID Card is our national identity card here in UAE. As the UAE government is very supportive and adoptive towards digitalization and technologies, the Emirates ID or EID is used for identifications. The method is very simple and takes no time to identify the person. The identification information can be relayed to the queue management system server software where it can be cross-matched to the internal databases and then the same can also be pushed to the agent/server database to make the service delivery shorter and quicker. The queue management system can also detect the person’s status such as VIP or premium customer or ordinary customer and can automatically set priority for them. This method is used to improve the customer journey by directing customers to their respective dedicated counters. This is also used by HR departments to improve various service delivery steps.

Facial Detection & IRIS Scanners

Facial detection is a very great way to identify revisiting visitors and customers. Especially in customer service departments, government departments, and mass transit facilities, immigration, and airports, facial detection is widely used. It is used to identify the customers and visitors and later the same information can be utilized to facilitate a lot of many business processes to expedite the service delivery process and to set the priority according to the status of the customers and visitors. The IRIS technology is fairly new having more government applications especially in contactless immigration or digital immigration, etc. However these days the private sector is also adopting technology to improve their customers’ experience and journey.

Voice Assistant

There are two types of voice assistants widely used. The one is to improve multi-lingual support where the voice recites the predefined messages and phrases to assist the users from the process such as helping them out to identify the required service from the list. This is very popular with queue management systems and self-service kiosks. The second is the human-aided voice assistant in which an actual customer support agent assists the user in using any self-service device upon their request. This has recently been introduced to queue management systems and is only effective when the service delivery is stepped and the relevant counters are located on longer distances such as a vehicle testing facility, or a container port or depot, or such facilities.

Conclusion

The queue management system is a very great tool to improve the customer journey and customer experience. It also helps to reduce the extra cost of managing manual queues and it can significantly improve the efficiency of the server/agents as well. The customer experience is vital for building a positive brand image. A positive brand image ensures more customer retention and higher conversion rates. This is a key to steady growth and greater profitability. These days the queue management systems are going through great innovation and advancements due to technological advancements and new programming techniques. It allows the business and system providers to attain more customizations and greater productivity in all sorts of scenarios and conditions.

The basic queue management system contains only a few basic components that allow effective customer flow management. However, with some advanced software and hardware components a queue management system can literally transform the customer journey and customer experience. It could also be a great source of very accurate business intelligence and statistical data. The remote monitoring and controls also allow the head offices to easily manage and control the entire network.

RSI Concepts is one of the most experienced queue management system providers. Our products are the outcome of more than a decade-long experience and intensive research in the local market. Our diverse clientele, experienced staff, and superior technologies enable us to deliver a highly efficient and productive system with excellent ROI rates. Our customization capabilities and integration with other systems can provide you a greater competitive edge. If you are looking for a reliable, cost-effective, and customized queue management system to meet your specific needs, do reach us out through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box and we will soon get in touch with you.

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