How to Set Up SMS based Queue Management System?

A queue management system (QMS) is used to minimize the customer wait time and to enhance customer experience at your business. No one likes waiting, customers hate waiting in long queues or sitting in crowded waiting areas, most of the customers are willing to abandon their purchase if they had to wait for a long time. In fact businesses have witnessing a higher rate of customers who have been leaving without getting the service due to long wait time. Long wait time will repel your customers and divert them to a more efficient competitor. It is extremely important that a business take serious steps to reduce the customer wait time. The customer wait time have huge impact on customer experience and customer happiness. The very first thing that can impact your customers is the waiting time, rest of everything comes later, so if you have failed them or couldn’t meet their expectation at the very first stage of the customer journey, the chances are you will end up with an unhappy customer.

Here in Dubai and all around the UAE customers always have too many options, it is extremely crucial for a business to satisfy its customers, else they will switch instantly. The traditional queue management systems are used by most of the businesses since many years now, but things have changed now, now a days the customer are less tolerant to the waiting than ever before. This gives the rise to the virtual queuing methods, SMS enabled queue management system is also a kind of virtual queuing. Here is how a business can setup SMS enabled queue management system:

What is SMS Based Queue Management System?

The SMS based queue management system is almost similar to a conventional queuing system the only difference is that it have virtual queues and it also support virtual sign-ups or remote sign-ups for those queues. The SMS enabled queue management system allows the customers and visitors to sign-up using any remote channel, such as SMS, Email, Phone Call, Online/Web, and also traditional sign-up methods such as a touch screen interactive kiosks or a ticket dispensing terminal. Whatever the method the customer use to sign-up for the queues, the business can provide them with the updates, queuing information and their status via SMS. The queue management system can communicate with the customers via automated pre-defined text messages or an agent/server can also send personalized messages to communicate with the customers.

The SMS enabled queue management system is slightly different than the ordinary QMS as it has additional SMS gateway integration and it also have additional features for the agent dashboard. The SMS gateway is basically a technology that allows a computer to send and receive SMS text messages to and from the regular telecommunication networks. The SMS gateway is integrated with the queue management system using the APIs. The APIs enable the SMS gateway and the queue management system to utilize each other’s features and technology. The queue management system can send SMS through the SMS gateway and the SMS gateway return the delivery report or status and vice versa. The queue management system can also conduct customer surveys to collect customer feedback and suggestions which is also a great source of business intelligence.

In UAE businesses can easily acquire SMS gateways along with their unique sender ID. The sender ID will be the name of the sender that will appear in the phones of the recipient. Usually businesses use their brand name as the sender ID. The SMS that are sent using a branded sender ID have higher open rates. When the customers receive and SMS from their favorite brand with the brand name as sender ID it also build a sense of trust and credibility. The biggest advantage of SMS enabled queue management system is that it offers freedom of waiting anywhere, the customers are no longer required to be physically present to sign-up or to be in the queue. They can sign-up from anywhere they want and they can get regular updates with estimated time to their turn and other queuing information which allow them to arrive only when their ticket is called so they could serve instantly without waiting at all.

What are the Advantages of SMS Based Queue Management System?

The queue management systems are being used by business and organizations in Dubai and all around the UAE, more and more businesses are adopting the technology to transform their customer journey and to obtain higher customer satisfactions. The SMS text messages is a great tool for a queue management system, it provide greater flexibility and convenience to the customers as well as to the business itself. The customer service agents can communicate easily via SMS with their customers and the queue management system can provide instant updates, notifications, alerts and information to the customers by automated SMS text messages. Here are some key advantages of a SMS based queue management systems:

Simple and Easy Virtual Queuing Experience

The virtual queuing is gaining popularity especially since the mid 2020 businesses have started embracing the technology. The virtual queuing allows the businesses to manage the queues virtually and it also enable them to offer customers with additional facilities such as remote sing-up process and waiting in virtual queues which can significantly reduce the wait time. The SMS based queue management system can further take the convenience to the next step by offering the customers a facility to sign-up through SMS text messages. The virtual queue management system can also offer other remote or contactless sign-up methods too. The SMS enabled queuing is the simplest and most convenient form of queue management and it can enhance the customer experience as well as it can help business to manage the customer flow and queues with more flexibility and control.

Reduce Queues

The SMS based queue management system’s biggest advantage is that it can significantly reduce the queues and prevent crowd formation at the waiting areas and lobbies. As the customers and visitors are sign-up using SMS or any other remote sign-up process which doesn’t require them to be physically present in the business premises, hence the number of people who are present in the premises is always low. On top of that the queue management system is providing all the updates and notifications/alerts through SMS text messages along with the estimated time to their turn so most of the customers and visitors prefer to arrive only closer to their expected calling time. This also prevents crowd formation and reduce the size of the actual physical queues. Which reduces wait time and also reduce the workload of the staff and help improving their performance.

Improve Customer Satisfaction

The customer satisfaction is impacted most by the waiting time and long queues. With a SMS based queue management system both can be minimized. In fact the remote sign-up facility and continuous communication via SMS the customer wait time can be reduced to literally nothing. The customers will get alerts and notification along with the information about their estimated time to turn. Before customer calling the queue management system send them multiple alerts on different time intervals to make sure the customer wouldn’t miss it and it also provide them enough space to manage to reach the business in time. The physical queues also reduce the customer hustle and make the customer journey smoother and quicker. Thus the customer don’t have complaints and don’t face any trouble during their visit. This boost customer satisfaction. As the customers don’t have to wait much so they arrive at the counter with fresh mind and are tend to be more cooperative with the agents/server. The staff is also having no difficulties in managing the queues and customer flow so they are more focused on their primary tasks and can easily deliver an excellent customer experience. This also boost customer satisfaction.

Boost Staff Efficiency and Staff Satisfaction

With manual queuing the major problem each business faces is the overburdened staff. In fact with digital queue management systems the employees could sometime get overburdened, especially during the busy hours of the day when a crowed forms in the waiting areas and the lobbies the staff will also have to divert their attentions and efforts to manage the crowed and to keep everything in order. However, with an SMS enabled queue management system the business have full control over the number of customers and visitors they will allow to enter into the premises. On top of that the customers and visitors also prefer to arrive only when their turn is near or when their number is called which also prevent crowed formation or rush in the waiting areas. When the employee work under a balanced workload their efficiency and quality of service automatically get improved and the employee feel more satisfied and comfortable.

Improve Communication and Customer Engagements

The SMS based queue management system enables a direct communication channel between the customers/visitors and the staff. The staff can send them personalized messages through their agent dashboard interface and they staff can also receive their responses/replies in the same dashboard. In case if any change happens, the agent can immediately update the customers and visitors. The customers and visitors can also ask instant questions to the agents as well. This improves the customers experience and keep them connected and engaged with the business. The studies have shown that by increasing customer engagement and improving communication the business can reduce the customer churn rate by up to 25%. That is very significant and huge. Moreover the businesses can also utilize the SMS to collect customer feedback and suggestion which provide them a deeper insight of customer behavior, their needs and expectation. Business can conduct direct surveys to measure net promoter score or customer satisfaction rate and other relevant matrices.

How to Deploy SMS based Queue Management System?

The deployment of SMS based queue management system is not different than any other ordinary queuing solution. If a business doesn’t have any prior queue management system they can deploy a complete set up. Like any other queuing system the SMS based queue management system also comes with a server application, sign-up interface, agent dashboard and some hardware devices such as ticket dispensing touch screen kiosk, digital signage and counter displays. All these components are deployed as per the size and needs of the business. If a business already have a queue management system, then it can be upgraded. Mostly only the software upgrade would be enough as the rest of the hardware can be repurposed to be part of the new SMS based queue management system.

Integration with SMS Gateway

The SMS gateway is provided by the telecommunication companies and also by some third-party service providers. The business will have to acquire a SMS gateway which will be integrated with their SMS based queue management systems.

Integration with Third-Party Systems

The third-party system integration is done by APIs and secure web services. The third-party integration allows the SMS based queue management system to communicate and synchronize data with third-party business tools and systems, such as ERP, Customer Database, Sales System, CLM Tool, etc.

Hardware Deployment

The SMS based queue management system requires standard hardware components such as interactive ticket dispensing kiosk, digital signage screens and the counter plates. A multi-lingual audio-visual announcement system is also required for customer calling. No additional hardware is required.

QMS Server Deployment

The SMS based queue management system also have a server application which is being deployed at an online hosting, or a cloud or it can also be deployed at in-premises data centers. The server perform all the logics and processes and enables the customer, agent and administrative interfaces.

Conclusion

Business and organizations in Dubai and all around the UAE are using various types of queue management systems to streamline their customer flow and to improve customer satisfaction and customer experience. The main objective of a queue management system is to improve customer journey and customer experience. Along with that a queue management system also boost productivity, operational capabilities, staff efficiency and profitability of a business by enabling their staff to deliver quality service to more customers in a single shift and by reducing the per service delivery cost. The enhanced customer experience ensures the customer satisfaction and improve customer loyalty which improves brand reputation and result in good conversion rates. An SMS based queue management system is many time more efficient on achieving all those objectives. It can literally eliminate the need of waiting inside the business premises and it can significantly boost the employee performance. Altogether these factors contributes to an ultimate customer experience and enable business to obtain higher customer satisfaction rates.

Higher customer satisfaction lead to higher customer loyalty and lower customer churn rate, which boost productivity and profitability. The customer feedback collection, statistical and analytical reports, KPIs, and other business intelligence data enables the business to make informed decisions and improve their future strategy. In long term a SMS based queue management system could be a great tool to sustain steady growth and higher profitability with a loyal customer base. RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system provider in Dubai, UAE. If you need an SMS based queue management system or if you want to learn more about it, feel free to reach us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this blog: What Is Virtual Queuing? A Guide to Virtual Queues