Queue Management System Features you Need for Modern Queuing

Queue Management System Features you Need for Modern Queuing

The customer behavior, their needs and demands and the market conditions are always changing, businesses need to be more adoptive and pro-active in order to keep themselves up-to-date and competitive. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the markets are more competitive, the customers are also very savvy, and their demands are skyrocketing. The economy is continuously growing, the competition is rising day by day, and customers have a lot of options available to them. One bad experience and your customers will leave you for good. It is extremely crucial to maintain a healthy, strong and satisfactory relationship with your customers. The customer loyalty is one of the most precious asset for a business. This is why businesses are very eager to align themselves with their customers’ needs and demands. When it comes to a queue management system, the business leaders or CX (customer experience) managers can easily get overwhelmed with the sheer number of options available in the local market.

Queue Management System Features you Need for Modern Queuing

The effectiveness and impact of a queue management system depends on the system’s features and your needs. One doesn’t always fits all, but there are some universal features that can be very beneficial for all types and sizes of the businesses in the service sector.In this blog we will explore such features that can help all types and sizes of business to greatly improve customer experience and their queuing process.

What is Modern Queuing?

The queuing has come long way, traditionally the clipboard and pen based queuing was the way to manage the large footfall and crowded waiting areas. Later on businesses started realizing that they need to do more, this is when the technology starts coming in to the play and that was the time of inception of the modern queuing. The modern queuing methods that businesses are following in Dubai and all across the UAE are have evolved a lot. The technology itself have transformed a lot, now a days, the technology is widely available, the digital ecosystem and IT infrastructure of an average business is enough to support the modern queuing methods and practices. By definition the modern queuing is a queue management system based on the digital technology and software-based solutions. It helps automating several queuing steps and it can automatically manage customer routes and other major queuing tasks. With the help of digitalization and automation the business processes become very efficient and cost-effective too.

What is Modern Queuing?

Features of a Modern Queue Management System

A modern queue management system is a software based application aided with several hardware devices. Usually there is a sign-up kiosk which allow customers to interact with the system, chose their required service, input data if needed, and dispense the ticket number. There are digital signage and large screens used to display the queuing information and audio announcement system is also considered to be an essential component of the modern queuing. Apart from that there are several administrative dashboards which let managers, head office and service agent interact with the system. The modern queuing system can also integrate with third-party tools, customer database, central information system and any other software to improve functionality and performance of the system. There are many benefits of a modern queue management system, some are more beneficial for some businesses than the others and so on. Here are the most useful features of a modern queue management system which are equally beneficial for all businesses.

Features of a Modern Queue Management System

Queue Management System Features: Digitalization and Automation

A modern queue management system converts the traditional manual queuing process into a more effective and efficient digital business process by leveraging the technology and AI (artificial intelligence) based software. The digitalization greatly improve the process and also capture valuable data which can be later utilized in various other processes. The digitalization also help automating several customer journey steps and improve customer flow. Due to digitalization and automation the human efforts are significantly reduced which means the business need much less resources to manage their queuing process. The modern queue management system works on smart algorithms which are capable to capturing data in from all touchpoints and various other details and enable queue management system to take real-time decisions to improve the queuing. Furthermore the modern queue management systems also provide self-service sing-up channels to the customers. Usually there is an interactive touch-screen self-service kiosk to sign-up the customer and dispense the tickets. But there are several other methods that can also be offered to customers to improve their experience, such as remote sign-up, mobile apps, online appointment booking, etc.

Queue Management System Features: Digitalization and Automation

Queue Management System Features: Significant Reduction in Wait Time

The customer wait time is the single most impactful factor that can completely ruin your all efforts to attain customer satisfaction. According to several studies on an average a customer can wait for up to 5 to 9 minutes, this time limit is different for different industries, after that threshold the customer will start getting stressed and frustrated which will ruin their experience. That is why no matter what type of queue management system you use, the wait time should be minimized as much as possible. The digital queue management system used modern technology and AI based algorithms which enable them to minimize the customer wait time. When the customers sign-up for a queue, they are given a ticket number, the customer flow and movement of queues is fully autonomous, which eliminate any staff involvement in it. Furthermore the customers are allowed to wait comfortably in the designated spaces, hence not much management is required. The automation and no human involvement can significantly reduce the wait time. It also let the service agent focus on their primary tasks, which improve service delivery and make it quicker.

Queue Management System Features: Significant Reduction in Wait Time

Furthermore the modern queue management system also help service agents in their tasks, which reduce their efforts and improve their focus on service delivery and other crucial tasks. A modern queuing need digitalization and automation, the electronic queue management systems help managing various other tasks for the staff which greatly improve the service quality and help reducing the service delivery time which eventually reduce the customer wait time. The electronic queue management system also capture valuable performance insight which help businesses further enhance the employee performance and reduce the customer wait time. The queue management system have capabilities to monitor the entire queuing process in real-time which enables it to take real-time decision and improve customer flow. For example, if a service counter is slow due to any reason, the queue management system can automatically redistribute the workload to ensure all counters work under a balanced workload, this also help reducing wait time and when employee work under balanced workload their efficiency also improves.

Queue Management System Features: Significant Reduction in Wait Time

Queue Management System Features: Support for Virtual Queuing

Virtual queuing is not a new phenomenon. However, since the 2020 we have witnessed a huge rise in the adaptation of virtual queuing all across the country. The virtual queuing isthe most modern form of digital or electronic queue management systems. It takes the waiting time management to the next level, the methods and practices adopt by virtual queuing can literally reduce the wait time to none. Basically the virtual queuing offers more freedom and flexibility to the customers, it allow them to remotely sign-up for the queue by interacting with queue management system using digital media such as SMS, Email, WhatsApp, Mobile Apps, Website, Customer Portals, Appointment Booking Portals, QR Codes, etc. These channels allow the customer and visitors to remotely sign-up for the queue and receive queuing updates through the most convenient channel. This means they don’t have to be physically present at the premises, they will be singed-up in a virtual queue. This allow them freedom to wait anywhere they want to do whatever they want to do during that time. Furthermore they can also plan their visit in a way that they arrive at business only when their number is called. The virtual queuing minimize the wait time and improve customer experience by offering them more control, flexibility and freedom.

Queue Management System Features: Support for Virtual Queuing

Queue Management System Features: Centralized Management

A digital or electronic queue management system is based on a queuing server application which is hosted online, in cloud or at a local in-premises datacenter. Which allow it to capture all the information and data in a centralized repository. This also help solving many management related problems and also offer more innovative features to improve the queuing process and to drive the efficiency. Usually business have multiple branches, regional offices, outlets, or customer service centers, and a single main location or head office. The head office is where the senior management resides, who want to monitor and control all connected branches. The queue management system offers a centralized management mechanisms where it provides head office staff full control over all the branches and share live queuing updates with the head office to improve the monitoring. The queue management system also allow businesses to configure desirable workflows and managerial hierarches to align the queuing process with their existing management structure. The head office and the managers with access can have full control and real-time information about the queuing which enable them to take quick actions to improve the customer flow and to solve the problems or handle the disruptions.

Queue Management System Features: Centralized Management

Queue Management System Features: Data Collection

The modern day businesses and marketplaces are heavily relying on information technology and the data is the lifeblood of information technology. A digital queue management system provides a great insight on your queuing process and performance. It can accurately capture footfall insight which help management identify various trends, such as peak hours, days, occasions, popular services, customer churn, etc. The electronic queue management system can also capture employee performance data and various KPIs, such as the average number of served customers in a shift, the active/inactive time, the time spend on a service delivery, etc. The queue management system can also capture customer feedback data either from on-site touchscreens or tablets, or from other channels such as WhatsaApp, Mobile Applications, SMS, email, etc. Any good digital queue management system also have in-built data analytical tools, which help managers to performance various analysis within seconds, and produce actionable reports. The queue management system can also integrate its data with the central information system or any other third-party tool and it also offer data sharing features which improve the control and monitoring capabilities of the management.

Queue Management System Features: Data Collection

Conclusion

The customer happiness and customer satisfaction are the most crucial factor for the modern businesses, the market have already started transitioning from business oriented to customer oriented and that is because of rising competition and more demanding customer behavior. The queuing process is extremely important for the service sector. Businesses who failed to organize and manage their queues will loss the customers and eventually their reputation as well. That is why leveraging modern technologies to adopt to modern queuing has become an essential. A digital or electronic queue management system is a technology based solution for your queuing process. It streamlines customer flow and leverage the automation to improve the process and performance of the employees and customer service reps. The digital queue management system also provide a wealth of valuable business intelligence data which help businesses understand the customer experience and help them identify the areas of improvement to further increase customer satisfaction. In this blog we have listed the key features of a modern electronic queue management system, if you want to learn more or if you want our help to implement a custom-made highly cost-efficient digital queue management system for your business. Please feel free to contact 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: The Benefits of Electronic Queuing System

Qualities of a Good Mobile App for Queue Management System

Qualities of a Good Mobile App for Queue Management System

A queue management system has become an essential part of the businesses who require from their customers to visit their offices, branches, stores or customer service centers to avail their services. No matter which industry you belongs to, if you are operating in Dubai or anywhere else in UAE and your customers will have to visit you for certain business transactions, then you must be aware of the queue management challenges. Here in UAE the technology have penetrated far deeper in our daily lifestyle than anywhere else in the region. For instance think of the smartphones, almost a decade ago when the smartphones where in their infancy, most of the people were still using regular mobile phones with button based keyboard and a small digital screen. At that time the maximum one can do was to access the emails, or browse websites, however, the experience was not so good, the amount of available mobile apps were also very limited. However, with the passage of time, the smartphone have become a necessity, for many of us the smartphones are the primary medium to access to the internet, do online shopping, communication and social networks. This revolution compelled many businesses all around the world to seriously consider the mobile apps to enhance their customer experience, journey and communication.

Now a days businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are proactively exploring the ways to magnify the gains of the mobile and digital mediums. Businesses are offering services that can be accessed and availed from the smartphones. Your entire personal bank is available on the smartphone as a mobile app. People tend to surf internet over their smartphone, in fact the mobile searches have already surpassed the regular desktop/laptop searches. This had a profound impact on customer and business relationships. Now a day’s, the customer also expect from their favorite brand or service provider to offer mobile applications, in fact having a mobile app can add value to a business’s credibility. That is why most of the modern queuing solution such as RSI Queue Management System have in-built integration available for the mobile apps. Businesses can gain a variety of benefits from utilizing the smartphones and offering mobile apps to their customers. In this blog we will discuss how a queue management system can leverage a good quality mobile app to maximize customer’s experience and satisfaction.

A Good Queue Management System Mobile App Minimize the Wait Time

For any queuing solution the primary and most important task is to reduce the customer wait time and improve their experience throughout the entire customer journey. The studies have shown that an average customer can happily wait for just a few minutes, any waiting time longer than that would start impacting the customer experience and will eventually led to unsatisfied customers. No matter what else you do if your wait time is too long, it would be extremely difficult to deliver a happy and satisfactory customer experience. The very first thing your customers will going to notice is the wait time, if the wait time is too long or waiting experience is bad the customer will arrive annoyed or stressed already, which makes it extremely difficult for the service agent to switch their mood and make them happy within the limited time they have. That is why the wait time and waiting experience are crucial for customer happiness and customer satisfaction.

A Good Queue Management System Mobile App Minimize the Wait Time

A mobile app integrated with queue management system can offers a variety of features which can be used to reduce the customer wait time and to improve their experience. The problem with crowded waiting areas is that they add to the anxiety and stress of the customers, however the queue management system mobile app allows the customer to sign-up remotely for virtual queues. This enables them to virtually enroll in the waiting lines, way before they physically arrive at the business. It also allows customers and visitors to manage their schedule in a way to minimize the in-premises wait time. Hence the actual waiting time could be a lot less than the estimated wait time. Moreover the mobile app also allow the customer to keep getting updates and feeds of the on-going queues and keep them reminded of their number in the queue. So, they don’t forget or get late. This is a huge leap. It can significantly reduce the wait time, and it can prevent crowd formation in the waiting areas.It also improves the waiting experience as well. The reduced wait time is a key to happy customer experience and stress free customer journey.

Mobile App Improves Waiting Experience and Reduce Perceived Wait Time

The queue management system mobile app can enhance waiting experience and it can also help reducing the both the actual and the perceived wait time. Most of the time when we are in a long queue, we might think that the queue next to us is moving faster than us, if we somehow manage to jump into the ‘faster’ queue, almost in a few minutes we realize that now the previous queue is moving a bit faster, this is just a trick of the mind, in reality, both queues are on the same pace. Usually the perception under stressful environment and circumstances is just the amplified version of the reality. That is also applicable when people are waiting in long queues. So the perceived wait time is always higher than the actual wait time. The mentioning of estimated wait time is another most important aspect of customer waiting time which most businesses often neglect.

Mobile App Improves Waiting Experience and Reduce Perceived Wait Time

We human react differently to the things we know and to the things we don’t know, we have something called “fear of unknown” embedded in our DNA. Whenever such situation arises when we are not aware or certain of the outcome we fear it, and it puts our body and mind into a kind of defensive mode, which generates stress. Same is applicable to the waiting experience, when the customers don’t know how much time they will have to wait, it stressed them out. People start feeling the pressure and it affects their experience. However, with a mobile app, the business can provide all necessary queuing details including live updates, estimated wait time, any changes or even communication can be enabled between the service agents/staff and the customer. Which can provide a great relief and it can help ease down the stress of the waiting.

Mobile App Improves Waiting Experience and Reduce Perceived Wait Time

This also allow the customers to manage their visits more efficiently and resultantly they have to wait very less, in fact in some cases there is literally no wait time, the customers can instantly get served as soon as they arrived at the business. This enhances the customer experience and raise customer satisfaction and customer happiness.

The Mobile App Simplifies the Sign-up By Introducing Unconventional Methods and Mediums

One of the biggest advantage of queue management system mobile app is the simplified sign-up process. In any traditional queuing setup the customers will have to physically arrive at the branch to sign-up for the queue. The sign-up is usually done via an interactive ticket dispensing kiosk. However, with the queue management system mobile app, the customers and visitors can sign-up right through the mobile app, without requiring them to physically be present at the business. The queue management system mobile app can issue electronic tickets or token numbers, and sign them up for the virtual queues. The customers can leverage the virtual queues and wait outside or plan their visit in a way that they reach only at time when their turn came. This can prevent long waiting time and even it can also completely eliminate the wait time. Which is great to improve customer experience and customer journey.

The Mobile App Simplifies the Sign-up By Introducing Unconventional Methods and Mediums

Moreover the businesses can also allow customers and visitors to make changes to their visit if in case they are late or got caught up in something, this also allow the staff to easily fit them in the next available slot and prevent any inconvenience. The customers can also signup for the queues, using SMS, WhatsApp, Email or other alternative methods which also improve their experience and make the process more convenient and user-friendly which is a key to customer happiness and customer satisfaction.

Enable a Direct Communication Channel with Individual Customer via Mobile App

Businesses can enable a direct communication channel with the individual customer via mobile app. The queue management system mobile app can host a bunch of features such as in-app messaging, on-screen notifications, push notifications, alerts and much more. This allow the businesses to keep the customers up-to-date and it also help them improve customer experience by providing them human interaction and live support. For example, in case if any unpredictable scenario arises which could cause delays to the customer’s estimated time in the system, the customer agent can immediately communicate it with the customers and visitors and they can also give them instructions to reschedule or share updates with them with the new schedule, etc. Moreover the customer support agents can also contact customers and visitors to ask them to bring any documents that they might need, or give them reminders of important things, etc. Such communication improve customer experience, increase their level of trust and help businesses build a stronger relationship with them which is a key to long term success.

See More: What are the Key Features of an Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)?

Enable a Direct Communication Channel with Individual Customer via Mobile App

Offer Additional Features with Queue Management System Mobile App

The smartphone are becoming more powerful day by day. This allowed the mobile app developer to introduce a lot of innovative features. The modern mobile app development technologies have become very advanced and cost-efficient, adding more user-friendly features in a mobile app is not expensive at all. That is why the queue management system mobile app can be used to offer a variety of innovative and technologically advanced features which can help both businesses and the customers. For example, if a service required to upload documents or ID of the customers, the customers can be asked to scan or upload these document via their mobile app even before arriving at the business. This will expedite the service delivery process and it make it a lot easier for the customer support agent to deliver good quality service more quickly with less efforts.

Offer Additional Features with Queue Management System Mobile App

Another great feature that a queue management system can offer is businesses locator and branch locator. The locator functionality uses the GPS to learn about the customer’s location, then it pull up the nearest location or multiple locations in the close proximity. The mobile app can also integrate navigation maps, to let the customer navigate to the desired branch/location. Moreover the locator module also provide the live queuing info with the estimated wait time at each branch, which help customers to easily select the branch with shorter wait time. The mobile app can also be integrated with the appointment booking module or it can also have an in-built appointment booking module to let the customers and visitors schedule their appointment at their convenient time and date. The live queuing information, continuous alerts, notifications and reminders can help improving the customer experience.

See More: Efficient Queue Management System Qualities

Collect Customer Feedback via Mobile App

Customer feedback is a very valuable data for any business. Collecting customer feedback help businesses understand various aspects of customer relationship and the customer journey. Businesses can easily identify the areas of improvements, new market trends, their customer’s needs and even businesses can evaluate and assess various business processes and employees who are involved in customer journey. The biggest problem with the customer feedback data is the quality and quantity of the data. In order quantify the customer feedbacks and to be able to produce actionable reports, the customer feedback data must have certain qualities and should also have enough quantity to remove ambiguities and confusions. The mobile apps are one of the most effective customer feedback collection channels. There are two main reasons, first the businesses can easily push customer feedback surveys to the targeted audience at the right place and time, which increases the quality and quantity of the customer feedback data.

See More: Impacts of Queue Management System on Employee’s KPIs

Collect Customer Feedback via Mobile App

A queue management system mobile app can collect various different types of customer feedback data such as NPS (Net Promoter Score), CES (Customer Effort Score), CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Survey), General customer happiness meter/scale and much more. This data can provide a deeper and much accurate understanding of all aspects of customer journey and customer experience. Businesses can channel the customer feedback data into decision making and policy making process and they can make informed decisions on the bases of the customer feedback data and they can set up future strategies that are more in-line with their customers. This can maximize the customer happiness and customer satisfaction and also give them a sense of importance and connecting with the business.

Gather Business Intelligence Data

A queue management system is a great source of business intelligence data, with the help of the mobile app the data quality can be refined and businesses can collect more details which can help them to improve customer journey, customer experience and customer satisfaction. Businesses can easily collect demographic and geographic data of the customer which help them to understand their customer’s persona and it is also very helpful in providing personalized customer experience on the bases of the preferences, their purchase habits and much more. Moreover the mobile app can also collect various system usage stats and other data which can be used to evaluate and assess the current business processes. Businesses can utilize the queue management system mobile app data to improve their communication, identify the areas of improvement in the customer journey and it also help them identify the causes and reasons that are impacting customer experience and customer happiness.

See More: Virtual Queuing and Digital Customer Experience

Gather Business Intelligence Data

Conclusion

For businesses maintaining a certain level of customer happiness while managing long queues is a very challenging task. Studies have shown that the customer don’t like to wait for extended period of time. There is a threshold limit of waiting time, if that exceeds the customer start feeling anxious and stressed which could have devastated effects on customer happiness and customer satisfaction. For each industry the threshold time limit is different, however, it is usually taken as around 10 to 13 minutes. Any time longer than that will going to impact the customer happiness and customer satisfaction. That is why the queue management systems are absolutely necessary for the businesses who need their customer to visit them for certain business transaction. The queue management system mobile app comes with various benefits which can be utilized to enhance customer journey and customer experience. Businesses can also use the mobile apps to collect customer feedback and to gather valuable business intelligence data. RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system and mobile apps provider in Dubai, UAE. If you want to develop a queue management system mobile app or if you want to learn more about the subject, please feel free to contact 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: How Queue Management System can Boost Productivity and Profitability?