What is virtual queuing, and how do customers follow their turn on their phone?

What virtual queuing means

In a traditional queue, a customer's place depends on where they stand. In a virtual queue, a ticket holds the place instead. The customer can sit down, step outside or arrive later, and the place stays theirs.

The term covers more than one set-up. Some systems let customers join before they leave home; others issue the ticket in the branch and let customers follow it on their phone. When you compare options, ask which of these a supplier means.

Following a paper ticket on the phone

Many customers still walk in and use the kiosk. At a Nexus Queue self-service kiosk, customers take a ticket and choose the service, priority and language from those offered. The printed ticket carries a QR code that customers scan to follow their turn on their phone. A kiosk without a printer can show the QR code on its screen instead, with the number, the people ahead and the estimated wait.

What customers need to see while they wait

Customers who wait away from the counter need their number, how many people are ahead and a sense of how long they will wait, so they can decide when to come back. Queues move unevenly, so treat any wait estimate as a guide and say so on your signs.

In Nexus Queue, customers see their number, the people ahead and the estimated wait on the ticket, and where they are called on the hall board. When a counter calls a ticket, the board shows the number, its service and the counter to go to. Where the branch switches it on, the number is also read aloud.

Coming back in time

Virtual queuing moves the waiting away from the counter, but customers still have to return when they are called. Decide how they will know: by following their turn on their phone, or by staying within sight of the hall board or within hearing of the calls.

Plan for the customer who is called and is not there. From the Nexus Queue counter application, staff can call, recall or mark a no-show. Whatever rule you choose, apply it the same way at every counter and explain it to customers before they leave the waiting area.

Where virtual queuing fits next to booking

Virtual queuing suits customers who want to be served today; booking suits customers who want a set time. Nexus Queue handles walk-in and booked visits.

Where a branch offers booking, customers book a time slot online, receive a booking reference and QR code, and check in at the kiosk, where they get their ticket. Customers can cancel or reschedule within branch limits. Nexus Queue also shows supervisors whether tickets were walk-in or booked.

Before you start: a short checklist

• Decide where customers will find the QR code for following their ticket: on the kiosk screen or on the printed ticket.
• Explain on your signs how customers follow their turn on their phone.
• Make sure the hall board can be seen, or the calls heard, from where customers wait.
• Agree what staff do when a called customer is not at the counter.
• Compare the estimated wait with what customers experience in the first weeks.
• List the reports managers need on walk-in and booked tickets.