Safe Digital Queue Management in the Wake of COVID-19

Queue management has always been a concern for Australian companies in the service industry. After all, nearly every organisation wants to keep lines short and customers happy. But as we continue to transition into a post-COVID world, it’s of supreme importance.

Not only must today’s companies develop a framework that enables customers to quickly move through a queue with minimal friction, they must take measures to keep everyone safe and prevent the spread of the virus. To meet this need, a growing number of service industry companies are now embracing digital queue management.

Here’s everything you need to know about this technology, including its features, real-life examples, and actionable tips on safe queuing for service-based businesses.

What exactly is Digital Queue Management?

Simply put, it uses software to efficiently manage and track an organisation’s queue of customers. Rather than relying on more conventional techniques like signing in on a sheet of paper or a ‘take-a-number’ system, digital queue management makes for streamlined appointment setting, status checking, and notifications through SMS or email.

With Engagis Queue Manager, for example, customers can set appointments ahead of time through a website or self sign up on a kiosk, tablet or BYO device. Both employees and customers can monitor the queue at all times through commercial-grade display screens to determine:

• How much longer each customer can expect to wait
• Who’s up next in the queue
• Who’s already been served

This provides maximum transparency from start to finish — something that may result in customers’ perception of wait time being reduced.

How can Digital Queue Management support COVID safety?

Needless to say, customers gathering in confined waiting areas is a huge issue these days. It’s directly at odds with social distancing protocol. And it’s especially problematic for companies in the health industry where there may be elderly people and those with weakened immune systems.

Without an effective queue management system in place, keeping people 1.5 metres apart is a major challenge. If customers don’t feel comfortable about the precautions your company is taking, it’s going to take a toll on business. Digital queue management addresses this challenge head-on.

For starters, giving customers the option of booking online prevents bottlenecks during check-in. They’re able to conveniently choose a date and time that works for them based on their schedule and can seamlessly set appointments prior to their arrival. That way they’re not all gathering in a confined space once they get there. For those who wait to check-in once they arrive, a kiosk or tablet-based system allows them to efficiently sign up and join the queue, either through self service or via staff assistance.

Next, SMS notifications allow you to efficiently communicate with customers, letting them know when it’s time for their appointment. If, for example, you currently have visitors sit in their vehicle rather than a waiting room to prevent the spread of COVID, you can keep them in the loop via messaging without requiring them to be confined to a small area.

Finally, reporting gives you a bird’s eye view of the floor so that you can objectively analyse activity and make improvements. In turn, you can identify trends, spikes in visitor activity, and recurring bottlenecks, enabling you to refine your queue management practices over time. Not only does this make visitors safer from a COVID prevention standpoint, it also helps create a better customer experience in the long run.

Taking all of these benefits into consideration, let’s take a look at some real-life examples of service industry companies that are currently using digital queue management to facilitate safe queuing.

Telstra

Telstra was in need of a solution that could help empower store staff to better serve customers, as well as to provide managers with a real-time view of in-store queue operations.

To accomplish this, we delivered the Effective Floor Manager (EFM) application which enabled Telstra retail staff to digitally assign their customers to an appropriate staff member, depending on the customer’s needs and reason for visiting. Staff could monitor the expected customer wait times within EFM to better meet customer expectations and provide a quality experience.

Telstra displayed customer wait times using digital signage display boards so customers could determine how long they’d need to wait, without having to congregate by a front desk to ask an associate. Telstra also notified customers through SMS when they reached certain queue milestones so that they could browse inside or outside the store while waiting for their appointment.

Rather than remaining in close proximity to one another in the confined space of a small store, customers could safely distance. Not only did this provide safe digital queue management, it minimised customer frustration and made for a better overall experience.

In the future, Telstra plans to expand its collaboration with Engagis by integrating its My Telstra mobile phone application into EFM. This will allow customers to:

• Pre-book appointments from their mobile
• Check on wait times within the app
• Remove themselves from the queue if necessary

O2

British telecommunications services provider, O2, was also heavily impacted by COVID. As a major part of their operations involves assisting customers with tech support issues, they needed to quickly come up with a safe queue management solution. More specifically, O2 needed to implement a system that allowed them to efficiently provide customers with quality service, while keeping lines down and maintaining social distancing.

To achieve this, O2 turned to queue management technology to allow customers to request an appointment with a staff member through a host, a kiosk, or an app on their smartphone. After signing up, each customer is added to a virtual queue to prevent crowding in at tech support desks.

If the wait time is minimal, customers can shop in-store while practicing social distancing. Or, for longer waits, they can return to the store later at their designated appointment times. When they’re next in line, they receive an SMS alert notifying them to return to the premises.

Samsung Electronics UK

Finally, Samsung Electronics UK has used a combination of digital signage and data capture devices such as in-store cameras to keep queues in check and enforce COVID safety.

To start, digital signage allows Samsung to better control the flow of customers when they’re queuing up for customer service by guiding them how to line up safely, and displaying social distancing guidelines. In-store cameras automatically capture how many customers are in a store at any given time, as well as detecting whether or not customers are wearing face masks and even pinpointing those with high temperatures. Even if a shopper isn’t displaying COVID symptoms, Samsung can still identify the risk that they’ve potentially contracted the virus and may be spreading it unknowingly.

Through its queue management systems, Samsung is able to analyse data in real-time in order to keep shopper numbers at a safe number, control foot traffic, and prevent bottlenecks when customers are waiting in line for service.

One way this is achieved is by displaying relevant messaging on digital signage based on the data gathered by in-store cameras. If, for instance, the number of customers in a Samsung store exceeds maximum occupancy, a message will appear saying that it’s not safe for additional shoppers to enter. Once occupancy is down to an acceptable number, a new message will appear saying that it’s now safe for more shoppers to come in.

An added plus is that Samsung is also able to weave in display advertisements on their digital signage, featuring promotional content alongside COVID safety information. This in turn, can help increase in-store purchases and revenue. Samsung can also use the data generated to optimise the layout of their stores and create a more fluid shopping experience.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, companies like Samsung are looking beyond COVID when it comes to potential applications for this technology. During future holiday seasons, for example, when many stores experience overcrowding, technology like this could be used to keep stores more orderly and crowds in check.

Want to learn more about how digital queue management can make your company more safe and efficient amidst the COVID pandemic? Learn more about the full scope of this technology’s features and benefits here.