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The Role of AI in Enhancing Queue Management Systems

The customer service industry have completely transformed over the past decade. Whether it is a bank, hospital, educational institute, government agency, retail store or airport, the queue is one of the biggest challenge any business faces. The poorly managed customer flow can have toll on both customer satisfaction and the operational efficiency. The long or poorly-managed queues can cause frustration and dissatisfaction in customers. In highly competitive market landscapes, slight discomfort to customers could led them to switch. Because customers have access to multiple options, this also means the importance of customer loyalty is paramount. This is where the AI comes to play, the AI has superior capabilities to collect and analyze data, which provide real-time analytics and predictive analysis which are two most effective and essential tools for a digital queue management system.

The AI is a smart software algorithms which are designed to enable any software application to behave and act like human. Although the AI is not capable of human-like intelligence, but comparing to traditional software application, the AI-powered applications are much more superior and impactful. The AI is capable of offering higher level of IoT, Machine Learning, and NLP (natural language processing). These tools can be utilized in a digital queue management system to boost its impact and efficiency. A traditional queue management system is a software-based digital solution which not only allow self-service signups, ticket dispensing but also have several other integrated channels to support virtual queuing.

The AI-powered queue management system not only offer advanced data collection and analysis features but it is capable of managing the entire queuing operation autonomously and with higher efficiency and accuracy. In this blog we will discuss the role of AI in enhancing the queue management and its overall impact on business’s success.

See Also: The Concept of Queue Management and Crowd Control

The Role of AI in Improving Key Business Functions
The Role of AI in Improving Key Business Functions

Integrating AI with Queue Management System

A typical queue management system has two parts one is hardware based which includes ticket dispensing self-service kiosk, digital signage screens, CDUs, and audio-announcement systems. The software part has multiple components which depends upon the application, industry or customization. In general the software has a queue management system server-side application, customer UIs, and the administrative dashboards. The queue management system software integrates with other internal systems, IoTs, third-party tools, databases, central information system, ERPs, CRMs, etc. It is the queue management system software which majorly integrates with the AI or Artificial Intelligence.

The AI comes in various forms, it can be infused within the programing at grass root level, or it can be integrated as a separate module. The queue management system software is built on highly flexible platforms which enable simple and convenient integration. Furthermore there are several components that form the AI algorithm. For example, the voice command and computer vision are powered by various platforms/components, similarly there are several other features which can be added. The capabilities to customize help adding innovative features to enhance customer experience and to boost the operational efficiency and performance.

See Also: Queue Management System with Facial Recognition Technology

See Also: How Queue Management System can Boost Productivity and Profitability?

The Role of AI in Custom Software Solutions
The Role of AI in Custom Software Solutions

How AI Enhances Queue Management System?

Before we discuss the advantages and improvements of integrating AI in queue management systems it is crucial to understand how AI-powered solutions are better than a traditional solution. The AI or Artificial Intelligence is equipped with specialized tools and algorithms which enable them to process and analyze very large volume of data and instruction sets. The traditional software applications fell short on this aspect. Here are a few key advantages of AI-powered software solutions which make them superior from traditional software applications:

Decision Making Capabilities

  • Traditional Software Solution: The traditional software solutions precisely follow the rules, logics and instructions set predefined by the programmers. Thus it is limited to perform tasks as explicitly as defined by the instruction set and doesn’t have capability to take decisions or learn.
  • AI-Powered Software Solutions: The AI-Powered software solutions are excellent at learning and decision making. The AI comes with specialized algorithms that can make decisions based on stats, patterns, predictions, probabilities and analytical data along with capabilities to learn and adopt to new situations as per needs.

Problem Solving Approach

  • Traditional Software Solution: The traditional software have limited capabilities when it comes to problem solving. These software are limited to a top-down approach which limit the solution to preprogramed logics and rules. This also strictly limit their capabilities to scenarios and conditions these software are designed for.
  • AI-Powered Software Solutions: The AI-Powered software solutions follow bottom-up approach which enable them to learn from historical data, live data feeds, and changing scenarios. The AI algorithms can identify patterns, changes, and predict future scenarios. This greatly increase their decision making abilities and help them to solve more complex and unprecedented problems.

Adaptability and Future Proofing

  • Traditional Software Solution: The traditional software are very static in nature, they are only capable of operating in pre-programmed scenarios and conditions. If the condition or scenario got changes, then these software solutions has to be upgraded manually. This is also due to the limited data processing capabilities of traditional software solutions.
  • AI-Powered Software Solutions: The AI-Powered software solutions are very dynamic and capable of quickly adopting to new conditions and scenarios. The AI algorithms can adjust and modify their operation as per the current conditions without requiring any manual upgrade. This is due to the excellent capabilities of AI for processing large volume of structured and unstructured data and advanced decision making abilities.
Queue Analytics: Leveraging Data for Smoother Operations
Queue Analytics: Leveraging Data for Smoother Operations

These are some of the key differentiators. There are several more factors that differentiate the AI-powered software solutions from the traditional software solutions. In conclusion the traditional software solutions are fundamentally designed to perform pre-programmed, straightforward, and repetitive tasks. The AI-powered software solutions on the other hand are very dynamic, sophisticated and capable of learning new things which enable them to quickly adjust their operation as per changing requirements, conditions and scenarios. Due to this ability the AI-powered queue management systems have become an ideal solution for modern day’s queuing problems.

See Also: What are the Different Types of Queue Management System?

Here are some key factors to understand how AI can greatly enhance and improve the queue management systems to ensuring excellent customer experience and unexceptional operational efficiency:

AI-Powered Predictive Analysis

One of the biggest advantage of AI for queue management system is its exceptional abilities and capabilities of predictive analysis. The AI-powered queue management system have advanced data collection and analysis capabilities. The AI algorithms can identify pattern, correlations and comparisons with extremely enhanced capabilities to extract insight from a multi-channel and versatile data pool. This enables them to forecast future footfall with extreme accuracy and precision. The predictive analysis is the most crucial factor for customer flow management.

It helps management understand the customer flow and enable them to prepare themselves for future footfall. The predictive analysis is also utilized for various other purposes such as evaluating staff performance and identifying changes or fluctuations in staff performance and overall operational efficiency. The AI-powered predictive analysis are many times more effective and impactful than the traditional queue management system.

See Also: Streamlining the Waiting Experience: How Queue Management Systems Improve Patient Flow

Predictive Analysis and Forecast
Predictive Analysis and Forecast

AI-Driven Real-Time Customer Flow Analysis

For any customer facing environment the biggest challenge for the management is to gain the real-time information about what is happening and how is it happening. This provides them a better understanding and help them to take steps to ensure a smooth and seamless customer flow all the time. The AI-powered queue management systems can be considered on steroids when it comes to real-time customer flow analysis. The AI-powered smart algorithms collects and analyze data from various touch-points and provide real-time insights for the management.

The management can learn about customer behavior, customer flow, and full dynamics of their queuing process. The predictive analysis and real-time customer flow analysis are two great tools to prevent congestions, identify and eliminate the problems slowing the customer flow. These tools not only provide higher visibility into the queuing process but also help management take informed decisions to improve and boost operational efficiency.

See Also: How Queue Management System Helps to Provide Better Customer Service

See Also: Government Digital Transformation: Implementation of Queue Management System

A modern queue management system automatically manages customer flow.
A modern queue management system automatically manages customer flow.

AI-Powered Customer Segmentation

Every business has different queuing policies and different customer/visitor segments. For every segment businesses have different policy to ensure every customer segment and group is catered to their needs. The AI has inherent capability to understand and analyze large volume of data. That is not all, in fact the AI is capable of collecting data from various sources and it can collect and analyze various types of data. Especially when it comes to multichannel data sources, the AI tend to very effective.

The AI-powered queue management system can collect and analyze queuing data from various sources with advanced capabilities to analyze and understand patterns. This enable AI to collect and analyze customer data, their arrival pattern, previous visit details, and interaction through other channels. This analysis is vital to extract deep insight which help categorizing and segmenting customers into various groups. Based on this segmentation businesses can personalize the customer experience for higher customer satisfaction.

See Also: How to Avoid Long Queues at Your Events

See Also: What Is Virtual Queuing? A Guide to Virtual Queues

Customer Journey Automation and Personalized Experience
Customer Journey Automation and Personalized Experience

AI-Driven Computer Vision

The computer vision is almost a science fiction like feature. In simple words the computer vision is a feature that turns videos into highly valuable insights. The AI-powered queue management systems can collect and analyze video feeds from existing CCTV Cameras along with adding a few more specialized cameras at key strategic locations. This video input give AI a large amount of analytical data. The AI-powered computer vision algorithms analyze and understand the video feeds with excellent accuracy. The Computer vision powered queue management system can accurately count the number of people entering in a facility, and moreover it can also track their movement throughout their stay within the facility.

This help businesses understand the customer behavior in more depth and enable them to derive policies and strategies for crowd prevention and improved customer flow. The computer vision not only monitor customers but it can accurately distinguish between the staff and guests and it can track their movements as well. These features help management in decision making and strategy building processes.

See Also: How Queue Management System Helps Maximizing the Efficiency?

Real-time Monitoring and Remote Management
Real-time Monitoring and Remote Management

AI-Powered Virtual Queuing

The virtual queuing is gaining huge popularity due to the convenience and control it offers to both customers and the management. The virtual queue management system is equipped with various remote channels which enable customers and visitors to book appointments or generate tickets through remote channels. The most common virtual queuing channels are SMS, WhatsApp, QR Codes, Email, Website, Appointment Booking Portals, Customer Portals and Smartphone applications. These channels allow customer to sign-up for a virtual queue without being required to physically present at the premises.

This empowers customer and provides them freedom to spend their time wherever they want. The AI-powered queue management system has advanced analytical capabilities which help optimizing virtual queue and overall customer experience. It can accurately predict customer wait time and it can also analyze customer behavior and journey in virtual queues which help management improve overall customer experience and operational performance.

See Also: World’s First WhatsApp Queue Management Solution

See Also: Why Business Need Mobile Apps along with Classic Queue Management System?

What Makes Virtual Queuing System Ideal for Customer-Centric Businesses?
What Makes Virtual Queuing System Ideal for Customer-Centric Businesses?

AI Boost Staff Performance

For any customer service center the staff performance is crucial. The higher staff performance not only help minimizing the customer wait time and improving customer experience, but it also help businesses leveraging the full potential of resources. For seamless customer flow the staff performance is crucial. The AI-powered queue management system effectively capture various staff KPIs. Furthermore the AI algorithms provide real-time and predictive analysis which help management in resource planning and management.

The AI-powered computer vision further allow businesses track and manage staff performance with more efficiency. The analytical data and insights greatly improve management’s visibility in customer flow and staff performance. The real-time queuing features help management instantly sense any change in conditions and respond to ensure seamless customer flow. With elevated staff performance businesses can effectively reduce cost and elevate customer experience.

See Also: From Chaos to Control: How Queue Management Systems Can Improve Your Business

Queue Management System Improve Staff Performance and Operational Efficiency
Queue Management System Improve Staff Performance and Operational Efficiency

Conclusion

The customer service sector knows the importance and sensitivity of customer experience in this sector. Therefore businesses tend to adopt and implement various digital and technology-based solutions. As the technology is progressing these solutions are also evolving. One of the most impactful advancement in technology industry is the adaptation of AI or Artificial Intelligence. With the integration of AI in queue management systems businesses can effectively elevate the customer experience and boost operational efficiency. The AI has some spectacular features such as ability to collect and analyze data from various sources and forms, which offers predictive analysis, real-time monitoring, virtual queuing and staff performance tools which help management improve customer flow and elevate customer satisfaction. The market conditions, queuing scenarios, and customer demands are subjected to change and evolve continuously.

The AI algorithms have advanced capabilities to deal with changing conditions and scenarios. The AI algorithms are very sophisticated with in-built capabilities of problem solving which enables AI-powered queue management system to learn and evolve to adopt to changing conditions and scenarios. Furthermore the AI-powered queue management system comes with advanced customer segmentation features which help businesses deliver highly personalized customer experience and frictionless customer journey. The elevated customer experience, enhanced operational efficiency, reduced service cost, and exceptional business intelligence data contributes to the overall bottom line of queuing.

In this modern era and competitive markets like Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and broader UAE the AI-powered queue management system is not just a technological upgrade, but an absolute nasality. In this blog we have discussed the role of AI in enhancing the way businesses manage their customer flow and customer experience. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design and develop a bespoke AI-powered queue management system for your business or organization, 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.

See Also: What to Consider When Choosing a Queue Management System

See Also: Why Bank should Integrate Appointment Booking System with a Queue Management System?


Data-Driven Decision Making in Performance Management

For any growing business the biggest challenge is to optimize the cost and performance while ensuring maximum customer satisfaction. Although that might seem a very simple concept, but that is way more complex and sophisticated. When it comes to manage human resource and optimization of operational efficiency, the HR department plays a crucial role. The HR is basically responsible for hiring and retaining right talent, ensuring the required skillset is always available for the organization and the HR is also responsible for leveraging the true potential of the workforce.

For that the HR and business leaders adopt various practices and solutions. The performance management system or employee performance appraisal system is a digital solution which collects and analyze performance data and produce actionable insights. This performance insights help businesses optimize employee performance, align them with strategic goals and objectives, and increase employee loyalty.

Data-Driven Decision Making in Performance Management
Data-Driven Decision Making in Performance Management

What is a Performance Management System?

A modern performance management system or employee performance appraisal system is a structured framework and combination of processes and techniques aided by a specialized software application. Typically the HR team and business leaders have to go through a lengthy and difficult manual process to perform performance appraisals at the end of the term. This involves multiple processes and human efforts and cost. Therefore businesses and organizations who follow traditional performance management practices tend to have annual review process or biannual at maximum.

However, the market landscape is changing rapidly, and businesses need a robust, efficient and cost-effective way to evaluate performance. Moreover the performance management itself has evolved a lot, the annual reviews and appraisal practices are no longer effective, and both the employees, managers and most of the business leaders lost their faith on annual evaluations or reviews.

See Also: The Impact of Performance Management on Organizational Culture

What is a Performance Management System?
What is a Performance Management System?

The present day performance management system and practices are focused more on continuous performance management, instead of taking it as an annual exercise. The modern performance management systems are also focusing a lot on employee engagements and well-beings. The modern performance management system heavily rely on AI-driven performance management software. This software is a key tool to collect large volume of performance data. The performance management system software comes with in-built data collection tools, KPI setup mechanisms, communication management tools and countless other features which empower management and also help automating various processes and workflows of performance management.

The performance management system not only make the process efficiency and effective, but it also offers innovative tools for both individual employees, and managers. All these features help aligning employees with organizational objectives and boost staff performance.

See Also: The Risk of Poor Performance Management and How to identify it?

The performance management system software comes with in-built data collection tools.
The performance management system software comes with in-built data collection tools.

What is the Role of Data-Driven Decisions in the Modern Performance Management?

The traditional performance management processes heavily rely on personal opinion and subjective reviews. This approach not only allow personal bias but also degrade the transparency of the entire system. Another biggest flaw with the traditional performance management system was the discontinuity. The performance appraisals and reviews were taken as an annual exercise such as accounts audit. This makes traditional performance management more ineffective.

Furthermore the overall market landscape is becoming more competitive and businesses are transitioning into a new customer-centric business era where the customer demands and expectations are placed at top or every strategy. This businesses need to respond to changes quickly and efficiently, they need to be more innovative and effective to gain competitive edge and so on. All this requires a highly effective and efficient decision making process and the data-driven decisions are considered to be the lifeline for the growth and progress in present times.

See Also: Performance Management System: Best Practices

See Also: How to Set Goals for your Employees in Performance Management System?

What is the Role of Data-Driven Decisions in the Modern Performance Management?
What is the Role of Data-Driven Decisions in the Modern Performance Management?

Performance management is all about aligning the staff with the high-level organizational objectives and goals. This is done by continuously monitoring performance, altering strategies, course correction, and strong decision making process. The data-driven decision making is a universal process where all the decisions are based on the data, facts, insights, and accurate information gathered through various channels, and sources. When it comes to performance management the performance data is crucial for decision making.

Business leaders, management and/or HR needs precise and in-depth data to ensure successful decisions. Without accurate performance data businesses can’t identify areas of improvement, employee’s pain points, training needs and various other aspects which are essential for performance management. That is why the data-driven decision are absolutely essential in performance management and overall success and progress of a business.

See Also: What are the Features of a Best Performance Management System?

See Also: 6 Performance Management Problems and How to Solve Them?

Business leaders, management and/or HR needs precise and in-depth data to ensure successful decisions.
Business leaders, management and/or HR needs precise and in-depth data to ensure successful decisions.

Key Advantages of Data-Driven Decision Making in Performance Management

The performance management is all about taking accurate and timely decision to make sure your workforce and all available resources are always aligned with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. In the modern business landscape the traditional business processes, practices and approaches have greatly transformed. Now a day’s businesses are facing many challenges one of the most critical is to deal with rapid changes in the market landscape. The customer demands, the market trends, and competitors are evolving rapidly.

This demands a highly proactive approach and superior responsiveness. And the performance management system plays a crucial role in making businesses efficient, robust, proactive and profitable. A digital performance management system provides a full-fledge framework to manage performance and first and foremost advantage of data-driven decisions is the highly accurate evaluation and performance insights.

See Also: How to Customize Performance Management System

Key Advantages of Data-Driven Decision Making in Performance Management
Key Advantages of Data-Driven Decision Making in Performance Management

Moreover the data-driven decisions help businesses to continuously improve their operations and employee performance. The data-driven decision making plays crucial role in improving and elevating individual performance as well as the overall performance of the organizations and operational excellence which lead to better products/services and enhanced customer experience. Here are some key advantages of data-driven decision making in performance management system:

  • Objective Performance Evaluation:

    The data-driven decisions eliminate bias and subjectivity from the performance reviews and it also have positive impact on communication and engagements. The HR decisions are based on employee KPIs, OKRs, accurate measure of their productivity, contribution, goal alignment and achievements. The performance data also ensures that the performance benchmarks are tracked accurately and aligned with organization’s standards.

  • Personalized Employee Development Programs:

    For any performance management system the employee development and enhancing their competencies is the most important part. The performance data provides in-depth insight to individual employee’s strengths, weaknesses, behavioral and professional competencies. This help HR to design and execute personalized employee development programs which also help increasing employee engagements.

  • Elevated Efficiency and Productivity:

    One of the biggest obstacle in the employee performance is short sighting on how employees are spending their time. However, with the performance data the managers and HR can easily understand this and the inefficiencies of workflows, tools, and business processes. This can greatly elevate employee productivity and efficiency. This also help setting up SMART goals which keep employees more focused and productive.

  • Better Employee Engagements:

    The employee engagements are the pillar of modern performance management systems. Businesses leaders and HR are eagerly seeking ways and approaches to maximize employee engagements. The engaged employees feel more valued, connected with organizational success, and have a strong professional and emotional bond with the organization. The performance data helps to set up clear career paths and fair reward programs which increase employee engagements and loyalty.

  • Higher Alignment with Organizational Goals:

    The primary purpose of any performance management system is to align the employees and resources with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. The performance data help businesses link individual employee performance with organization-wide metrics, this highlights the individual contribution and impact on the overall performance. It also help aligning the individual employee goals and objectives with the high-level organizational goals and objectives.

  • Proactive Performance Management:

    The proactive performance management is one of the most effective approach for modern day performance management. That is only possible with highly accurate and in-depth performance data. The performance data help managers to identify the obstacles and problems at early stage and even in some cases before they start impacting the performance. This way managers can prevent any impact on productivity and efficiency. The continuous feedbacks and reviews are a great tool to prevent issues even before they arise.

  • Higher Employee Satisfaction and Retention:

    When the employees realize and see that their performance is measures with utmost fairness and accuracy solely based on the data, they tend to trust the process. This trust drives satisfaction and employee happiness. The data-driven decisions help businesses design and execute employee development-focused training and development programs which further increase employee loyalty and help increasing employee retention. The data-driven decisions eliminate bias and favoritism form review processes.

  • HR Empowerment:

    The performance data help HR to make informed and accurate decision related to staffing, resource allocation, employee transfers, hiring/firing, promotions, etc. Data-driven decisions help HR to allocate resources where they are needed the most and help them enhance the outcome of the entire workforce. The performance data also help HR to adopt to the changing needs and enable them to ensure the required talent and skillsets are always available.

See Also: Best Performance Management Tools and Techniques to Boost Efficiency

See Also: 5 Challenges in implementing Performance Management System

The data-driven decisions help businesses to continuously improve their operations and employee performance.
The data-driven decisions help businesses to continuously improve their operations and employee performance.

Although the data-driven performance management is proven to be the most effective approach however, it comes with some challenges. First and foremost challenge is to develop the data collection mechanisms and then the biggest challenge it to manage and analyze the large volume of data. It sometimes get difficult to determine which data is relevant or not. Therefore most of the modern performance management systems come with AI integrated solutions.

The AI (artificial intelligence) has advanced capabilities to process large volume to structured and unstructured data coming from multiple sources and channels. This enable AI-integrated performance management systems to provide advanced analytical tools with automated reports and actionable insights. The AI-powered data collection and analytical tools can efficiently identify even the minutest patterns and can unlock hidden insights which help empowering the HR and management.

See Also: Top 5 Performance Management Trends in 2022 – 2023

AI Powered Performance Management System
AI Powered Performance Management System

Conclusion

As the technology is evolving, the customer behavior, market conditions, and the businesses themselves are rapidly evolving. We are entering into a new era of technology where our reliance on technology is increasing day by day. The modern performance management systems are one of the modernized application of a very old performance management practice. The performance management is a continuous process as every business and organization wants to leverage the full potential of their resources to ensure highest possible efficiency, and productivity. Businesses operating in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and broader UAE are well aware of the toughest market completion, increasing customer demands and rapidly advancing technologies.

Therefore adopting to latest solutions, methodologies and practices is very common. Over past two decades the performance management has emerged as one of the most essential business function. Since then the technology integration in performance management practices and strategies is continuously rising. The similar impact has been witnessed at the decision making practices. Now a days’ businesses tend to be more successful if they prioritize data-driven decisions over conventional decision and strategy making approaches.

In this blog we have discussed the role of data-driven decisions in performance management and their impact on overall organizational performance and success. We have also discussed briefly about modern performance management systems and data-driven decision making process. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to develop a bespoke performance management system for your organization, 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.

See Also: The Future of Performance Appraisals: 6 Innovations and Changes [Quick Guide]

See Also: How the HR should select a Performance Management System?

See Also: Performance Management System Trends in 2023


Queue Analytics: Leveraging Data for Smoother Operations

In customer service sector the operational efficiency and performance is crucial for long-term business success. The customer satisfaction is the top priority of every business whether it is a bank, hospital, real-estate management firm, educational institute, public office or government agency. Therefore such businesses and organizations tend to implement digital queue management system to streamline their customer flow. A digital queue management system has become integral part of modern customer journey management practices. It streamlines customer flow, automate vital processes, reduce customer wait time and improve staff performance. All these factors contribute to customer satisfaction giving businesses great competitive advantage and helping them to build their brand reputation.

When it comes to queue management system, there are several different types of modern queue management solutions. Some businesses require virtual queuing, some need appointment booking or mobile app integration and so on. However, one thing is common among all types of digital queue management systems and that is their remarkable ability to collect valuable analytical data and insights. This insight is extremely effective in decision making and resource planning processes. And these two processes have direct impact on operational efficiency and performance which is deeply connected to customer satisfaction. In this blog we will discuss how businesses can leverage queue management system’s analytical data to enhance operations and drive performance.

See Also: What is Queue Management? Beginner’s Guide to Queuing Systems

Queue Analytics: Leveraging Data for Smoother Operations
Queue Analytics: Leveraging Data for Smoother Operations

What Type of Analytical Data a Queue Management System can Collect?

A queue management system is a very powerful tool, it consists of an AI-driven software solution and supportive hardware devices. The software collects and monitor analytical data from all touch points which is later converted into actionable insights. These insights help businesses improve customer flow, reduce customer wait time, boost staff performance and enhance overall operations. Here are some key analytical data types that can be collected by a digital queue management system:

See Also: Why do you need a queue management system?

Customer Flow Data

  1. Arrival Rate: The number of customers or footfall at a customer service center during a pre-defined time period. Usually it is on hourly, daily, weekly and in some cases monthly bases. This help planning resource and identifying peak hours. It also help forecast and predictive analysis.
  2. Service Time: The amount of time each customer had to spend to get the service is called service time. This information is very helpful in identifying the flaws in internal processes, workflows and various customer journey steps.
  3. Customer Wait Time: This is often confused with service time but the customer wait time is the time a customer spends in the queues form signing up to reaching to the service counter. This time is crucial in customer experience management.
  4. Queue Length: Whether physical or virtual queues, the queue length is crucial. It is the measurement of the number of customer in any queue at any given point of time. This help businesses improving customer flow and monitored in real-time.

See Also: The Concept of Queue Management and Crowd Control

What Type of Analytical Data a Queue Management System can Collect?
What Type of Analytical Data a Queue Management System can Collect?

Customer Demographic and Behavior

  1. Customer Profiling: The customer profiling is collecting demographic data about customer such as their age, gender, and location. This data is often collected during onboarding or through loyalty programs. The queue management system linked it to a customer interaction.
  2. Customer Journey: The customer journey starts from the point a customer enters in a queue and it last up till customer gets the service and left. The queue management system records customer interaction at all touch points and generate actionable insights form this data.
  3. Repeat Visits: This is very important data, it help businesses understand which customers are visiting service points more often, what were the nature and reasons of their visits and the relevant data about their interaction. It helps improving customer experience and journey.

See Also: What are the Basic Components of Queue Management System?

Customer Demographic and Behavior
Customer Demographic and Behavior

Service Performance Analysis

  1. SLA Compliance: The SLA or Service Level Agreement compliance indicates if the customers are served within the maximum allowed service time, wait time and time to resolution. This help understanding the compliance with the pre-defined SLA standards and it help businesses maintain optimum levels of customer experience and satisfaction.
  2. Resource Utilization: The resource utilization is a comprehensive analysis which includes multiple metrics and help businesses understand if the resources in hand were utilized with optimum efficiency. It also help identifying the overstaffing, understaffing and idle time. This data helps in strategic decision making and improving overall operational efficiency.
  3. Staff Performance: A queue management system can record several staff KPIs (key performance indicators) such as number of customer served, average service time for individual services, idle/off time or breaks and customer feedbacks. These metrics help businesses identify training needs and improve training and reward programs.

See Also: What are the Different Types of Queue Management System?

Service Performance Analysis
Service Performance Analysis

Predictive Analysis and Forecast

  1. Demand Forecasting: The queue management system can analyze historical data and identify patterns which help businesses accurately forecast customer flow at any day or time. This information is extremely crucial in resource planning.
  2. Wait Time Prediction: The queue management system can provide accurate measurement of expected wait time based on the current queue length, service delivery time, and available staff’s strength. The wait time prediction is important for customer experience and it can be provided to customer via signage, and other channels to set realistic expectations.
  3. Staff Performance Prediction: That is a bit complex metric, it consider the overall staff performance and their efficiency in individual service delivery along with historical data and demand forecast the queue management system can predict performance of available staff at any date or time which is important in human resource planning.

See Also: What Is Virtual Queuing? A Guide to Virtual Queues

Predictive Analysis and Forecast
Predictive Analysis and Forecast

Customer Feedback Data

  1. Post-Service Surveys: The queue management system can be integrated with customer feedback and survey system. Usually businesses use countertop interactive displays, QR Codes, and emails to collect customer feedback. The queue management system can link this feedback with a specific customer interaction which improves insights and analysis.
  2. Net Promoter Score (NPS): The Net Promoter Score or NPS is the single most effective metric to analyze the success of any business or organization. This is a simple and quick method to collect customer feedback. Queue management system can collect this feedback from interactive kiosk, countertop displays, SMS, emails, WhatsApp, etc.
  3. Customer Sentiment Analysis: The AI-powered queue management system can effectively analyze the tone, content, and context of the customer feedback or suggestion. It can also link it to a specific interaction which reflects in multiple reports, such as customer satisfaction and staff performance reports.

See Also: How to Set Up SMS based Queue Management System?

Customer Feedback Data
Customer Feedback Data

Queue System’s Operational Data

  1. System Utilization Data: This is a simple metric, it measures how effectively a queue management system is being sued such as up-time, down-time, usage patterns, and any other interruption.
  2. Transaction Logs: This includes detailed log of every interaction. The queue management system records entire transaction details such as customer arrival time, wait time, service start time, service end time, and all the actions taken by the customer service agents.
  3. System Access Logs: The queue management system keeps record of all user’s all actions. Such as who signed-in, when signed-in/signed-out, what user perform what action, and other system stats which are vital for audit and security improvements.
  4. Real-Time Monitoring: The queue management system provides live queuing data to the management. The live data indicates current queue status, active services, customer flow rate, live staff performance and it also indicates trends that help management take immediate actions or make adjustments to prevent crowd formation or congestion.

See Also: Paperless Queue Management System

Queue System’s Operational Data
Queue System’s Operational Data

Customer Engagement Data

  1. Queuing Policy Analysis: The queuing policy or queuing rules are the prioritization of different customer segmentation and impact of different channels on the overall queuing dynamics. For example, number of VIP or Customers with Special Priorities signed-up, their interaction details, number of virtual queue-based and appointment-based services and their impact, etc.
  2. Queue Type Analysis: The volume of customer inflow from various queuing channels such as physical, virtual or appointment-based service requests. The queue management system also help identifying the patterns and impact of all these different queue types on overall operations.
  3. Interactive Kiosk Interactions: The queue management system provides an intuitive UI for interactive ticket dispensing kiosks. It also records how customers are interacting with these devices, what they are choosing, what information they are providing or accessing through these screens and much more.
  4. Virtual Channel Interaction: A modern queue management system captures analytical data of customer engagement through various integrated virtual channels such as Mobile Apps, Customer Portals, Appointment Booking Portals, SMS, WhatsApp, etc.

See Also: 7 Features of Queue Management Software

Customer Engagement Data
Customer Engagement Data

These are some of the most common analytical data types a modern digital queue management system captures. Furthermore businesses can also customize a queue management system to capture more data types such as in some cases businesses also require biometric authentication or self-registration which involves payment, document scanning and much more. All these data types can also be stored in the central data repository where the AI-powered smart algorithms and advanced analytical tools can help businesses generate in-depth insights and reports.

How Businesses can Leverage the Queue Management System’s Analytical Data to Achieve Superior Operational Performance?

In today’s modern and highly competitive market landscape businesses tend to rely more on data for strategic decision making and policy building processes. The term data-driven and informed decision making is not a fancy phenomenon but an absolute essential for the business success. Businesses operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and broader UAE are well aware of the importance of data and its impact on performance, resource planning, cost-optimization and growth.

See Also: How Queue Management System Helps Maximizing the Efficiency?

Therefore the queue management system’s analytical data plays a pivotal role in customer service and customer experience management practices. Businesses always strive to achieve highest possible operational performance because smoother operations means satisfied customers, lower operational cost and improved brand reputation. One of the primary goals of deploying a digital queue management system is to elevate customer experience and optimize operational performance.

How Businesses can Leverage the Queue Management System’s Analytical Data to Achieve Superior Operational Performance?
How Businesses can Leverage the Queue Management System’s Analytical Data to Achieve Superior Operational Performance?

A queue management system can produce a wealth of analytical and business intelligence data which can be used to understand the customer flow, queuing process, staff performance and effectiveness of the service delivery mechanisms. The analytical data also help businesses evaluate various internal processes, workflows and strategies which is crucial to identify the strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvements. Here are some key areas which businesses can greatly improve by leveraging the analytical data generated within a queue management system for operational excellence:

See Also: How Queue Management System can Boost Productivity and Profitability?

Improve Staff and Resource Allocation

For staff and resource allocation businesses need a comprehensive understanding and information of customer flow, peak hours, peak days, different service demand at different point of time and the impact of various factors on the operational efficiency. This information and understanding ensures your branch has required staff and enough resources at any given point of time and day as per the expected demand and customer flow.

This also ensures maximum level of queuing efficiency which is a key to minimize customer wait time and maximize customer satisfaction. The real-time queuing data helps businesses to allocation resources with higher efficiency and efficacy. For example, you can assign more experienced staff to the complex services and vice versa or you can adjust the number of available service counters in real-time to deal with the incoming footfall. The analytical data also help businesses to prepare for unprecedented scenarios and conditions and enhance queuing management.

See Also: Streamlining the Waiting Experience: How Queue Management Systems Improve Patient Flow

Improve Staff and Resource Allocation
Improve Staff and Resource Allocation

Enhance Customer Experience and Raise Customer Satisfactions

The customer experience and customer satisfaction are the two most crucial and interdependent factors that differentiate a business from others. Hence offering an elevated customer experience not only raise customer satisfaction but also help elevating customer loyalty and overall brand reputation. The queue management system inherently reduce the customer wait time. It improves the service delivery mechanisms and boost staff performance which resultantly elevate customer experience.

Furthermore the queue management system increase customer engagement and help simplifying customer journey which are important to raise customer satisfactions. The queuing data, historical data, predictive analysis and staff performance insights help businesses effectively allocate resource to keep the wait time at minimum all the time. Furthermore the queue management system also has ability to identify different customer segments and profiles which is essential for delivering a personalized customer experience and it also help implementing the queuing policy effectively.

See Also: Queue Management System for Trucks and Logistic Centers

Enhance Customer Experience and Raise Customer Satisfactions
Enhance Customer Experience and Raise Customer Satisfactions

Automation and Service Efficiency Optimization

The queue management system collect service time, customer wait time and service staff performance KPIs. These insights are vital in identifying the bottlenecks in service delivery processes. By identifying the bottlenecks such as services or queues that take more time, queuing policies and rules which are effecting other queues or causing delays can help businesses identify the root cause of any problem. This also help businesses revisit their polices, strategies rules, and even businesses can make adjustments in relevant processes, workflows and service delivery mechanisms to minimize the customer wait time.

On top of that the queue management system also provides comprehensive staff performance data which help management retrain staff to improve their efficiency for services, workflows or tasks for which they are taking more time to complete. The queue management system can also help automating various processes and workflows and it is capable of integrating with other third-party systems, customer databases, and central information system. This enables a queue management system to empower service agents too through dedicated service agent dashboards.

See Also: How Queue Management System Helps to Provide Better Customer Service

Automation and Service Efficiency Optimization
Automation and Service Efficiency Optimization

Data-Driven Decision Making

Businesses can leverage the historical data and various in-built analytical tools to understand and forecast future demands. This help management make more informed and data-driven decisions for staff allocations, service delivery enhancements, service counter expansion or resource allocation and customer journey adjustments. This also increase business’s readiness to deal with unexpected scenarios and conditions and make their management more proactive and keeps them ahead of service demands customer needs and market trends.

Businesses can also leverage the analytical data for performance benchmarking. The management can easily compare the performance of different branches, locations or departments, which help management identify the most effective and efficient practices. It also help them identify the areas of improvements which is crucial for decision making. Businesses can also standardize the high-performing processes and identify under-performing or poorly performing practices and processes.

See Also: Importance of Queue Management System for Government and Public Offices

Data-Driven Decision Making
Data-Driven Decision Making

Proactive Management and Preventive Measures

Things are moving so fast at any customer service center, businesses needs a proactive management approach to deal with modern queuing challenges. Furthermore the management should have a strong and effective preventive strategy which help them prevent crowd formation, congestion, and help dealing with unexpected or disruptive situations. Businesses can utilize the predictive analysis data to identify the peak hours, expected footfall and staff performance challenges which help them prepare for the future.

For example if a surge is detected during lunch breaks or during closing hours, businesses can effectively prepare their resources to deal with both scenarios by simply extending service counters during that time. The AI-driven in-depth analysis help businesses predict and identify the disruptions, due to planned or unplanned maintenance or staff planning scenarios or any external factor. This readiness help management to take preventive approaches and neutralize any such event even before it happens.

See Also: Why Small and Local Businesses Need a Queue Management System?

Proactive Management and Preventive Measures
Proactive Management and Preventive Measures

Conclusion

Leveraging queue management system’s analytical data and business intelligence can help businesses streamline their customer flow and optimize their operational efficiency. A queue management system is a very capable and smart solution which captures tons of analytical data. This analytical data covers all ranging from customer wait time to complete interaction details and further extending to staff performance KPIs and much more.

With this crucial data in hand businesses can make informed decision which help them optimize customer journey, customer experience and staff performance. For any business analyzing their existing workflows, business processes, strategies, polices and management approach is crucial. It helps them identify the strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement. The data-driven management approach empowered by the analytical data of a queue management system not only help businesses dealing with current challenges but it also help them anticipating future demand and condition. This is what makes queue management system more superior and impactful in raising customer satisfaction and boosting operational efficiency.

The insight generated from queue management system’s analytical data is invaluable for smoother operations. In this blog we have discussed various types of analytical data which can be collected form a digital queue management system and their impact on various operational processes, decision making and management practices. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design and implement a bespoke AI-driven cost-effective queue management system for your business or organization, please contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment section below and we will get in touch with you soon.

See Also: Pros and Cons of Queue Management System


The Role of Self-Service Kiosks in Enhancing Customer Experience

Businesses are eagerly seeking ways to enhance and elevate customer experience. The customer experience very much depends on the staff performance and operational efficiency. Therefore businesses rely on technology to achieve their goals. The interactive self-service kiosk is a cutting-edge technology which can streamline operational processes and help elevating customer experience. Within the past decade the interactive self-service kiosk has evolved and developed a lot. With adding a few simple technology devices businesses can deliver full services through intuitive self-service experience. One of the biggest advantage of interactive self-service kiosk is that it doesn’t require any staff assistance.

This not only eliminate friction from the customer journey, but the inherent automation and digitalization greatly improve internal business processes. The interactive self-service kiosks can be integrated in a wide spectrum of industries ranging from humble information kiosk to delivering sophisticated business transactions, scanning documents and making payments, etc. These advantages are making interactive self-service kiosk more appealing for businesses. The customers also appreciate getting served quickly. No one likes waiting in long queues to sing-in or to get served by the staff, instead they prefer getting self-service through these self-service kiosks. The interactive self-service kiosks are reshaping the ways businesses used to serve their customers.

As per a study published in Forbes around 73% of the customers wants to resolve their problems by themselves. This is what is fueling this trend and more businesses are opting for customized interactive self-service kiosks. In this blog we will discuss the role of interactive self-service kiosks in enhancing the customer experience.

The Role of Self-Service Kiosks in Enhancing Customer Experience
The Role of Self-Service Kiosks in Enhancing Customer Experience

What is an Interactive Self-Service Kiosk?

By definition an interactive self-service kiosk is a standalone computer terminal, equipped with specialized software and hardware features which allow customers to perform certain tasks independently without requiring any assistance from the staff. A standard interactive self-service kiosk consists of a touchscreen, computer, printer, QR Code/Barcode scanner, Emirate ID Card Reader, and several other peripherals depending on its application. Typically when you go to a bank or at a government office, you find a ticket dispensing kiosk which asks you for the service you are interested in and dispense a token for the queue. The commonly used bill payment kiosks used for mobile top-ups and utility bill payments are a basic type of payment kiosks. The modern day interactive self-service kiosks have much wider spectrum of applications ranging from visitor registration to booking ticket and airport check-ins, etc.

See Also: Designing User-Friendly Self-Service Kiosks [Guide]

There are several more industry specific applications such as for government services, for HR services, for education, hospitality and healthcare, etc. In conclusion one can safely say that these interactive self-service kiosks can be customized for any kind of customer facing environment for the service sector. Here are some key features of an interactive self-service kiosks:

  • Intuitive User-Friendly UIs: The UIs or user interfaces of an interactive self-service kiosk are intuitive, user-friendly and loaded with on-screen prompts guiding customers through various tasks and navigating them through available services and information.
  • Touch-Screen Enabled: Nearly all present day interactive self-service kiosks are touch-screen enabled. The touch screens make them more user-friendly. The touch-screen optimized UIs enable customers to quickly perform their tasks with simple taps on the screen.
  • Multi-lingual Support: In Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other regions of UAE a lot of expats are residing, serving them in their preferred language along with English and Arabic can elevate their experience and raise customer satisfaction.
  • Easy Accessibility Features: The interactive self-service kiosks offer easy accessibility features for users with disabilities or special needs such as screen readers, adjustable font-size, multiple UI color schemes, and rotatable screens are common features.
  • Security and Privacy: The interactive self-service kiosks offer better security and privacy. The data communication between the terminal and server is secure and encrypted. The customers never have to share any details with the staff or service agents.
  • Customization and Scaling: The interactive self-service kiosks are highly customizable. Businesses can have customized features, peripherals and even design to align with their needs. Businesses can easily scale them up and upgrade them which increase their lifecycle.
  • Durability and Maintenance: The interactive self-service kiosks usually comes with industrial grade electronic components. In both indoor and outdoor environments, these kiosks can be operated for 24/7 without requiring much maintenance and servicing.

See Also: Self-Service Kiosks for Effective Queue Management

What is an Interactive Self-Service Kiosk?
What is an Interactive Self-Service Kiosk?

The interactive self-service kiosks are built on very flexible technology platform which enable businesses to customize them as per their needs. Upgrading and customizing them is crucial for growing businesses and the interactive self-service kiosks are excellent at it. It is due to their reliability, features and higher ROI these interactive self-service kiosks can offer a variety of benefits for both businesses and customers:

  • Elevated Customer Experience: The interactive self-service kiosks have ability to significantly raise customer satisfaction with enhanced and elevated customer experience. The multi-lingual support, customized and innovative features and easy-of-use make them ideal for customers.
  • Boost Operational Efficiency: With interactive self-service kiosks the customer footfall can be divided between the kiosks and the service agents which boost staff performance. The interactive self-service kiosks also automate and optimize internal process to boost operational efficiency.
  • Operational Cost Reduction: The interactive self-service kiosks divide the workload of the staff, and minimize the human errors from the process which effectively reduce operational cost. It also help management in making informed decisions for better resource management.
  • Business Intelligence Data: When it comes to informed decisions, the business intelligence data plays a crucial role in data-driven decision making. The interactive self-service kiosks can collect a wealth of behavioral, statistical and analytical data which empowers decision making.
  • AI-Powered Smart Solution: The interactive self-service kiosks are good at integrating AI-powered smart solutions such as AI Chatbots, Virtual Assistants, Voice Commands, smart algorithms, personalized customer experience, management and security, and advanced data collection.
  • Competitive Advantage: The early adopter of customized interactive self-service kiosks can gain a great competitive advantage by offering easy access to information and services through intuitive and easy-to-access 24/7 available channel.

These are some of the key features and benefits of interactive self-service kiosks. Businesses can customize them to offer innovative features. Moreover the IoT and third-party system integration enable these kiosks to seamlessly integrate within existing information infrastructure of the business.

See Also: How Interactive Kiosks are Enhancing In-Store Engagement and Sales

The interactive self-service kiosks are built on very flexible technology platform which enable businesses to customize them as per their needs.
The interactive self-service kiosks are built on very flexible technology platform which enable businesses to customize them as per their needs.

How Interactive Self-Service Kiosk Enhance Customer Experience?

The digital touch-points are playing a crucial role in reshaping customer experience management practices. Businesses are realizing that the customers are more inclined towards digital interaction. The smartphones, websites, online knowledgebase, online customer portals and such technologies are completely transforming customer experience management. The interactive self-service kiosks can be a game-changer for businesses because these technology marvels has ability to deliver some of the most complex services with excellent efficiency and convenience. Which is making them popular among customers and consumers in general. Here are some key factors to understand the role of interactive self-service kiosk in enhancing customer experience:

  • Personalized Customer Experience: The interactive self-service kiosks can tailor customer experience based on their preference, past interaction, demographics, and other aspects. Which enable them to deliver highly personalized customer experience making customer feel valued.
  • Faster Service Delivery: The interactive self-service kiosks are customized as per business needs and their internal process. By leveraging the power of automation and utilizing the intuitive multi-lingual UIs businesses can enable faster service delivery and gain higher customer satisfaction.
  • Increased Accessibility: Businesses can deploy customized interactive self-service kiosks at their service centers and at multiple other places, which raise accessibility. Further options can be included to support users with special needs and for a certain customer base.
  • Accuracy and Consistency: The interactive self-service kiosks always deliver a consistent customer experience, with superior accuracy. As there is no human staff involved in the process so the accuracy and privacy of the customers is raised significantly.
  • Increased Customer Engagements: Businesses can effectively increase customer engagements by providing personalized experience, recommendations, instructions and even multi-media content which raise customer engagements and help delivering satisfactory customer experience.
  • Integration with Loyalty Programs: Businesses can easily integrate loyalty programs and customer portals within these kiosks. Offering secure and quicker sing-in such as via Emirates ID, 2FA-OTP, Biometric, QR Code or via mobile phones can greatly improve customer experience.
  • Real-Time Customer Feedback: The interactive self-service kiosks can collect customer feedback through general and customized surveys and feedback campaigns. Customers can also be provided features to submit their suggestions right through the interactive self-service kiosk.
  • Cash and Digital Payments: In some cases the customers also have to make some payments for the service they need or for their subscriptions. The interactive self-service kiosks support multiple payment options such as cash deposit, credit/debit cards, and digital payments modes.
  • Analytical Data Collection: An interactive self-service kiosk is a very power tool which can collect valuable analytical data. The customer behavioral and system usage data along with other analytical data help businesses analyze and improve customer experience.
  • Access to Customer Support: The interactive self-service kiosks offer various supports such as FAQs, knowledgebase, well-structured information and even direct access to customer support via call center, Chatbots, and virtual assistants.

The interactive self-service kiosks are rapidly transforming the service sector. Businesses are leveraging these smart technologies to enhance and elevate customer experience and to optimize their operational efficiency. These interactive self-service kiosks tend to deliver higher ROI over a longer period of time and on top of that due to their ability to customize and upgrade, an interactive self-service kiosk can remain relevant for many years.

See Also: 8 Benefits of Using Digital Kiosks for Your Business

How Interactive Self-Service Kiosk Enhance Customer Experience?
How Interactive Self-Service Kiosk Enhance Customer Experience?

Conclusion

For a long term and sustainable growth every business knows the importance of customer satisfaction is paramount. Businesses and organizations operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and other regions of UAE are always seeking innovative and creative ways to elevate their customer experience. The market landscape is highly competitive and the customer demands and trends are always changing. Therefore businesses eagerly seek technology-oriented solutions which not only serve the purpose but are also capable of evolving alongside business needs. The interactive self-service kiosks are a game-changing technology which can not only deliver excellent customer experience but are capable of boosting operational efficiency, effectively cutting cost and raising a business’s profitability.

Unlike any other digital solution, the interactive self-service kiosks represent an historic shift in ways and practices businesses were used to of delivering customer service. The customer service plays crucial role in customer satisfaction. Similar to any other digital solution its success based on the customer experience it can deliver, the interactive self-service kiosks have proven to be most effective tool to elevate the customer service by delivering exceptional customer experience via self-service. One of the biggest advantage of interactive self-service kiosk is that businesses can customize them as per their needs and industry. Which make them ideal for any customer facing service center. Businesses and organizations have witnessed significant rise in customer satisfaction and loyalty after deploying interactive self-service kiosks.

In this blog we have explored key features and benefits of interactive self-service kiosks and how these kiosks are playing a crucial role in transforming customer experience management. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to design and deploy a bespoke interactive self-service kiosk for your business or organization, 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.

See Also: Security Challenges and Solutions in Payment Kiosk Systems


The Role of AI in Custom Software Solutions

In today’s modern and technology-driven market landscape businesses rely on various software solutions in order to maintain maximum operational performance. When it comes to software solutions there are two distinct types of solutions, the commercial off-the-shelf solutions (COTS) and customized software solutions. The COTS are ready-made applications designed for masses, however the customized software are tailored to cater to specific business needs. This is why businesses are shifting their focus towards customized software solutions. The AI (artificial intelligence) is a very powerful technology which is far superior then conventional software applications. That is why businesses are rapidly adopting modern AI (artificial intelligence) based solutions.

When it comes to custom software development, the AI (artificial intelligence) has a lot of potential. The AI is a most modern form of application which is usually implemented where traditional software applications fell short and require human intelligence. There are two major types of AI, the narrow AI which is used to enhance certain tasks. The other type is general AI which is often used in language models, customer services, and it has a wider spectrum of applications. The AI (artificial intelligence) integration in custom software development help automating various sophisticated and complex processes which help driving efficiency and performance. In this blog we will discuss briefly how AI can elevate the impact and efficiency of the custom software solutions.

The Role of AI in Custom Software Solutions
The Role of AI in Custom Software Solutions

How AI is enhancing the Custom Software Solutions?

Before we discuss the role of AI in customer software solutions, let us first understand the customer software development. In today’s modern and digitally transformed market landscape, businesses tend to utilize multiple software applications and IT infrastructure in order to optimize their operations. There are two major categories of software, one is the COTS or commercial off-the-shelf solution and the other is custom software development. The biggest difference between a custom software application and a COT solution is that the COTS are designed for masses and are usually industry specific. Whereas the custom software development is a process to designing and developing bespoke software solutions that resonate with the business needs.

Both custom software development and the COTS have their own advantages and disadvantages, the customer software development stands out because of its ability to fully align with the business needs. The custom software solutions are designed exclusively for businesses and have a particular user group. The custom software solutions are exclusive, hence has ability to offer a better competitive advantages. Furthermore the custom software address even the smallest challenge or problem a business. On top of that the custom software solutions offer easy customization and flexible third-party integration capabilities. Because of all these features businesses tend to rely more on custom software development which is also making the role of AI more crucial and important for software industry. Here is how AI is enhancing the custom software solutions.

See Also: Why Off-the-Shelf Solutions Fall Short: Advantages of Custom Software Development

How AI is enhancing the Custom Software Solutions?
How AI is enhancing the Custom Software Solutions?

Benefits of Integrating AI in Custom Software Development Lifecycle

The AI or Artificial Intelligence is rapidly reshaping the IT industry, which is not only impacting our work lives but also personal lives. The AI plays crucial role in custom software solutions, even at software development lifecycle. When AI aided tools and analysis techniques are used during custom software development, it can potentially be the great catalyst to innovation and exceptional efficiency. The AI at software development lifecycle empowers software developers and help them design more efficient, impactful and user-centric applications. The role of AI is not limited to software development lifecycle, it also plays crucial role in custom software designs. When AI-powered algorithms integrated within the customized software applications, it help making them more efficient and effective.

  • AI Enhance User Experience: The AI has capabilities to analyze large volume of data which help understanding user behavior. Understanding user behavior is extremely crucial for designing software applications which can deliver exceptional user experience.
  • AI’s Predictive Analysis: The AI or Artificial intelligence is capable of performing exceptional predictive analysis which help software developers predict future trends and customer demands. This analysis help designing customer-centric software applications.
  • Boosting Efficiency: The AI-powered tools help software development teams to avoid repetitive tasks, it also help them streamlining and expediting the software development process. The AI-powered frameworks and development tools accelerate the development processes.
  • AI Enhance Performance: The AI powered tools help software development team overcome many challenges that are associated with traditional development techniques. It enhance communication, avoid repetitive work, and help the team to efficiency allocate resources.
  • AI-Powered Code Assistants: Now a day’s AI-powered code assistants and programming tools are redefining the software development. These tools empowers developers, boost their skills, enable accelerated programing methods, perform debugging, and ensure highest coding standards.
  • Testing and Maintenance: The role of AI is not limited in designing and coding, but it effectively does testing, and also help development team in maintenance with its remarkable predictive algorithms, it empowers preventive maintenance and enhance scaling of the applications.

AI-powered tools and integration of various AI applications drive innovation and make customized software more customer-centric, intuitive and efficient.

See Also: Leveraging Big Data in Custom Software Development

Benefits of Integrating AI in Custom Software Development Lifecycle
Benefits of Integrating AI in Custom Software Development Lifecycle

The AI’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) Tools

We all know well about Siri, Alexa, ChatGPT and Google Assistant, these all are AI-powered applications. And these all applications heavily rely on Natural Language Process (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms. There are so many open source AI platforms such as Meta’s (Facebook) Llama, Keras, Rasa, Amazone Sagemaker, and ApacheMXNet are most popular and widely used platform which makes it a lot easier to integrate customized AI models and wider array of use-cases in your custom software solutions. These tools help businesses build innovative and intuitive features which enhance user experience efficiency. By leveraging the true potential of AI in managing custom software applications, collecting and analyzing analytical data businesses can build exceptional software applications.

  • Increase User Engagements: The AI’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) help creating Chabots and virtual Assistants in your customized software solutions. These tools help engaging users and customers and make your software application more automated and efficient.
  • Sentiment Analysis: Another remarkable feature of NLPs is that their unparalleled capability to understand and identified customer sentiments in user-generated content and customer feedback which help businesses improve features of their custom software solutions.
  • AI-Powered Data Mining: The AI’s ability to collect, process and analyze large volume of data from multiple different channels is remarkable. The AI with its NLP and ML can accurately identify hidden insights, patters and correlations which help improving customer experience.
  • Machine Learning (ML): The Machine Learning (ML) is a subset of AI, which help businesses build predictive models, identify fraud, rectify errors, and learn about user behavior to fuel continuous improvements in custom software solutions which is essential for customer satisfaction.
  • AI Strengthens Cyber Security: The AI plays a crucial role in cyber security, it has ability to improve the software management tools. The AI-powered custom software solutions can integrate additional security and monitoring layers powered by AI algorithms to mitigate cyber threats.

When AI-powered algorithms and tools are integrated in the custom software solutions, it can offer a spectrum of benefits. The user engagements can be increased effectively, while making the application experience seamless and more user-friendly. The data mining and analysis tools help identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your customized software applications and help you make continuous improvements and enhancements for elevated user experience and efficiency.

See Also: Custom Software Development for Enhanced User Experience

The AI’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) Tools
The AI’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) Tools

The AI Provides Business Intelligence Data and Help Making Informed Decisions

For any business whenever they are planning to implement a new software solution, they have certain objectives in mind. For example, for an ERP businesses aim to effectively manage resources to drive superior performance. In case of a CRM businesses aim to deliver satisfactory customer service and experience to achieve higher customer satisfaction. However, these all decisions require a lot of insights, technical knowledge along with professional skills. For any business making informed decision could be a game changer, because every strategic decision could have long-term impact on business growth. Therefore businesses rely on business intelligence data to empower their decision making process.

The business intelligence data consists of customer feedbacks, internal data, statistical and analytical data collected from all available or most relevant channels and data sources. This help businesses identify the need of new features or solutions. It basically help identifying the flaws in existing business processes and workflows which help improving them.

  • Business Intelligence: Whether the AI is implemented at a single software solution or at the organizational level it help collecting and analyzing business intelligence data. The AI powered algorithms precisely identify patterns, trends, and are capable of uncovering hidden insights, correlations, and it produces actionable reports. These actionable reports not only help making informed decisions but also help analyzing the impact of those decisions.
  • Scenario Analysis: Businesses often failed to utilize the scenario analysis methodologies or even if they do it they do it incorrectly. The AI has tremendous potential, with its abilities to understand historical data, collect user generated data, statistical and analytical data mining, and its ability to converge all data sources from a variety of channels to a single repository makes scenario analysis much more precise, effective, impactful and cost-efficient.

For any business informed decisions are the key to success. The data-driven decision making is becoming mainstream. It is due to the rapid changes in the market, dynamic competitive landscape and every increasing customer demands. Businesses need to be more proactive, responsive and informed in order to meet all those challenges. The AI can play a crucial role in improving operational performance and can provide a great edge over competition.

See Also: Custom Software for Improved Business Efficiency

The AI Provides Business Intelligence Data and Help Making Informed Decisions
The AI Provides Business Intelligence Data and Help Making Informed Decisions

The Role of AI in Improving Key Business Functions

The AI or Artificial Intelligence will play a crucial role in future in software development industry. In today’s digitally dominate world, businesses rely on various different types of software applications to effectively and efficiently operate different business functions. The AI has huge potential to improve each and every business function which makes it an essential tool for long-term business success. Here are some key business functions and the role of AI in improving them:

  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM): The customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the most crucial business function. The AI can enhance customer relationship management methods and CRM software. The AI can help improving customer interaction and customer service. It can effectively analyze customer data to help building targeted marketing campaigns and communication material for better brand perception. The AI-powered Chatbots and Virtual Assistants can offer instant service and assistance to elevate customer satisfaction.
  • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): The ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning software is a centralized information center and a framework for business operating software. The AI can empower management by reducing the efforts, maximizing the efficiency, eliminating repetitive tasks and offering highly accurate predictive analysis. The AI can effectively automate several internal process and workflows which help managers focus on more productive and crucial tasks. AI-powered predictive analysis and forecast eliminate human errors and empower decisions.
  • Cyber Security: The data is like the bloodline in modern enterprises and businesses, hence the cyber security is the top priority. Business value cyber security not only to protect the data but also to safeguard their brand image and reputation. AI-powered management frameworks and tools have capabilities to respond to cyber threats in real-time. The AI algorithms can detect the fraudulent activities and suspicious user behavior with high accuracy. These features level up cyber security and help mitigating cyber threats with a proactive and preventive approach.
  • Human Resource (HR): The Human Resource (HR) is responsible for hunting right talent and retaining the productive staff. It is also responsible for ensuring elevated performance and optimized operational efficiency. The AI-powered HR tools can effectively screen resumes and help finding the right talent. Furthermore the AI have huge application in employee performance management and appraisal processes. The AI can effectively identify the obstacles and factors hindering staff performance and effectively elevate HR team’s efficiency.
  • Marketing and Communication: The marketing and communication are main catalyst in driving revenue and growth. For marketing and communication businesses must have right customer personas and segmentation. This is a very complex and sophisticated process. The AI can effectively analyze historical data, customer preference, past interactions, and demographics to create most effective user groups for marketing and communication. This not only reduce efforts and save costs but also make these campaigns much more profitable.

The role of AI is not only limited to above mentioned business functions,  but it also have wider application in almost every business function such as manufacturing, warehouse & facility management, financial services, other vital internal business processes. That is why businesses are eager to explore the potential of AI in various business functions. No matter how and where you implement AI-powered solutions, the AI is proven to drive superior efficiency, performance and accuracy.

See Also: The Cost of Custom Software Development: Factors to Consider

The Role of AI in Improving Key Business Functions
The Role of AI in Improving Key Business Functions

Conclusion

In the technology-driven market landscape the AI or Artificial Intelligence is not a futuristic concept anymore, but it has emerged as a reality and absolute necessity to meet with the present day challenges businesses are facing. A modern business or enterprise rely on various software solutions for their daily operations. Hence businesses are on a regular demand to upgrade, improve, and enhance their software and IT infrastructure. The need of implementing a brand new software application is very common, businesses tend to revamp and upgrade their tools every year. This is crucial to stay competitive and to maintain maximum operational performance. When it comes to implement a new software application businesses have two ways to move forward. They can either chose the commercial off-the-shelf solution (COTS) or they can go for a custom software solutions.

The custom software solutions tend to be more effective, impactful and high-performing comparing to COTS or commercial off-the-shelf solutions. The custom software development enable businesses to effectively design applications which accurately meet their needs and fits-in seamlessly in their existing IT infrastructure and environment. The application of AI (Artificial Intelligence), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) is huge in custom software solutions. The AI elevate custom software solutions from the software development lifecycle to implementation, maintenance, security and even during the improvement processes. The AI has remarkable ability to process large volume of data, above that it has capabilities to collect and analyze data form various resources and channels with absolute accuracy and remarkable efficiency. This is what makes AI an essential component of present day custom software development.

The role of AI in custom software solutions is set to grow even further in coming future. As we all are becoming more accustomed to various AI tools and applications in our daily lives, it is expected to have the similar pattern in the work as well. People are getting more used to of such applications, the software developers, the end-users and decision makers, everyone is getting more familiar with the AI tools. In this blog we have discussed briefly the role of AI in custom software solutions and its benefits along with its impact on key business functions. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help with your next AI-powered custom software development project, 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.

See Also: Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Your Custom Software Development Project


Developing Secure Custom Software in a Cyber Threat Landscape

Businesses tend to rely on various software-based solutions and digital technologies in order to achieve higher operational efficiency and performance. The custom software development is a method to tailor-made software solutions as per business’s unique and exclusive needs. Businesses can also invest in custom software development to level up their defense against the increasing cyber threats and growing security concerns. The cyber security has become the biggest concern for present day businesses and customers alike. The custom software development enable businesses to incorporate various innovative and personalized features to align the app with their needs. Similarly businesses can also incorporate advanced security measures and protective features to elevate the security of their software application.

The custom software development offers more flexibility and control in designing and development process which enable businesses to incorporate a range of security features throughout the development process. This help businesses to deal with increasingly sophisticated and ever evolving security threats. The cyber security is crucial to protect digital assets as well as any business’s reputation. If a small data breach occurs which compromises even least important internal data, even this could have done staggering damage to the business’s reputation. Because the customers will instantly loose trust if they find their favorite brand got data-breach. In this blog we will discuss how custom software development helps elevating the security and strengthen businesses against cyber threats.

See Also: What is custom software development?

Developing Secure Custom Software in a Cyber Threat Landscape
Developing Secure Custom Software in a Cyber Threat Landscape

Understanding the Cyber Threats Businesses are Facing Regularly

The cyber threats businesses had to deal with are evolving, from phishing, to DDoS attacks, malwares, SQL Injection and highly sophisticated ransomware, these all are a few of most common threats. With the passage of time the techniques and tools used to perform such attacks have become highly sophisticated and advanced. Moreover there are cyber-attacks related to IoTs and in some cases there are insider attacks. The insider attacks are mostly unintentional where an employee or contractor who have access to sensitive data got attacked. Whatever the case is the cyber threats are increasing greatly and becoming more challenging day by day. Apart from these there are several other cyber threats that businesses need to handle such as cross-site scripting, identity-based attacks, and much more.

See Also: Custom Software Development for Enhanced User Experience

For example, where the cloud is transforming digital landscape, the security challenges are paramount due to distributed ownership, authority and various other aspects. All these threats are increasing the chances of getting compromised. Furthermore as the AI is rapidly progressing and infusing into almost every digital technology it could. The malicious actors are also seem to exploiting the AI to enhance their attacks. In such situations the custom software development can provide an extra layer of security due to its flexible approach towards structure, technology platforms and control over each and every aspects of the software development and operation. The custom software development also enable businesses to utilize proven coding practices, frameworks, platforms and software stacks to boost security.

See Also: Why Off-the-Shelf Solutions Fall Short: Advantages of Custom Software Development

Understanding the Cyber Threats Businesses are Facing Regularly
Understanding the Cyber Threats Businesses are Facing Regularly

How Custom Software Development Help Boosting the Security of Digital Assets

The custom software development empower businesses in building software solution from ground up, where this enable businesses to incorporate innovative features, it also help building better security features. The bespoke approach always offer better flexibility and control which enable the developers to introduce more security features and build multiple layers of security to deal with the exclusive and unique challenges and vulnerabilities. Here are some key aspects of custom software development which help enhancing and improving the security of the applications:

Custom Software Development: Secure Coding

The secure coding doesn’t represent a framework or tool but in fact it is a practice and technique which complies the programmer’s decisions while creating source code and building the software applications. Although the secure coding techniques ensures that the programmer or coder minimize the possibilities of having vulnerabilities in the software program. As industry standard or best practices you can effectively implement the OWASP Secure Coding Standards or SEI CERT Coding Standards within your custom software development project. Secure coding doesn’t mean using specialized programming languages, for example, the secure coding mandates “default deny” permission approach, and it means all the permissions are denied until specified otherwise.

See Also: Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Your Custom Software Development Project

Here are a few crucial areas to consider and understand for secure coding:

  • Security by Design: The security by design refers to the two areas, one the security is the top priority during the entire software development life cycle. Second it refers to prioritizing the security over the design aspects. For example, the CSS and JS needed to be secured in case of web-based software application.
  • Strong Passwords: The password and login credentials are the most common area users got exploited. Therefore including two factor authentication and adopting encrypted password storing methods could greatly enhance the security. Implementing strong and long password with enabling protection on wrong attempts and two factor are essential for present day software.
  • Access Control: Often the developers doesn’t realize but the access control can significantly elevate or compromise the security of your software application. It is a standard to have implemented the “default deny” approach which means all the permissions will be denied until granted. This could make data protected and access to it difficult for the malicious actors.
  • Error Logging: The error logging and error handling are the two most effective practices to improve the software security. The errors refer to the bugs in the system and the bugs result in vulnerabilities. Hence closely monitoring the bugs, error logs and managing the errors could lead to great improvements in software and strengthening its security.
  • Environment Configurations: If your custom software is managed in multiple environment such as production and development or staging environment. It is crucial to align both and always keep both up-to-date. The software, frameworks, operating systems, services, and everything should be up-to-date and all the patches should be applied to date.
  • Threat Modeling: Threat modeling is a multi-stage process involving various techniques, tools and mainly the deeper analysis of the software. The objective of threat modeling is to identify the areas or aspect of your custom software which are more susceptible to exploitation. This will help you upgrading the software and enabling highest security measures within your application.
  • I/O Validation: The input/output validation is crucial for every custom software application. It is crucial to deploy encoding methods at the outputs and strict validations at the inputs throughout the custom software development lifecycle. The inputs and outputs are the two crucial areas hence need to be secure and well protected.

The secure coding practices are essential to elevate the security of your customized software applications. The software development team has to choose the right platforms, software stacks and above all the mindset to prioritize the security throughout the entire software development lifecycle.

See Also: The Cost of Custom Software Development: Factors to Consider

Custom Software Development: Secure Coding
Custom Software Development: Secure Coding

Custom Software Development: Strong Data Encryption

The data encryption is something that has become almost essential in present day. It is crucial to utilize encryption algorithms at various levels. This helps ensuring strong encryption at both stages, data in transit and data at rest. The data in transit means the data in transmitted into server and user interface/device and the data at rest means the data that is being stored at the server or at the user device. Furthermore the end-to-end encryption is also widely used in modern software development, it ensures the data/information transmitted between two terminals, devices or server and client is encrypted and only the recipient has the decryption key.

See Also: Top Trends in Custom Software Development: What’s Shaping the Industry?

The encryption is implemented by a very sophisticated encryption algorithms and mathematical operations which generates a random encryption key and that key is so complex that it could take trillions of years for a classical computer to test all the combination to unlock it without having the right encryption key. Therefore the encryption can provide a great protection against even some advanced level cyber-attacks. There are several encryption methods and strategies which can be implemented during the custom software development lifecycle.

See Also: Why the Custom Software Development is Good for Your Business?

Custom Software Development: Strong Data Encryption
Custom Software Development: Strong Data Encryption

Custom Software Development: Third-Party Tools and Resources

It is a common practice in the custom software development to use the third-party tools, resources, libraries and elements to expedite the development process. However, where this speed up everything it also increase the vulnerabilities. Using third-party tools, resources, libraries and other design elements could compromise the security of your customized software application. Most of the time developers tend to find free resources online at various forums and website – which often are posted by other developers and are not properly optimized for security. This is why using such resources, libraries and tools could make your application vulnerable for cross-site scripting, malware attach, SQL injection, etc.

See Also: Leveraging Big Data in Custom Software Development

It is always important to carefully inspect the third-party components, codes, resources and elements. Moreover it is crucial to carefully consider the front-end and back-end related tools to ensure perfect alignment and no loophole. Both the design and algorithms should be carefully inspected before using them and after integrating them a critical review/testing should be done with security in mind. Furthermore it is important to understand the vendor of these components to ensure regular upgrades, patches and protection support by the vendor.

See Also: The Impact of Cloud Computing on Custom Software Development [Full Guide]

Custom Software Development: Third-Party Tools and Resources
Custom Software Development: Third-Party Tools and Resources

Custom Software Development: Insider Threats

The insider threats are always a concern for any enterprise. Most of the times it is not attentional, sometime employees, contractors or the people who have access to the software get attacked by cyber criminals and resultantly enable them access to the sensitive data of the organization. Traditionally the employees or contractor who have access to the system either access it outside of the organizational network or either their computer got attacked by malware. These malwares can silently stay on a computer quietly transmitting data to their source from a hidden backdoor. When the cyber-criminal acquire enough information they try to access the organization’s data.

See Also: Common Mistakes to Avoid in Custom Software Development Projects

Businesses often focus on outsider cyber-threats while undermining the importance of insider threats. With the custom software development you can build various checks and controls to prevent or effectively minimize the insider threats. You can also customize your software application to further reduce the impact of an insider attack, whether attentional or unintentional. You can have multi-factor authentication, personalized profiles with limited access to data and much more. The custom software development offer more space to minimize and handle the insider threats.

See Also: Guide to Custom Software Development

Custom Software Development: Insider Threats
Custom Software Development: Insider Threats

Conclusion

As the internet and digital solutions are integrating within modern day business landscape the need of security and number of cyber-attacks is rising. Businesses of all industries, sizes and types are in a constant pressure of dealing with the cyber-security. These day’s businesses are heavily relying on digital solutions and software application in order to effectively run their daily operations. These software solutions where boosting efficiency and productivity are also causing various security threats. These software applications are evolving day by day, the cloud computing, IoTs, AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning), and integrated information infrastructure have completely revolutionized the software solutions.

Where these software solutions are becoming more advanced and impactful the cyber-attacks are also evolving and becoming much more sophisticated and impactful. The cyber-criminals are utilizing cutting-edge technologies and state-of-the-art tools to exploit the vulnerabilities for their malicious intent. We have witnessed some large-scale world-wide cyber-attacks involving malware, ransomware, and other sophisticated attacks. This poses a serious threat as any such data breach could potentially ruin a business’s reputation and brad image. Therefore businesses are now taking interest in custom software development which provides more control and flexibility at the software development cycle and enable businesses to incorporate highly advanced security features.

See Also: Benefits of Investing in Custom Software Development for Your Business in Dubai

The custom software development lifecycle enable businesses to adopt secure coding practices which involves prioritizing the security from the very first step up-till the end of the development lifecycle. The custom software development allow businesses to implement strict password policies, implement multi-factor logins and secure authentication. Furthermore the custom software development allow the developers to take necessary measures and build features which not only help preventing the data-breach but also help them to contain and minimize the impact and effect of the any such data-breaches.

In this blog we have discussed briefly about the cyber-threats a business is facing on daily-bases and we have also discussed how the custom software development can help businesses to make their software and application more secure and well-equipped to deal with present day cyber-threats. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to build a highly secure and effective customized software application for your business or organization, 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.

See Also: Custom Software Development Progressive Web Apps – Beginner’s Guide

See Also: Custom Software Development for Healthcare Industry

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See Also: The Risk of Poor Performance Management and How to identify it?

See Also: The Beginner’s Guide to Queuing Theory


Self-Service Kiosks for Effective Queue Management

We all are accustomed to queues, whether we are at a bank, at a bus station, or at an airport, the waiting lines are common. However, for service sector the customer waiting lines and customer flow management is one of the biggest challenge. Think of waiting in a poorly organized queue, you are not sure of how much more time you have to wait. There are people who are jumping the lines, which makes you more anxious. Suddenly you notice the next queue is moving fast, which further frustrate you. Even in some cases you end up waiting in wrong lines, and have to go back to the correct line. All these are common issues with traditional manual queuing practices.

Therefore businesses tend to deploy modern digital queue management systems. The modern queue management systems usually use interactive self-service kiosks for ticket dispensing and customer registration. However, businesses usually doesn’t leverage the full potential of an interactive self-service kiosk. Mostly businesses use interactive self-service kiosk to welcome and greet customers. Typically these kiosk allow customer to choose the right service they need and that is it. The queue management system analyze the customer choice and print a ticket accordingly. This also help queue management system to automatically route customers to the right service counter.

However, an interactive self-service kiosk can do much more, in this blog we will discuss how a self-service kiosk can boost the performance and impact of your digital queue management system. Furthermore these interactive self-service kiosks are very flexible with customization, which makes them ideal companion for bespoke queue management systems.

Self-Service Kiosks for Effective Queue Management
Self-Service Kiosks for Effective Queue Management

The Evolution of Interactive Self-Service Kiosks

The interactive self-service kiosks have started as humble vending machines. However, with the passage of time these machines started improving. The real evolution kick started with the advancements in the touchscreen technology. Later on various multination manufacturers have started investing in R&D which gives rise to various specialized peripherals and internet connectivity. This have completely transformed the interactive self-service kiosk industry. Now a days if you are living in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or any other region of UAE, you would be familiar with these interactive terminals. Whether it is for mobile top ups utility bill payments, or smart airport check-ins these interactive self-service kiosks are popping up everywhere.

See Also: Bank Branch Transformation with High-tech Queue Management System

The primary reason of wider adoptability of interactive self-service kiosks is their ability to deliver unmatched customer experience. The customers also enjoy the convenience, control and easy access offered by interactive self-service kiosks. Furthermore with the rise of IT and communication technologies, smartphones and social media, everyone has become more familiar with technology. Businesses have started investing more resources in digital technologies and digital customer experience management. The interactive self-service kiosks can offer multitude of features such as:

  1. Customer Identification – Bio Metrics Scanning, Emirates ID Card Scanning, Facial Recognition, etc.
  2. Customer Registration – Data Input, Document Scanning, Passport Scanning, Barcode/QR Code Scanning, RFID, etc.
  3. Payments – Cash Deposit, Change Return and Cash Recycler, Coin Acceptor, Credit/Debit Card, POS, Online Payment Gateways, Contactless Payments, Digital Payments, etc.
  4. Multi-Lingual Intuitive UIs – The self-service kiosk UIs can support any language regional or international which enhance customer experience
  5. Printing & Scanning – Apart from Ticket printing, interactive self-service kiosks can print and scan QR Codes/Barcodes, Receipts, Vouchers, Documents, Stickers, and even identity cards
  6. Security and Authentication – The interactive self-service kiosk can utilize OTP SMS, Email-based verification, Facial Recognition, Biometrics and several other ways for secure and instant authentication and identification

These all features enable an interactive self-service kiosk to quickly identify a customer and collect as much data as needed. A typical sing-in using Emirates ID, Biometrics or Facial recognition can take less than a minute from greeting customer to dispensing their ticket number for the queue. This is what makes them more effective and efficient. When the customer arrives at the service counter, their details and other information relevant to their query are already made available for the service agent. Such innovative features help boosting the performance and impact of a digital queue management system.

See Also: What are advance components of Queue Management System?

The Evolution of Interactive Self-Service Kiosks
The Evolution of Interactive Self-Service Kiosks

How Interactive Self-Service Kiosk Makes Queue Management More Effective?

The interactive self-service kiosks are widely used with modern day’s digital queue management systems. A queue management system is a tool businesses utilize to streamline customer flow. It is a combination of software and hardware exclusively designed to implement the queuing policies. This provides businesses great advantage in managing visitors. The customers and visitors sign-in to a queue management system via interactive self-service kiosk. The kiosk allow them to choose the service they need, which help the system to direct them to the right service counter. The interactive self-service kiosks has become a standard in modern queue management systems. It is due to their ability to offer multiple features which further enhance the efficiency of the queue management system.

See Also: How a Queue Management System Can Transform Your Business Operations

Personalized Customer Experience

When a digital queue management system is equipped with an interactive self-service kiosk, businesses can collect valuable information. This information could range from simple language and service selection to a full-fledged customer registration process. The interactive self-service kiosks comes with touch screen interfaces. These intuitive UIs (user interfaces) are designed to simplify the customer journey. Customer can choose the language of their choice. Further they can choose the service from service list, which allow the queue management system to put them in right waiting line. This prevents any confusion or mistake which are common in manual queuing methods.

Businesses can also integrate various identification methods, such as Emirates ID scanner, passport scanner, RFID, Biometrics, etc. This allow them to quickly collect valuable data. Furthermore the queue management system can also relate the customer with the customer database and fetch all the available details. This ability enable businesses to identify the customer persona, and help them deliver a personalized experience at service counters. The interactive self-service kiosk management software provides service agent dashboards which help agents in various tasks. Furthermore these kiosks can be integrated with other system, pushing relevant information beforehand to the service counter, enabling quicker service delivery. These features greatly enhance customer experience and make queuing more effective and efficient.

See Also: Difference in Wired and Wireless Queue Management System

Personalized Customer Experience
Personalized Customer Experience

Reduction in Customer Wait Time

The primary objective of a queue management system is to streamline customer flow, enhance customer experience and reduce customer wait time. The customer wait time is one of the biggest reason of poor customer experience. As the interactive self-service kiosks has ability to understand customer needs by allowing them to select the relevant service. They can also prevent common human errors by effectively eliminating confusion from the system. The customers can directed to their relevant service counter, they are assured the just treatment and they get the highly accurate estimation of their time to service. All these features help reducing the frustration and improve customer experience. In a government service sector or a multi-channel service environment these interactive self-service kiosks are even more effective.

An interactive self-service kiosk can take as much information as needed to expedite the service delivery process. The customers can scan their documents, or input their data via interactive touch screens. The kiosk management system help customers achieving their tasks with easy-to-understand on-screen prompts and guides. The customers can scan QR Codes, Barcodes, payment slips, etc. which greatly improve the service delivery mechanisms and reduce per service delivery time. Because all these information are relayed directly to the customer service counters, which greatly help service agents. It speed up the service delivery and help reducing the wait time collectively for everyone. This also help enhancing the performance and productivity of the service staff, as they can focus more on their primary tasks. Furthermore the interactive self-service kiosks can share the work burden by automating data collection and by enabling customer to input their data by themselves. These features can greatly reduce the customer wait time and help improving the entire queuing process.

See Also: Key Tips to Improve Service Quality through Queue Management System

Reduction in Customer Wait Time
Reduction in Customer Wait Time

Digital and Cash Payments

One of the biggest advantage of interactive self-service kiosk is its ability to collect payments. There are several businesses who require customers to make payments or pay for their remaining dues. Whatever the case is an interactive self-service payment kiosk can greatly improve the queuing process. They customers who are opting for the queuing token can also make payments at the same self-service kiosk. Above all the interactive self-service kiosk can instantly update all the relevant systems and databases which means the payment will instantly reflect at the service agent’s dashboard. This expedite the service delivery process and also prevent customers from getting into the hustle of making payments through a different channel.

Similarly the self-checkout kiosks are also interactive self-service payment kiosks. In a typical retail environment we all experience long queue, especially at the weekends and during the peak hours. However, the number of cash counters or service counters are limited. This is where an interactive self-service payment kiosk can be deployed as an alternate service channel. These kiosks are specialized as per business needs and are equipped with necessary devices or peripherals which enable a self-service checkout. Whether it is scanning the items, scanning their RFID tags, or acquiring product information, all can be provided through these specialized interactive self-service payment kiosks.

With an alternate service channel in place, the footfall at traditional counters can be reduced. This help reducing the wait time of all customers while significantly improving the queue management system.

See Also: Beyond First-Come, First-Serve: Innovative Strategies for Queue Management

Digital and Cash Payments
Digital and Cash Payments

Conclusion

The interactive self-service kiosks have completely revolutionized the traditional queue management systems. The modern digital queue management system vastly rely on these kiosks for customer sign-in and ticket dispensing. However, an interactive self-service kiosk’s abilities are not limited to ticket dispensing. In fact it is a technology marvel offering a wide spectrum of innovative and intuitive features which resultantly boost the queuing performance. These interactive self-service kiosks offers various features such as Emirates ID and passport scanning, RFID, intuitive touch screen UIs, payment options and much more. All these features are designed to automate various workflows and processes which effectively reduce the service delivery time. Once the service delivery time is optimized it will impact on the wait time or all customers, effectively reducing it.

One of the biggest advantage of interactive self-service kiosks is their ability to customize according to the business needs. This makes them ideal for literally any industry, whether you are a banks, hospital, university, government agency or an airport, you can customize these kiosk as per your exclusive needs. An interactive self-service kiosk not only boost queue management system but it has ability to collect valuable analytical data based upon user’s interaction. This data further help businesses to analyze their policies, workflows and customer journey, which resultantly help improving the queuing process and customer experience in the long term.

In this blog we have discussed how an interactive self-service kiosk can effectively boost the performance and impact of a queue management system. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to build a bespoke interactive self-service kiosk and queue management system for your organization, 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.


Impact of Queue Management on Customer Satisfaction in Retail

For every retail business managing higher customer influx or long waiting lines at cash counters is one of the most challenging task. Long waiting lines not only results in unpleasant customer experience but also have toll on your staff performance which eventually further undermine the customer satisfaction. As UAE is a very diverse and vibrant country and retail businesses operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other regions of country knows their customers comes from all around the world, which demands a highest possible standard of customer service to ensure customer satisfaction. The UAE is also home to multiple retail chains, with thousands of small, medium and large retail businesses operating all across the country.

Why Retail Businesses Need a Modern Queue Management System?

The competition has risen to the sky and due to this competition and higher customer demands the queue management at retail businesses have become more challenging than ever before. The traditional queuing techniques have become ineffective and retail businesses are needing modern digital queue management systems to overcome such challenges. A modern queue management system is not just a token machine but it is a highly sophisticated and smart software-based solution which synchronize various software and hardware components and provide more control over customer flow which help businesses in delivering a satisfactory customer experience.

The importance of customer satisfaction is paramount in retail industry as the customers usually have multiple options in their easy reach and the long waiting time is one of the biggest cause of the customer churn. Furthermore the operational efficiency is another big concern at retail businesses which is hindering customer experience and costing businesses a lot in precious sales. This also have negative impact on businesses image and reputation. The customers who felt poorly at any retail store tend to avoid it in future which can have devastating effects on overall business’s success and long term growth. In this blog we will discuss how a modern queue management system can help retail businesses transform their customer journey and help them achieve higher customer satisfaction.

See Also: From Chaos to Control: How Queue Management Systems Can Improve Your Business

Why Retail Businesses Need a Modern Queue Management System?
Why Retail Businesses Need a Modern Queue Management System?

What is the Role of AI in Modern Retail Queue Management Systems?

The modern queue management systems heavily rely on smart algorithms and sophisticated AI (artificial intelligence) which help collecting and analyzing valuable analytical data in real-time. Before we discuss the technology it is also important to understand the waiting psychology. When customers are waiting in the long queues, they got confused and frustrated, one of the biggest confusion is the perception of waiting time. The perceived wait time is always higher than the actual wait time. It is due to the natural psychological reaction our brain has when we are waiting without having much control on wait time. This frustrates us and it feels like we have spent more time than what we actually did. This is the wait time perception and this have huge impact on customer satisfaction.

The modern queue management system helps retail businesses to streamline queues, with the help of physical stanchions, belts, and digital signage, the customer can get distracted from waiting, while without any worrying of line jumpers or getting any sense of confusion. Furthermore the retail queue management system is equipped with modern AI (artificial intelligence) which gets live feeds from CCTV Security and specialized surveillance cameras. This camera feed is relayed to an AI (artificial intelligence) engine which analyzes the video in real-time and provides feedbacks on estimated wait time and even it is capable enough to analyze the staff performance in real-time and alert branch manager if any interruption occurs. These features greatly enhance the decision making abilities of the management and help them elevate the customer satisfaction.

See Also: The Concept of Queue Management and Crowd Control

What is the Role of AI in Modern Retail Queue Management Systems?
What is the Role of AI in Modern Retail Queue Management Systems?

The Queue Management System Drives Automation

One of the biggest advantage of a modern queue management system is its ability to drive automation and digitalize various internal workflows. Several workflows and human resource management tasks can be digitalized and automate using the queue management system. The queue management system comes with a server-side software application. The queue management software provides advanced administrative controls which empower the management and help them take quick and accurate decisions which help streamlining the customer flow and help minimizing the customer wait time especially during the peak hours. Here are a few features which help retail businesses to enhance customer satisfaction:

  • Virtual Queuing: The queue management system offers interactive kiosks and integrated smartphone applications. The customers can use these to sign-in to the virtual queues, which gives them freedom to roam around the store while waiting in a virtual queue. This minimize the stress of waiting and help improving the customer experience.
  • Integration of Self-Checkout: The self-checkout retail kiosks are a great tool to enhance customer experience and elevate satisfaction. The queue management systems are very flexible towards integration and help businesses integrate self-service checkout kiosks which enable customers to checkout without requiring any help from staff resulting is expediting the service delivery.
  • Dynamic Lane Control: The queue management system infused with the people counting technologies and AI (artificial intelligence) can automatically monitor and count the volume of customers in real-time. This allow the queue management system to automatically open or shut service lanes as per the needs. The staff can also be notified if a new lane or service counter had to be open to ensure a smooth customer flow.

The modern queue management system not only help minimizing the customer wait time but it also help improving the decision making and overall operational efficiency. The queue management system at retail businesses are effectively improving the staff performance but empowering management with more advanced data collection and analytical tools which help them in improving their decision making.

See Also: How Queue Management System can Boost Productivity and Profitability?

The Queue Management System Drives Automation
The Queue Management System Drives Automation

The Queue Management System Boosts Operational Efficiency

The queue management system is a very smart application it has various sources and tools which enables it to collect valuable analytical and system usage data. The modern queue management software are infused with AI (Artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) which makes it even more effective and impactful. The queue management system also helps management implement their queuing polices with more precision and accuracy. It offers valuable features for self-service while enabling accessibility for enhanced customer experience. The modern queue management system can be integrated with various sensors that physically track the volume of customer flow and when infused with AI integrated people counting and tracking tools it can even track the movement of the customers within the premises of your business and help you understand the customer flow.

These insights are valuable and help management understand the customer flow which highlights the areas of improvements. The ability to offer virtual queues and automated lane controls further empower the management in their human resource planning. The queue management system not only collects data in real-time but it also keeps the data repository helping management track various patterns with at most accuracy and help them understand the customer flow at any given day or time of the day. Furthermore during busy occasions or any festivity or during the seasonal sales the management can accurately understand the customer influx and customer flow which help them effectively and productivity utilize the human resource in hand to achieve the higher operational efficiency.

See Also: What are the Different Types of Queue Management System?

The Queue Management System Boosts Operational Efficiency
The Queue Management System Boosts Operational Efficiency

Conclusion

The queue management have evolved tremendously over the past two decades, from humble paper pencil to the modern day queue management systems which are empowered by the most modern and sophisticated AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) technologies. The modern day queue management systems offer flexible customization which makes them ideal for various industries and applications. Especially in the retail industry where the customer demands are high, the markets are extremely competitive and the customer wait time is one of the biggest concern for businesses, a modern queue management system has become absolutely essential.

The queue management systems that are designed and customized for the retail industry are equipped with specialized software and hardware components that ensure smoother customer flow, optimum staff performance and elevated customer experience. Features like advanced analytical data collection, virtual queues, dynamic lane control, AI-based customer flow tracking tools and advanced administrative controls help management not only enhance customer satisfaction but it also help them boost the operational efficiency. The management can effectively utilize the human resource in hand with better productivity which directly impact operational performance and results in elevated customer experience.

In this blog we have discussed how a modern queue management system can be leveraged to enhance customer waiting experience while effectively boosting productivity and overall operational performance. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to implement a bespoke queue management system for your retail 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.

See Also: What are the Basic Components of Queue Management System?


Leveraging Big Data in Custom Software Development

With the advancement of IT and the in-depth integration of digital solutions in our lives, the business landscape has completely transformed. Especially over the past two decades. Now a days’ people are talking about AI and Robotic taking over traditional production facilities and other business activities. This is the evidence of profound impact of digital and information technology on traditional business operations. The entire digital and computer technology revolves around data, the data in fact is the bloodline of these modern technologies. The software solutions have a program or source code, which dictates its functionalities, these software collect, store and analyze the data which translates into their functionalities and features.

These functionalities simplify human-user’s work and drive efficiency. When it comes to software solutions there are two ways, the COTS or Commercial Off-the-shelf Software and the custom software development. The customized software solutions tend to be more productive, impactful and easy-to-use and integrate. Therefore businesses are opting for custom software development instead of going for ready made solutions. In this blog we will discuss the role of big data in custom software development and its impact on user experience.

Leveraging Big Data in Custom Software Development
Leveraging Big Data in Custom Software Development

What is Big Data and what is its Role in Custom Software Development?

The concept of big data is very simple to understand, it is a very large volume of data which contains, structured, non-structured and partially or semi-structured data which also keep increasing. With the first generation of software or traditional software application, collecting, storing, and analyzing data at such a large volume, diversity, and velocity is not possible. This lead businesses to either adopt to specialized tools, or build intermediary apps to bridge this gap.

However, with traditional software development practices businesses won’t be able to achieve and from cost prospective it is also not desirable. Hence businesses need to integrate big data within their custom software development to ensure ultimate performance, productivity and cost-efficacy. In this blog we will discuss how big data can completely transform your customized software and help you achieve superior efficiency.

See Also: Custom Software for Improved Business Efficiency

What is Big Data and what is its Role in Custom Software Development?
What is Big Data and what is its Role in Custom Software Development?

The Role of Big Data in Custom Software Development

The big data is often misunderstood, most of the businesses doesn’t realize how beneficial it could be. Think of a large library which I full with hundreds or thousands of shelves filled with millions of books, digital copies, audio records, news peppers, research papers and what not. The big data is similar, it is an ocean of information containing precious treasure of insights which help businesses acquire deeper and accurate understanding of market trends, customer preferences, and insight which improve their decision making ability and help them align their solutions, services, products and interaction as per customers’ needs, desires and expectations.

The big data is not just a specific data but a blend of both structured and unstructured data which makes it difficult to analyze it and extract required insights from it. However, when the big data is integrated within the customized software application development process, it help developers understand customer needs, market trends, areas of improvements and much more. This insight is extremely crucial in building successful customized software application which can deliver unparalleled customer experience while driving superior operational efficiency, performance and profitability. This makes big data absolutely essential for modern day software applications.

See Also: The Cost of Custom Software Development: Factors to Consider

The Role of Big Data in Custom Software Development
The Role of Big Data in Custom Software Development

Data-Driven Decisions Enhance User Experience

In today’s highly competitive market landscape businesses needs innovative tools and software solutions which can help them delivering exceptional user experience. The experience matters more than it ever before. The big data can help developers and project managers to closely analyze the customer behavior. This insight provides them superior understanding of customer pain points, their needs and desires. Furthermore this data also provides them a clear understanding of existing features which are more frequently used by the customers and which are rarely used. This helps them design and include more intuitive features which perfectly align with customer needs.

The biggest advantage of big data is that businesses can utilize multiple sources and compile large volume of data efficiently. This helps them develop highly efficient and impactful software applications. The primary reason of developing custom software is to achieve higher alignment with customer needs. The custom software development process can greatly benefit from insights acquired from big data analysis and help businesses boost internal processes and workflows as well which drive performance. The user experience not only help improving customer interaction but even if a custom software is designed for internal usage, the big data have can effectively boost productivity and performance of the software.

See Also: Custom Software Development for Enhanced User Experience

Data-Driven Decisions Enhance User Experience
Data-Driven Decisions Enhance User Experience

Big Data Fuels Predictive Analysis for Better Decision Making

The big data comes from various sources including social media, existing software applications, employee portals, intranet applications, customer portals, websites, interactive kiosks and even from physical sensors and devices installed at customer centers, ware houses, etc. This is what makes it superior and at the same time very complex. The big data where provide insights of users’ needs, it also help businesses understand market trends, operational processes and internal workflows. This insight help businesses develop customized features within their customized software application to achieve higher efficiency.

The predictive analysis is a very crucial tool for modern day’s fast-paced markets and ever increasing customer needs. The predictive analysis help businesses to be ready for future and help them accurately forecast various future events. This forecasting help management understand the emerging needs and provide them enough time to prepare themselves for the coming challenges. For example, businesses can effectively predict when a software application or a feature they are using is about to lose its impact and efficiency. This is easy to figure out all you need is adequate system usage data and see the trends for that specific feature, if it is losing popularity consistently you can predict that in coming 6 months or so more users will stop using this feature and so on.

See Also: Why Off-the-Shelf Solutions Fall Short: Advantages of Custom Software Development

Big Data Fuels Predictive Analysis for Better Decision Making
Big Data Fuels Predictive Analysis for Better Decision Making

Big Data Helps Personalizing the Software Solutions

Not so long ago businesses were not focusing on performance management, but with the rising competition and ever increasing customer demands, businesses need out of the box approach to obtain higher operational efficiency and better cost-optimization. This can only be achieved if a business is able to leverage the full potential of its resources, whether it is human resource or whether it is IT infrastructure. Now a days, the traditional workflows and business processes have become obsolete and being replaced with more technology oriented and digital processes. The software applications and tools are the primary driving force to achieve higher operational efficiency.

Big data helps businesses collect more in-depth insights and streamline data analytic processes. This help both business leaders and the custom software development team to acquire a clear understanding of user needs, their problems, challenges and it also help management identify the slow/inefficient processes. The custom software development helps businesses utilize this insight acquired from big data to customize the features and internal business processes to drive efficiency and productivity. The software features, content and information can be planned as per the previous usage and user needs which can greatly increase the impact of the customized software application.

See Also: Benefits of Investing in Custom Software Development for Your Business in Dubai

Big Data Helps Personalizing the Software Solutions
Big Data Helps Personalizing the Software Solutions

Big Data Offers Better Scalability and Continuous Improvement

Scalability and continuous improvements are the two most crucial aspect of any custom software development project. Whenever businesses decide to implement a new software solution they consider the scalability and potential of making improvements in future. Businesses need software solutions which evolve along with their needs, as businesses tend to grow over the time, hence their needs are expected to grow, whether it is simple growth in users, or a bit more complex in terms of application and features, the scalability is an essential factor to consider during custom software development. The big data help businesses and developers to analyze the performance of the software application in multiple scenarios and it helps building features which ensure higher performance and impact.

The big data collection and analysis help businesses determine the features of their custom software applications as well as how these functions and backend processes will work. This is a huge leap toward success and help businesses make informed decisions. Once the software is developed, now businesses and the software development team can leverage the big data to understand the impact and efficacy of their software application. The continuous improvements help businesses avoid disruption, and effectively deal with upcoming challenges. Furthermore as the user base increases the software might need modifications and enhancements which all can be improved by leveraging the big data.

See Also: Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Your Custom Software Development Project

Big Data Offers Better Scalability and Continuous Improvement
Big Data Offers Better Scalability and Continuous Improvement

Collecting the Right Type of Data for Custom Software Development is Crucial

The biggest problem with big data is that it is too big, businesses can often end up relying on expensive analytical tools, and even in case you are using inexpensive or open-source tools, you might require help of specialized experts who can process this data. Hence it is extremely important to understand what kind or type of data is beneficial for your custom software development project. It is extremely important to distinguish the data which is relevant to the areas and subjects you want to understand. Here are some key points that you should consider while analyzing the big data for your custom software development:

  • Identify the areas and subjects you want to understand
  • Categorize your data as primary, relevant and unrelated
  • Never skip automated data sources such as APIs, Log Files, system usage stats
  • Always collect feedbacks from the actual users whether they are your customers or employees
  • Always keep the data from external and internal sources separate
  • Verify every data source and validate the authenticity of the data
  • Always keep your data stored in secure and well protected manner
  • Always use standard analysis techniques
  • Compare your findings with industry benchmarking and other relevant applications

Furthermore it is important to keep your data repository up-to-date all the time. Furthermore when you will collect your data it would be in both structured and unstructured forms, moreover inconclusive data noise also has to be filtered out. It is important to well-organize your data to get accurate insights.

See Also: Top Trends in Custom Software Development: What’s Shaping the Industry?

Collecting the Right Type of Data for Custom Software Development is Crucial
Collecting the Right Type of Data for Custom Software Development is Crucial

Conclusion

The custom software development is rapidly gaining momentum, even medium and small sized businesses are also investing in custom software applications. It is due to their ability to fully align with user’s needs which helps businesses achieve maximum performance and efficiency. Furthermore the custom software development offers easy integration and superior scalability which makes them very cost-effective over the longer period of time. The big data is something which is usually misinterpreted as something very expensive and exclusive to large enterprises, government and international organizations.

However, that is not true at all. With the advancement in technology and latest programing framework now the big data collection is much more convenient and accessible. The big data provides deeper insight to customer behavior, market trends and at a wider spectrum which help businesses and custom software development teams to effectively understand customer needs. Whether you are building a software for your customers, or whether it is for internal use to enhance the operational efficiency, the big data can greatly improve the application in terms of intuitiveness, performance and efficiency.

Embracing big data for software development and predictive analysis can greatly enhance the application features and elevate the user experience. In this blog we have discussed how big data can be utilized to streamline custom software development process for superior results. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to build a customized software application 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.


Revolutionizing Campus Services with Student Kiosks

The interactive self-service kiosk industry is rapidly expanding its scope in multiple industries. The educational institutes and establishments are eagerly seeking solutions to boost efficiency and efficacy. Similar to any other typical kiosk the student kiosks are also a computer terminal consisting of various devices and peripherals enabling students, teachers, parents, guests and new comers to perform various tasks conveniently and efficiently. The student kiosks or student information kiosks are not only offering quick access to various services but also improving the workflows and processes which greatly enhance student experience.

The student kiosks act as a mini administrative office offering a ton of services and easy access to information along with sing-ins, scanning, printing and in some cases payment services too. The student kiosk are typically installed on various places at the campuses, so more people can access them conveniently. The traditional campus services involve tedious processes majorly based on paper-pencil based systems, long queues and administrative bottlenecks which undermine the student experience.

Although universities, colleges and schools are proactively managing their front offices, receptions and administrative offices, but the large influx could be very frustrating for both the students and the staff as well. The student kiosks on the other hand offers instant access to various services with highly organized information structure and above all the digitalization brought automation and efficiency which enhances student experience. In this blog we will briefly discuss how student kiosks are completely revolutionizing user experience.

Revolutionizing Campus Services with Student Kiosks
Revolutionizing Campus Services with Student Kiosks

What is a Student Kiosk?

The student kiosks are interactive self-service kiosks which hare widely used all across educational institutions in UAE. Schools, colleges, universities and libraries in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all across the country are proactively seeking technologies to improve educational system. There are various different types of informational and transactional student kiosks or campus kiosks are widely used to provide instant access to information or to deliver various services via self-service experience.

These interactive self-service student kiosks are not only facilitating students but also offering various services to teachers, faculty, administrative staff, and even guests which can greatly improve the overall business productivity and performance.

Student kiosks or Campus Kiosks offer simple and easy registration process, ability to access student portals, internet access, and easy access to university resources, well-organized information repository, and a multitude of features. Furthermore the student kiosks or campus kiosks are very helpful for the visitors, newcomers and guests, offering them required information, navigations and way finding, and various other services.

These kiosks are strategically placed in various places across the campus, such as at class rooms, near administrative offices, common areas, libraries, cafeterias, etc. The university administration can also utilize these kiosks for sharing information, making announcements, and for general communications. These features greatly enhance student experience and also help optimizing operational efficiency.

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What is a Student Kiosk?
What is a Student Kiosk?

What are the Key Advantages of a Student Kiosk?

With the rise of technology businesses and customers have adopted modern ways to interact, same is applicable at universities, schools, colleges and other educational institutions. Traditionally these establishments have large facilities, sometime even navigating them could be difficult for visitors and guests. Similarly if a student has to visit an admin office which might located on the other side of the campus and he/she has to attend a class at the other coroner. This will disturb their schedules, and it is common for students to skip the classes or be late due to such matters. However, when all these services and information are provided at kiosk located at easily accessible spots within campus, the students can easily access it.

Here are some key advantages of student kiosks:

Streamlining Registration Process

The registration is one of the most crucial process, often student and parents find themselves stuck in these complex administrative processes. A student kiosk or campus kiosk offers various features such as ability to take student data, scan student documents, and integrate the data with other relevant systems. The student kiosks offers intuitive user interfaces with on-screen instructions, which take students, parents and any user through the required process. The students can easily scan their documents, IDs, and even QR Codes/Barcodes which ensures highest level of security and convenience.

Even the most modern campus kiosks also offer payment facility enabling student to pay for their enrollments or other dues. Furthermore for the students who are already enrolled, they can print their documents, schedules, timetables, assignments, and much more. Students can also update their information, apply for schedules, check available laboratory slots, and much more through these student kiosks. Furthermore the student kiosks or campus kiosks can be linked with the central information systems of the organization to offer more up-to-date information and data.

See Also: The Impact of Self-Service Kiosks on Business Efficiency

Streamlining Registration Process
Streamlining Registration Process

Enhancing Accessibility

The modern day educational system have completely transformed, now a day’s the accessibility and inclusivity are the two crucial aspects of any educational establishment. Now a days the educational culture is more inclusive and accommodating, especially in UAE where there are a lot of international students are studying, the need of an inclusive and diverse educational culture is even more. A campus kiosk or student kiosk is well-equipped with advanced features such as multi-lingual user interfaces, artificial intelligence (AI) and smart algorithms which ensures an excellent personalized user experience.

Furthermore these kiosks are also equipped with the features that caters to the needs of students and users with disability or special needs. Furthermore these kiosks can also offer voice-activated features, screen readers and various other such features which help users with special needs. By enabling enhanced accessibility and inclusivity features universities, colleges, schools and other educational establishments can foster a culture of inclusive and highly student-friendly educational environment.

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Enhancing Accessibility
Enhancing Accessibility

Improved Campus Services

In a typical university, college or school environment the organization offers a multitude of services, which often are accessible through the administrative offices or dedicated service counters. One of the major drawback of traditional service mechanisms is that these channels are subjected to long waiting and several administrative hurdles which undermine student’s experience and also cause many problems. The student kiosks or campus kiosks or also known as student information kiosks are digital solutions, which digitalize various internal processes, it integrates with other IT infrastructure and synchronize various different system and databases.

These abilities coupled with various hardware features enable educational institutions to streamline their internal workflows and business processes, resulting in elevated student experience and simplified service deliver mechanisms. When campuses transitioned from manual to digital and automated management practices, their operational efficiency can greatly improve, resulting in improved campus services delivery and excellent user experience.

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Improved Campus Services
Improved Campus Services

Flexible Customization and Integration

The student kiosks, campus kiosks or any other student information kiosks are all running on a backend application which is a kiosk management program that manages the data, information and everything at the kiosk. The kiosk management program is installed on a server and it manages all connected student kiosks automatically. It further provide a control panel or administrative dashboard providing control of various kiosk features, functionalities and information. This system is developed on cutting-edge technology platforms, which enable organizations to customize them as per their unique business needs and challenges.

Furthermore the student kiosks can be integrated with the third-party system, solutions and business tools. It can seamlessly be integrated with student information system, financial system, educational system, database and central information system. The integration allow student kiosks to communicate with other systems and cater up-to-date data and information. Furthermore the internet access, student portal and access to campus resources, or various other campus services can greatly elevate student experience.

See Also: How Interactive Kiosks are Enhancing In-Store Engagement and Sales

Flexible Customization and Integration
Flexible Customization and Integration

Higher Operational Efficiency

Every university, college, school, library or educational institution have faced one of the most common challenge which is about operational efficiency. Especially when the new classes are starting, or during new enrollments, or during exams or any other such activity. The human resource is limited, the long waiting lines are evidence of the inefficiency and poor performance in the traditional management practices. From organizational point of view the student kiosks or campus kiosks are a great digital transformation tool which not only benefits students but also greatly benefits the educational institutions.

A student kiosk serves as a mini administrative office, offering a multitude of services via an excellent self-service experience. This not only improve service delivery practices but also enhance internal business processes and workflows. The digitalization of internal workflows and business process automation help boosting operational efficiency and also the staff performance. Where it offer convenience to students, parents, faculty and guests, the campus kiosks or student kiosks can offer great features to administrative and management staff as well, resulting in a significant increase in performance and efficiency.

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Higher Operational Efficiency
Higher Operational Efficiency

Analytical Data Collection

The student information kiosks or campus kiosks comes with a specialized kiosk management software application which has in-built smart algorithms and data collection tools. The student kiosk management software collects valuable analytical data and system usage stats which can be processed and analyzed with in-built analytical and reporting tools. The data help management understand the system usage trends, student and other user’s behavior and analytical data from various touch points. This data is very helpful in personalizing the user experience as well.

For example, the student might be performing a certain set of tasks, and they might be interested in a certain type of information, hence these can be made more accessible and understandable to enhance student experience. Similarly the user experience for other user groups can be greatly enhanced by collecting analytical data. Furthermore the analytical data collection and customized reports help management take informed decisions. This data is also very helpful in improving and enhancing user experience and adding innovative features for better performance and higher efficiency.

See Also: Directorate of Islamic Affairs Sharjah Acquired RSI Concepts for HR Self-service Kiosk Solution

Analytical Data Collection
Analytical Data Collection

Cost-Effective Solutions

The student kiosks, campus kiosks or student information kiosks or any other educational kiosk is a great tool to optimize and minimize the cost. These solutions offer higher returns over a long term usage. Usually these kiosks can last for many years without requiring any upgrade or modifications. However, the longevity and flexibility are the two main trait of any customized kiosk solution. The student kiosks might have slightly higher initial cost, however, in the long run these kiosk can significantly reduce operational cost. Offering alternative service channels, reduce the workload of the staff hence offering better human resource management.

Reducing human resource cost without compromising service quality is a great advantage. In fact the customized interactive self-service kiosks offer even better service quality and elevated user experience. These kiosks require very less maintenance and could operate 24/7 without requiring any rest time. Furthermore the student kiosks can be customized and upgraded in order to support emerging needs down the road which make them relevant for many years. The operational cost of student kiosks is also very low which make them ideal for educational institutions.

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Cost-Effective Solutions
Cost-Effective Solutions

Future Trends of Student Kiosks

The rapid adaptation of the student kiosks all around the globe shows a promising future for the student kiosks. Furthermore the technological platforms are also developing rapidly which is evident of more innovation, modernization and effectiveness of the student kiosks in coming days. The information management platforms are revolutionizing with the unprecedented advancements in AI (artificial intelligence) and mobile technologies. Similar will going to enhance student experience along with a wide spectrum of business advantages. The wireless communication has completely revolutionized various aspects of digital experience.

In the coming future the personalized experience will be dominating the digital interaction, hence advanced data collection methods, analytical tools and IoTs would be dominating the student kiosks, enabling students to get instant access to the required information, simplifying registration and enrollment processes, enhancing payment process, enabling new methods to conveniently access campus resources and much more. All these features will not only revolutionize the student kiosk but such features will make them essential for modern educational institutions.

See Also: Why smart kiosks are the future?

Future Trends of Student Kiosks
Future Trends of Student Kiosks

Conclusion

A student kiosk is a digital computer terminal equipped with various software and hardware tools that enable students, parents, guests, and faculties to perform certain tasks via self-service experience which are traditionally done through admin office or relevant service desks. The modern student kiosks also offer printing, scanning and payment facilities supporting various tasks and enhancing user experience.

The student kiosks, student information kiosks or campus kiosks all are the same thing, these are customized solutions designed to enable convenient and easy access to information and services. These kiosks digitalize various internal processes and work flows, which reduce the dependency on the traditional and paper-based slow administrative processes, adding value to student experience and overall operational efficiency.

The student kiosk are placed strategically all across the campus premises, enabling easy reach and quick access to information and services. Furthermore the campus kiosks are a great tool to welcome guests, newcomers, parents and visitors, offering them vital information and access to various services and resources. Furthermore the integration of advanced payment features enable easy enrollment, payment for various services and even for tuition fees, etc. All such features are great at enhancing user experience. The student kiosks are also great at offering personalized experience to various user groups, catering them with the services and information according to their needs and behavioral patterns.

A customized interactive self-service kiosk is a very cost-effective solution, the operational cost and maintenance requirements are also very low and the student kiosks can operate 24/7 non-stop offering more flexibility and easy access. The scalability, customization and upgrades are also very inexpensive which makes them relevant for many years and even afterwards these kiosks can be repurposed too which ensures excellent ROIs.

In this blog we have discussed what a student kiosk is and what key advantages it can offer for students and the organization. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to develop a customized student kiosk for your university, school, college, library or educational institution, 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.

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