A queue management system is a combination of tools both hardware and software and is being used to effectively manage and monitor the customer flow and to improve the customers’ experience and journey. As technology has advanced rapidly in the past few years so do the queue management systems too. These days there are so many different types of queue management systems some of them are generic and can be installed in all sorts of scenarios and some of them are purpose-made and have very specific utility. The primary objective of a queue management system is enabling the businesses to improve customer satisfaction by offering them a quicker and better customer journey and the secondary objective is to enable the servers/agents to serve more customers in a single shift to preserve resources and to improve productivity and profitability. This blog will be a complete guide to queue management systems for businesses and organizations operating in Dubai, UAE.
The earlier forms of the queue management systems were very simple and only help businesses and organizations to sort out the customers and manage the queues digitally to avoid manual work and problems related to manual management. But these days businesses and organizations want to manage and improve the customer experience from pre-sale or pre-arrival to post-sale or after-sale activities as well. The entire customer journey is managed and transformed to achieve higher customer satisfaction to ensure profitability and growth. Happy customers are the best for business, a happy customer will come back to you, they will tell others about your business and services and their experience. Whereas unhappy customers are very bad for business, they might not return, and they will definitely tell others about their bad experience. This could make a huge difference. Especially in service-based industries, the business’s success is majorly relying on customers’ happiness and satisfaction.
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How does a Queue Management System Work?
The basic operation of a queue management system is very simple. It can be defined in a few short steps:
Step 1: Customer or Visitor Arrive at the Business
Step 2: Sign-up for the Queue (usually by getting a ticket)
Step 3: Wait in the waiting area or actual queue till their turn
Step 4: Arrive at the counter when their number came
Step 5: Get the service and leave (happily)
However the queuing process has evolved into multiple different forms, there are so many different queuing approaches that businesses and organizations take to improve their customer experience as per their scenario and strategy or as per the services they are offering.
However, these days there are a lot many different types of queue management systems that basically follow the same principle but the methods could be different. For example, the virtual queue management system enables the customers and visitors to sign-up for the queue even before arriving at the branch via various different means such as call, email, SMS, smartphone application, online via the website, or customer web portals, etc. Moreover, these days QR Code based queue management systems are gaining popularity in the retail sector, customers and visitors can arrive at the retail store or outlet and sign-up by scanning a QR Code and the system provides them with a mobile ticket. All the information, updates and customer call is done using smartphones.
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There are so many different methods to achieve the above-mentioned customer flow sequence. There is a wide range of purpose-made queue management systems available too. Mid-size and large businesses, enterprises, and public offices are leaning towards a customized queue management system to have more control over the customer journey. As in Dubai, UAE, and other parts of the GCC as well, the enterprises and businesses are heavily emphasizing adopting good practices to improve the customer journey and customer experience to improve customer satisfaction and customer retention.
What are the Types or Classifications of Different Queuing Modes?
There are basically 4 major classifications or modes of queuing and on the basis of these queuing methods, a business can easily select an appropriate type of queue management system required for their needs. These classifications or types are defined on the basis of the actual infrastructure or setup of the facility, for example, how many counters a business have, how many services are being offered and how single service delivery is done, and so on. I have discussed those types in my previous blog related to queue management system hardware components as well. Here are the classifications or modes of modern queuing:
1. Single Phase Single Channel
This setup means that there is only a single counter or server that can deliver the full service to a single customer at a time. This is the most widely used setup in customer support and customer happiness centers. A customer is only required to arrive at a single counter to get the service or all of the required service. All of the agents and servers are trained to provide all offered services.
2. Multi-Phase Single Channel
This setup indicates a single service delivery requires multiple phases or steps to get completed. A customer will have to go to multiple counters/servers to get a full service done. The topic suggests there would be only one counter for each phase of the service delivery and the customer will move linearly from 1st step to the last. However, mostly these days there are multiple counters for each step or phase of the service, and the overall customer load is divided among all subsequent counters to reduce wait time.
3. Single Phase Multi-Channel
This business model suggests that there are multiple counters and servers who can cater a single service and the customers are divided among all available counters and can be routed to any available counter and the service will be delivered. This is the most popular scenario among telecom, customer support and service centers and usually, there are multiple services but all counter/server are trained to delivery any service a customer need. Hence a customer will have to reach only one counter to get the full service.
4. Multi-Phase Multi-Channel
This setup is for the services which require multiple counters or a service that can only be delivered through multiple steps and for each step of the service multiple counters and servers are available and the queue management system will automatically divert the traffic to the vacant counter as per the queue to reduce the service delivery time. Such setups are usually common at immigration services, government offices, service providers, and healthcare facilities. Usually, such setup is being used by large corporations, enterprises, government offices, and healthcare facilities.
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Some of our customers and audience ask us “How to choose the best queue management system?” Well! That is the reason I have repeated the above classifications in this blog to let them decide which queuing model will work for them.
What are the Basic Components of a Queue Management System?
With the evolution of technology and the market’s trends businesses are focusing on implementing queue management systems that not only help them efficiently manage the customer flow but allow them to completely control the customer journey, improve their monitoring capabilities, introduce new innovations, and gather critical business intelligence. You must be thinking that is a lot for a simple business tool that is meant to streamline customer flow! No, you are wrong, the queue management systems have also evolved and become much more sophisticated and efficient in achieving those goals than ever before. However, the major two parts of a queue management system are the software and the hardware:
Queue Management System Hardware
The Queue Management System hardware is very simple and based on the most widely available technology which is another reason for the cost-effectiveness of the system. Another great advantage of utilizing a widely available technology is the ease of implementation, longevity, and low-cost maintenance. Here is a list of all basic hardware components that form a queue management system:
- Ticket Dispensing Kiosk
- Counter Displays/Counter Plates
- Digital Signage
- Audio Visual Announcements
- Signboards/Signs or Digital Signs
- Stanchions and Belt Barriers
See More: How Virtual Queuing can Change the Business Process?
Although these are just the basic QMS system components required to form a queue management system, however, there is a huge variety of hardware accessories and add-ons that are being utilized to further improve the efficiency of the system and the service delivery mechanisms. In some cases, there are devices such as touch screens and tablets that are being used to collect customer feedback. The interactive kiosk used for ticket dispensing is built with a basic computer in it, and it means that we can install so many other hardware accessories to further improve the customer experience and customer journey.
For example, Emirates ID Card Scanners or Passport Scanners can be used to fetch the basic data for each customer when they will arrive at the counter which will further make the service delivery fast as all the information required would be available for the agents who are serving the customers. This is just an example there are so many other possibilities that can help businesses to improve customer satisfaction and happiness and also allow them for better business intelligence gathering and performance monitoring.
Queue Management System Software
The queue management system software consists of two parts, one is the server-side application which provides an administrative interface and the second part is the agent interface. The agent interface is fairly simpler and provides basic controls and information about the queues and customer flow controls. However, these days, the agent portal can be customized as well as the administrative dashboard. The customization is being offered by almost all major queue management system suppliers in Dubai and all across the UAE. The main reason why businesses and organizations are seeking customization is to further achieve more control over the customer journey, customer flow, and monitoring.
Here are the basic components of the queue management system software:
- Queue Management System Server Software
- Agent Dashboard
- Admin Dashboard
- System Integration
- Customer Interface (Multi-lingual)
- Data Analytical and Reporting
See More: How a KPI Software can help provide better Customer Journey?
Monitoring and Business Intelligence are essential for any business to ensure steady growth and happy customers. Our Queue Management System comes with in-built KPIs (key performance indicators) and very reliable monitoring tools. Furthermore, the system can be customized to provide more in-depth monitoring and data collection. Here I would like to mention that data collection is important but without data analysis and reports in a simple, plain and understandable manners are extremely important for decision making and strategy formation. A queue management system must be capable of analyzing, processing, and presenting the data in actionable reports and desired formats which can help the management to take decisions and to easily identify the areas of improvement. This will help businesses and organizations to take steps and actions to improve the customer experience.
Another great feature of our Queue Management System is that it is very flexible towards integration with other business tools and enterprise solutions. The RSI QMS also supports extended levels of customization which no other queue management system in the market supports. The upgrade and modifications are also cost-effective and relatively easier. These features help the organizations to tap in the data from other systems or centralized information centers and vice versa. A tailor-made queue management system leads to automation and digitalization which results in greater efficiency and productivity of the queue management system.
See More: 10 Reasons to Choose RSI Queue Management System over Other Similar Products
What are the Benefits of a Queue Management System?
A queue management system is very effective and has become an essential part of customer satisfaction strategies these days. The core objective of a queue management system is to resolve the customer flow management-related problem, which helps businesses to enhance the customer experience and to offer a unique and attractive customer journey that results in satisfied customers. Another additional benefit includes monitoring and business intelligence gathering. Collectively all these benefits let the businesses and organizations sustain more customers and increase customer loyalty. Once that is achieved the road to steady growth is quite easy. This is why the businesses are adopting queuing solutions and the queue management system industry is emerging as a rapidly growing industry with huge future potential.
Here are some benefits of having a queue management system:
- Reduce Customer Wait Time
- Improve Customer’s Waiting Experience
- Improve Customer Journey
- Achieve total or semi-automation to reduce employee’s workload
- Monitor and measure system’s and employee’s performance
- Collect Customer Feedback and/or Measure Customer Satisfaction
- Improve Business Practices on the basis of analytical data and KPIs
- Integrate and Synchronize Data with other Corporate Tools and Systems
- Real-time Monitoring, Reporting, Alerts, Notification, and Stats
- Integrate Various Hardware to Improve Service Delivery
These are just some of the most common benefits a business can get with a queue management system. With the added benefits of customization and purpose-made queue management systems, businesses can easily achieve the highest productivity.
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Apart from the direct impacts of a queue management system on customer satisfaction and customer happiness, it also helps businesses in improving the factors that contribute to improving customer experience and customer journey. For example, a queue management system is a great aid to the staff and agents/servers who are directly interacting with the customer and visitors. With that additional aid, the employees can easily focus on customer experience and improving service delivery and service quality rather than wasting their energies on manual processes and manually handling the visitors and customers. Less work strain leads to improved morale and working environment which ultimately contributes to improving customer experience and customer satisfaction.
See More: Impacts of Queue Management System on Employee’s KPIs
Conclusion
In a modern-day world for businesses and organizations who are receiving customers and guests to their premises and offices, a queue management system is a great tool to improve the overall environment for both the customers and the employees as well. It provides great support by automation and aiding the employees in handling customer flow. A queue management system can provide basic KPIs (key performance indicators) along with the ability to couple with any Enterprise Performance Management System or Employee Performance Management System to further assist the management with accurate measurement and monitoring of the entire interaction of the brand with its customer. Businesses and organizations can have more control and flexibility to model their unique and attractive customer journey.
Furthermore, a queue management system provides a deep insight into relevant business processes, employee performance, and overall customer experience. The system is capable of gathering comprehensive business insight along with direct customer feedback. In our Queue Management System, the in-built statistical and analytical engine generates a multitude of reports for various levels of the management which let them understand the overall performance immediately. These reports and analytical data also help businesses and organizations to identify the areas of improvement. The business and organizations can have a great opportunity to understand their customers and to take steps to improve their business processes and products and services.
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With the advantage of technology and added benefits of a queue management system businesses and organizations can easily aim and achieve their targets and objectives. The queuing solutions are very cost-effective. The initial cost is low, the technology is long-lasting, easy to upgrade, easy to repurpose, and ideal for improving customer satisfaction. A satisfied customer will remain loyal to the business. With the marketing efforts and a strong asset of loyal customers, a business or organization can ensure steady growth and greater profitability. RSI Concepts is a leading queue management system provider in Dubai, UAE, and all across the GCC. If you have an inquiry or need any assistance please feel free to reach us out through our Contact Us page or leave a comment below.
Check out this: Mobile Queue Management System’s Impacts on Customer Experience