Ideas and Examples

Simple, common, use of Open Air Queue.

One Business - One Line.

Barlito's Bagel Bus is popular and going strong with their walk up business during this pandemic. But they think they lost some of their regulars, because the tightly packed, crowd is scaring them off.

  1. When the Bagel Bus rolls up and opens in the morning, Bob turns on the queue.
  2. The Bagel Bus has put up a computer screen behind them that shows how many are in queue.
  3. At first, the queue is empty and the first few customers just walk up and order. Nice and simple. Nothing new.
  4. Then a bunch of people walk up at once and Bob points to the queue. Please, take a ticket, and we'll call you up one at a time, in order. Feel free to stay here or wait in your car.
  5. As the rush hour goes on, the Bagel Bus still has quite a lot of people outside, but they are spread out naturally. Some have returned to their vehicle. Others are just loitering near the bus, but without the sense that they have to keep their place/spot in line, they are further apart. So the crowd of people still attract other people to the bus, but now they are all able to space themselves out as they feel comfortable.

Quick Summary

The recommended and most common usage of Open Air Queue.

Here, the merchant creates and starts a queue, all customers are steered to this website to get a ticket, and they come in as called.

Step by Step Details

  1. The merchant makes a queue by entering the company name, address, and custom welcome message. (It's free and should take less than three minutes to set up.)
  2. The merchant starts the queue and has someone watch it. (Open Air Queue will update as customers take tickets.)
  3. The merchant tells the customer that the queue exists. (This may be as simple as a sign or a receptionist telling someone. To aide in this, Open Air Queue offers a Display page that shows the current ticket number being called, the company name, and the company message. It refreshes on it's own every 30 seconds. If the merchant has a spare tablet or monitor, this Display page can be put on the receptionist desk or in a window to show customers that a take-a-number ticketing system is being used.)
  4. When the merchant sees a ticket has been taken, the merchant clicks the 'Call Next Ticket' button. Then that customer will see his/her screen change to 'Your turn' and walk in.
  5. The merchant closes the queue when the business is closing.