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Queue management glossary
The terms you’ll hear when planning a queue system, explained in plain language.
- Appointment queue
- A queue in which visitors book a time slot in advance and check in on arrival, frequently served alongside walk-in service users.
- Average handling time
- The average time a personnel member spends serving one visitor, from call to completion.
- Average wait time
- The average time between taking a ticket and being called to a counter.
- Call
- The moment a team member summons the next visitor; shown on displays and usually announced with a chime or voice.
- Counter display
- A small display above or beside a counter that presents the ticket number being served there.
- Customer segmentation
- Treating groups of service users differently – for instance priority clients – based on card, database or other rules.
- Digital signage
- Screens that show media including videos, news and offers, frequently combined with queue calls.
- Kiosk
- A self-service terminal where visitors pick a service and receive a ticket; some kiosks also take payments.
- Main display
- A sizeable display in the waiting zone that lists the latest calls and the counters visitors should go to.
- Mobile ticketing
- Taking a queue ticket from a phone, for instance by scanning a QR code or utilising a website.
- No-show
- A visitor who took a ticket or booked an appointment but was not present when called.
- Park
- Temporarily setting a ticket aside – for instance while a visitor fetches a document – so it can be recalled later.
- Patient flow
- The movement of patients through the steps of a visit, like registration, consultation, lab and pharmacy.
- Peak hour
- The time of day with the highest number of arrivals; essential for staffing plans.
- Recall
- Calling the same ticket again when the visitor didn’t respond the first time.
- Service level
- The share of visitors served within a target wait time, for instance 80% within 10 minutes.
- Terminal
- The software team use to call, transfer, park and close tickets – in a browser or on Windows.
- Transfer
- Moving a visitor’s ticket to another service or counter without them taking a new ticket.
- Utilisation
- The share of time counters are crowded serving visitors. Really high utilisation normally means lengthy waits.
- Virtual queue
- A queue that service users join remotely, so they can wait anywhere rather than standing in line.
- Walk-in
- A visitor who arrives without an appointment.