How Queue Management Software Helps to Limit Covid-19?

Posted by admin Jul 27, 2020

Emerging at the end of 2019, a new coronavirus infection changed the year 2020 a lot. In the first three months, its consideration is an epidemic – a disease that took on a global scale.

Sooner, it has affected everyone’s life. The businesses have shut down, many of the employees become jobless, a new trend of remote working has started.

The people are anxious to go outside. However, there are many activities that require to complete on time. Banks, hospitals, legal offices, grocers and pharmacies, cannot get closed. They do not have any other option than to remain open; as these industries come as essentialities for daily activities.

In between all this, they have to maintain all the precautionary measures; in which social distancing is a must. It is because of the reason that they face the long waiting queues.  

Undeniably, the tight and more queues give more chances of spreading COVID-19. Therefore, it becomes essential to look after the ways that even let the businesses maintain the queues and also, allow them to get regular profitable results. 

Many software is there in the market that is known for providing proficient results to most of the businesses and also, streamlining their responsibilities. This solution allows them to find out other ways to generate more profitable ways to generate more money.

From all, to maintain the queues, Queue Management System is the name that best controls and monitors the businesses in the best way.

Here, in this article, we are revealing how the queue management software is advantageous for your business to maintain social distancing, and following all the safety guidelines of COVID-19.  Before that, let’s just have a glimpse of COVID-19. Stick to this article for some time more and keep on reading!!

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the latest newly discovered coronavirus. Before the outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, nothing was known about the new virus and disease.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, fatigue, and a dry cough. Some patients may have various pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, pharyngitis, or diarrhea. 

As a rule, these symptoms develop gradually and are mild. Some infected individuals do not experience any symptoms or feel unwell. In the majority of people (about 80%), the disease ends with recovery, and no specific therapeutic measures are required. 

In about one in six cases of COVID-19, severe symptoms develop with the development of respiratory failure. Older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, or diabetes are more likely to develop severe illness.

How Does the Virus Spread?

You can get 2019 ‑ nCoV from other people if they are infected with the virus. The disease can be spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth of someone with COVID-19 when they cough or sneeze. 

These drops fall on objects and surfaces surrounding a person. Other people can become infected by first touching such objects or surfaces and then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. 

In addition, an infection can occur through inhalation of small droplets that are released when a person with COVID-19 coughs or sneezes. For this reason, it is important to stay more than 1 meter from the sick person.

WHO is monitoring the progress of studies on the transmission routes of COVID-19 and will publish information as it is updated.

After grasping much about Coronavirus, let’s get back to our aim behind this article and know the benefits of the queue management system in COVID-19.

What is the Queue Management Software?

Queue Management Software is a term that is used to create a more effective system to reduce the perceived waiting time or customer waiting time for the services. The main objective of the software is to amplify the percentage of customers to serve and customer satisfaction with the best queuing experience.

The system replaces the existing service system based on a “live” queue, which does not have the ability to comprehensively support the company’s information and analytical processes.

To implement the main task, the queue management system has various functionalities that allow using the system not only for solving the main task but helping to solve additional tasks:

• organization of the queue distribution process and its automation;
• reducing the time of the process of rendering services;
• increasing the throughput of the enterprise;
• transition to a qualitatively new level of information support;
• the effectiveness of management decisions;
• additional opportunities for analyzing service processes;
• a tool for monitoring the work of employees;
• functional analysis of the organization’s business processes;
• reducing the time spent in the queue.

By increasing the efficiency of the processes mentioned above, by reducing the “manual”, duplicate and unproductive operations, as well as optimizing the information interaction of all participants in the process, the queue issues can get resolved.  

Almost any queue management software includes a reporting and analytical part. It contains information on employees working with such a system; on the services provided by the company; by service time and much more. By receiving reports on various criteria of employee performance and analyzing the data, managers receive a means for making and approving decisions in operations management. This is achieved due to reliable and timely information, its completeness, as well as the convenience of the statistical reporting formats.

How the Queuing System is Helpful to Limit COVID-19?

The queue management system is even in normal days recognized as the best way to manage and control the queue. It, therefore, saves the customers and staff time, above all, makes them satisfied.  Hence, in these rough days, where normal living has become limited and we are bound for several things, the queue management system is the ray of hope for the business with foot traffic.  

Different Ways of Limiting COVID-19 with the Queue Management System

Virtual Queues are New Normal

Virtual queues are the first way to eradicate the physical waiting rooms and crowds on an all.  Following this way, the visitors do not have to stand in queues to get served, they can bring in virtual queues and can get easily served. This, of course, limits the manner of spreading the virus is the best thing you can do to limit the COVID-19.

Personal Hygiene Instructions

Now, at this point in time, everyone knows about the COVID-19 guidelines and safety measures to follow in daily life. Following them is essential to sustain ourselves in this world. Otherwise, the consequences are known to all!!

Simple to put, they have to follow the distance of less than a meter and a maximum of three feet and if required, more than that. It is difficult to understand how far the other person is standing and to have an idea to measure the distance. 

Here, we advise you to mark the labels on the floor with chalk and markers to make it easy for the visitors to where to stand. Always disinfect the surface on a regular basis when someone visits your office. The kiosks, plugs, switches should be clean promptly because of the frequently touching.

In addition, we advise you to use the alcohol-based wipes and sanitizers with less than 60% of alcohol. Also, the service agents should wear gloves while taking or holding anything, otherwise, use tissues when needed.

Furthermore, place a note on the entrance of the office to show the sanitization guidelines (sanitize the hands with the hand rub or sanitizer while entering and leaving). 

Notification System for Contactless Queuing 

It is mandatory to make the halls and lobbies empty to stop the spread of COVID-19. Of course, this is only possible with the queue management system. It enables you to send the alerts to the customers about the appointments and exhibiting them the new offers, discounts, and the current operational timings.  

With the queuing system, you can send the notifications in the form of emails and SMS. Also, the additional changes, such as delays, breaks, safety guidelines can be notified to the customers appropriately.

By this compelling notification system, you can request the customers if they like to schedule, reschedule, or cancel the bookings. If they want to, the staff can perform the changes on a quick basis and also, lessen any chances of no-shows possibility. 

Manage Check-ins and Peak Hours

The queue management system enables you to avoid the percentage of visitors visiting the office. Also, as the business owner, you aim should be:

• to decrease the percentage of customers waiting for their turn in long queues
• to circumvent the waiting customer’s backlog

The digital sign-in kiosk, here, helps the customers to check-in by themselves whenever and wherever. This is how you can eliminate the issues of the physical line to a large extent. In the virtual queues, you can apply this as well; the customers send specific information on their queries in advance so that they can be solved in a more limited time. 

Maintain the Transparency

When you are dealing with the customers, you have to maintain transparency.  Customers like whenever they get notified with everything which is important.  Interact with them and show them what you are dealing with and what you are selling, etc.

In this tough timing,  there is a probability that you have to change the working hours.  If you are doing the same, then notify them in the form of email or SMS. Or, you can publish the updated information on the business profile or business website.

Additionally, notify them if you are open and fulfilling every safety guideline. When your agents are delivering the products and there are some delays then you must notify all this to the customers.

Appointment Management 

No business can avoid the issues of managing the appointments. To satisfy the customers, every business owner has to delight them in any way. Hence, you have to maintain the appointments smoothly then you have to leverage the queue management software. 

The queuing system allows you to schedule, reschedule, or cancel the appointments on their own by on their convenient time slots. This application enables the customers to examine the vacant time slots and approximate visiting hours and consequently, the customer’s book.

Consequently, it gives you a seamless way to manage the appointments as per customers’ interests and therefore, improving customers’ satisfaction level. It amalgamates the token system that provides a receipt of the token with essential information linked to the appointments. The queue management system sends notifications to the customers regarding the details and reveals about the booking schedule. Hence, keeping that intact, the customer visits the company/ office. This is how the means of long queues and confirm safety from COVID-19.

Maximize Staff Awareness

It is essential for you as the business owner to be aware of the staff member about the safety guidelines of COVID-19 by WHO. You must acknowledge the staff about the essential ways to reduce the risk of spreading it. Assure that every staff member is dealing and cooperating fully in maintaining it and assuring social distancing.

Provide them every means of keeping hygiene. Ask them to wash their hands on a regular basis, use the tissue while sneezing and coughing and immediately, throw the tissue. If there is any staff or client showing the symptoms then tell them to leave and come back only when they feel better.

Guarantee Product Safety in Real-time

Customers worry about their safety and are limiting themselves to visiting the stores. But, for essentials, they have to visit, and then, you have to assure them that you are following the precautionary measure and only selling safe goods. 

This only implies that as the store owner, you have to match the customers’ needs and deeds. The queue management system assures you to update the campaigns to secure the changes visible in the offerings. It is better to update the pick up in-store, buy online, and provide availability on a priority basis.

Minimize the Interaction Level

With the queue management system, you can limit the interaction and touchpoints. The queuing system has the checkpoints that enable less communication, find out below how:

• With a virtual queue, you can reach the premises only some minutes before.
• The queuing notification system notifies the customers and the service agents about the waiting scenario.
• It has the QR codes that allow the customers to check the virtual queues either online or on-premises. Hence, you can limit the interactions to a minimum and assure social distancing.

Important Notice

WHO staff offer a fairly clear list of measures to prevent infection with the COVID-19. Compliance with it helps to avoid infection and prevent the growth of a pandemic in the world.

Regular washing of hands with soap, processing them with alcohol-containing liquids is necessary to eliminate the virus on its way to the mucous membranes. People constantly touch with their fingers many surfaces, it is here that most often the virus is ready to attack.

You should get rid of the habit of touching your mouth, nose, eyes with your hands to prevent the virus from entering the body through the mucous membranes.

Cover your mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. If not, it’s recommended to use the bend of the elbow rather than the hand. It is important to dispose of aids immediately using a waste bag and containers with a lid, hands – wash thoroughly with soap.

When in a public place, you need to maintain a distance between yourself and other people. According to WHO experts, the aerosol produced by an infected person when sneezing is dangerous only for those who are at a distance of less than one meter.

In the event of symptoms indicating a lesion of the respiratory system, coupled with high body temperature, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible. The indication of the presence of a respiratory infection is by coughing, shortness of breath, and sneezing.  It is especially important to inform about your condition to those who have recently arrived from epidemiologically unfavorable countries, regions, had contacts with persons with suspected COVID-19.

Tracking constantly updated information about the disease will allow you to learn in time about regional personal protective measures, get comprehensive data on the biology of the coronavirus, and how to deal with it.

Wrapping Up

Providing a personal touch when giving touchless service is a daunting task.  Maintaining a safe queue in the quarantine is another difficulty.  

Besides, we do not have any option than staying safe – for us and for the people around us.  The queue management system is a helping hand; it holds the capacity to assure social distancing and maintain safety from COVID-19.  Take a look at this article to know more!!

Hopefully, you got an idea of how the queuing system could be beneficial for your overall business. If you have some queries or suggestions related, then, comment below.  

Stay safe and healthy!!

Thanks for reading!!