Queue List View
Queue statistics are displayed at the top of the queue schedule view. These include:
Clients served: the number of clients served so far today (i.e. whose queue entry status is "Completed")
Queue total: the number of clients currently in the queue (includes all clients, regardless of their entry's status)
Staff available: the number of staff members that are not currently serving a client (*Note: only staff members who are assigned to the queue are considered)
More detailed queue statistics can be found by clicking the statistics button shown here:
Wait time (i.e. the amount of time between when a client joins the queue and when a staff member is assigned to their entry)
Min: the shortest wait time from among today's queue entries
Max: the longest wait time from among today's queue entries
Average: the average queue wait time
Service duration (only considers queue entries with status "Completed")
Min: the shortest service duration from among today's queue entries; measures the time between when a service started and when it was completed.
Max: the longest service duration from among today's queue entries; measures the time between when a service started and when it was completed.
Average: the average service duration.
Total today
Bookings: total number of queue entries
Clients served: total number of clients served (i.e. whose queue entry status is "Completed")
No-show: total number of queue entries with status "No-show"
The queue list view contains the following columns:
#: the client's current position in the queue
Status
See queue statuses for more info.
Booking ID: the entry's unique ID.
Duration: the service's estimated duration, unless the entry is completed, in which case it will reflect the actual service duration.
Time: estimated remaining wait time
Personnel
The name of the staff member currently assigned to the entry.
Service: the name of the service being offered
Client Name
Client Phone
Client Email
Quick Note
Resources
In the queue list view, you may reorder (i.e. drag/drop) columns, resize, show or hide columns, filter by service, apply sorting (*does not stack) and search by keyword (i.e. client name, email address, booking ID).
To show/hide columns, click the icon in top right section of the grid.
*Note: active filters, column order, and column widths are saved per staff member and restored automatically when you return to the queue, with a Reset option.
Queue detail summary
To quickly see a queue entry's details, simply hover over it.
Queue settings (Business Booking Rules)
Queue settings can only be edited if all current queue entries are either completed or cancelled, and the end time has passed (i.e. the queue is inactive).
Enable Queue
Enable to activate the queue feature. Once enabled, the queueing option will be shown in the Calendar tab, and you'll be able to add clients to a daily queue.
Show Client Position
Enable to display the client's current queue position in the tracking page.
Auto-Assign Staff
Enable queue auto-assignment: available staff will be automatically assigned to an entry once their current entry's status becomes "Completed" (*note: only entries that are marked as "Client arrived" can be auto-assigned). Choose the buffer time (i.e. amount of time after the entry is complete the assignment will occur).
Show Estimated Wait Time
Enable to display the client's wait time in the tracking page.
Queue reminder notification
Enable to send a message to clients, reminding them of their upcoming queue entry.
Queue reminder Notification Delay
Specify the amount of time before the estimated service time the reminder notification should be sent.
Confirm Client Presence
Enable to ask clients to confirm their presence in the queue reminder notification.
Auto-Cancel if Presence Not Confirmed
Enable to require clients to confirm their presence in the queue reminder notification. If the client does not confirm their presence within the allotted delay), they will be removed from the queue. Once a client confirms, their entry status will change to "Confirmed".
Specify how much time a client has to confirm their presence before they are automatically removed from the queue.
Your Turn notification
Enable to send a message to clients before their estimated service time, notifying them of their upcoming turn.
Your Turn Notification Delay
Specify the amount of time before the estimated service time that the notification is sent.
Staff Assignment Notification
Enable to notify staff members when they are assigned a queue entry.
Staff Assignment Notification Display Time: specify how much time to display the staff assignment notification (in minutes).
*Note: this notification will either be sent either via the staff's browser or the webpage itself. By default, it will be sent via the browser; if the staff rejects the browser permission, it will be sent via the webpage.
Browser notification example:
Webpage notification example:
Queue statuses
Status | Description |
Waiting | The client is in the queue, but is not necessarily in the store. Applied when a client is added to the queue by a staff member, and the entry has not yet been assigned to a staff member, and the client has not (yet) confirmed their presence. |
Confirmed* | [*Only applies if "Client confirm presence" is enabled] The client confirmed their presence; applied when the client confirms their presence in the tracking page. |
Client Arrived | The client is present in the store, but the service has not yet started; applied when a staff member sets the status manually. |
In Progress | The queue entry is ongoing (i.e. the client is being served); applied when a staff member is assigned to an entry. |
No-Show | The client did not show up to their entry; applied when a staff member sets the status manually.
*Note: can be applied with or without presence confirmation, but only applies if "Auto-Cancel if Presence Not Confirmed" is disabled; if it's enabled, its status will be set to ‘Cancelled’. |
Cancelled | The queue entry was cancelled; applied when a client leaves the queue, or when a staff member manually cancels the entry, or when a client does not confirm their presence within the allotted delay (see "Auto-Cancel if Presence Not Confirmed"). |
Completed | The service was successfully provided to the client and is now complete; applied when a staff member sets the status manually. |
Queue resources
Resources can be assigned to queue services. To create/configure resources, visit the "Resources" tab in the Back Office.
Notes
This feature must be activated to be used. To request activation, contact your Booxi representative.
Resources are shared between appointments and queue (i.e. the same resource can be assigned to a service of type "Appointment" or of type "Queue"). This means:
If a resource is occupied by an appointment, it is unavailable for queue.
If a resource is being used for the queue, it is unavailable for appointments.
A resource's status ("Active"/"Out of order") does not affect the queue (i.e. "Out of order" resources can still be assigned to queue entries).
How resource assignment works
Resource assignment happens at the same time as staff assignment: when you click "Assign personnel", a window will appear, prompting you to select a staff member and a resource.
Whenever you attempt to assign a resource, the system considers the following:
Appointments making use of the resource
"In progress" queue visits making use of the resource
Service duration
If the resource is unavailable, an error message will be shown to you.
Queue services that have at least one assigned resource can only be "started" (i.e. status set to "In progress") when both a staff member and a resource are assigned to it. However, you may unassign a resource by clicking the "Unassign resource" button, as shown below. In this case, the status will remain "In progress".
*Note: When you unassign a personnel, the assigned resourced will also be unassigned.
Important Limitation
Queue services that have an assigned resource cannot be auto-assigned. In other words, the "Auto-Assign Staff" setting will not apply for entries of such services. Such entries must be manually assigned by a staff member.
Considerations
Resources directly impact:
Estimated wait times
Service start predictions
Related to ^: using resources can affect your overall queue volume (i.e. the amount of visits per day) because of its effect on availability and wait times.
When using a resource, make sure its availability schedule is correctly configured, since it will directly impact your queue wait times and calculations. For example, if your resource is unavailable, a client's visit can remain indefinitely in "Waiting" even if staff members are available to serve the client.
Ensure that all queue services are configured appropriately (i.e. make sure services requiring resources have at least one assigned, and vice-versa for those that do not require them).
If you share resources between appointment and queue services, be aware of their impact on each other. Appointments using a shared resourced will directly impact queue wait times. Consider the below scenario:
Appointment service A (1 hour) and queue service B (1 hour) share a resource. You have an appointment scheduled for 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM. A client entering the queue at 9:15 AM will have a wait time of at least 75 minutes due to the presence of the appointment.
As such, Booxi advises against creating appointments at the last minute since it can potentially significantly extend queue wait times for clients, leading to frustration and lost business opportunity.
Queue access/permissions
For a list of queue permissions per access level, see here.
Queue notifications
Tracking page
All queue emails and SMS sent to your clients contains a link to the tracking page, which displays live-updated queue information:
Current queue position (hidden if “Show Client Position" is disabled)
Estimated wait time (hidden if “Show Estimated Wait time" is disabled)
"Confirm presence" button (hidden if "Confirm client presence" is disabled)
Clients can leave the queue from the tracking page.
Calendar
Completed queue entries are shown in the Calendar tab; a queue icon indicates the entry is of type "Queue".
Reporting
See here for the Queue automated report.
Webhooks
Online/offline status
Here is how the online/offline status of your business, personnel and services affect the queue.
Business status does not affect the queue (i.e. if your business is offline, the queue is not affected in any way)
Personnel status does not affect the queue (i.e. offline staff members can still be assigned to queue entries)
Service status does affect the queue (i.e. offline services will NOT be displayed in your queue widget); however, offline services can still be assigned to queue entries (i.e. when manually adding a client to the queue from the Back Office).
Notes
Services offered via queue will be added to the client's booking history ("Clients" tab > {select a client} > Booking history)
Deactivating the Queueing feature will not affect the queue entry information displayed in the client booking history.
It is technically possible to add a client multiple times to the queue, but Booxi recommends against this (especially as a workaround for multi-service booking), since it can cause inaccurate wait times, make the queue appear longer than it is, and disrupt service order. It may also create confusion for both staff and the client.
Limitations
The queue is used for same-day services only.
Queueing supports the tracking page v3, not v2.
Clients are not permitted to edit their queue entries.
Online payment is currently not supported.
FAQ
Q: "How is the estimated wait time calculated?"
The estimated wait time takes into account multiple factors, including:
Staff availability (i.e. a staff member is considered unavailable if they are assigned to an ongoing queue entry or a scheduled appointment/group event, or have a busy time slot)
The services that each staff member offers
The service chosen by the client
The number of people ahead of the client
The average service duration
Resource availability (if the service has an assigned resource(s))
etc.
Q: "What happens to entries once the queue end time has been reached?"
Existing entries are unaffected.
Q: "How does the system decide which staff member to auto-assign entries to?"
Auto-assignment is done via round-robin (i.e. the system automatically distributes new entries evenly and sequentially among available staff members). If you want to know more, contact your Booxi representative.