Kiosk or front desk
Customers serve themselves on a tablet or front-desk PC, or staff register walk-ins at the desk with the same three steps and can set a priority class.
End to end
From the front door to the counter
Exactly what happens to every ticket: how customers get a number, how staff call and serve them, who is next and why, and what the waiting room sees.
1 · Getting a number
Three steps at the front desk
On a tablet or front-desk PC, or with staff at the desk. No app, no account.
- 1
Customer details
The customer types their name. A mobile number is optional and, if given, is checked for format. It is only used to look the ticket up later.
- 2
Choose a service
Every active service of the branch appears as a large card with its prefix letter, name and description. Inactive services are hidden.
- 3
Get your ticket
“Get and print my ticket” creates the number. A double tap never creates two tickets, and the page resets itself for the next customer after a set time.
The confirmation
The ticket shows the queue number in large type, the service, the branch, the date and time, and the estimated wait, and asks the customer to watch the display.
Printed or on screen
Where printing is on, the browser print dialog opens with a compact ticket for standard receipt printers. Otherwise customers simply note their number.
Status on their phone
The public status page looks a ticket up by queue number or mobile number, without signing in, and shows its status, position and estimated wait.
Optional email reminder
If the company turns it on, customers can leave an email address to be told when their turn is near and when they are called.
Never another customer’s data
If nothing matches, the status page says so kindly, and it never shows another customer’s name or number. Repeated lookups are limited.
2 · Ticket lifecycle
Nine statuses, every move recorded
A ticket starts as Waiting, is Called to a counter and Served until Completed. Every other path is a deliberate action by staff, saved with who and when.
- Waiting
- thenCall nextCalled
- thenStart serviceServing
- thenCompleteCompleted
Every other path
- FromCalled, actionRecall, toCalled
- FromCalled, actionSkip, toSkipped
- FromSkipped, actionRecall, toCalled
- FromSkipped, actionNo show / skip window ends, toNo show
- FromServing, actionPark, toParked
- FromParked, actionResume, toWaiting
- FromCalled, actionTransfer, toWaiting
- FromWaiting, actionCancel, toCancelled
- FromWaiting, actionClose previous-day tickets, toClosed (end of day)
| Status | Meaning | Set by | In reports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waiting | Registered and in the queue. | Set by: Registration, Resume, Transfer | In reports: Registered |
| Called | A counter has called the number and the customer is expected. | Set by: Call next, Recall | In reports: Registered |
| Serving | The customer is at the counter and service has started. | Set by: Start service | In reports: Registered |
| Completed | Service finished. | Set by: Complete | In reports: Served |
| Skipped | The customer did not respond to the call. Can still be recalled. | Set by: Skip | In reports: Skipped |
| No show | The customer did not appear after the allowed recalls or skip window. | Set by: No show, or automatically | In reports: Skipped |
| Parked | Held by staff so the counter can serve someone else. | Set by: Park | In reports: Registered |
| Cancelled | Ended before service started, by staff or at the customer’s request. | Set by: Cancel | In reports: Cancelled |
| Closed (end of day) | Left open at the end of a day and closed by staff. | Set by: Close previous-day tickets | In reports: Closed, not served |
3 · Counter actions
What every button does
Ten actions cover every situation at a counter. Each one is a single click and is saved with the staff member, counter, ticket and time.
- Call next
- Picks the next eligible ticket for this counter’s services, sets it to Called, shows it on the display and announces it.
- Recall
- Calls the same ticket again on the display and by voice, up to 3 times by default. Each recall is recorded.
- Start service
- Records the moment the customer reaches the counter and starts the service timer.
- Complete
- Ends the service, stores the handling time and frees the counter for the next call.
- Skip
- Moves an absent customer aside. The ticket stays recallable for 30 minutes by default, then becomes No show on its own.
- No show
- Closes the ticket as customer-did-not-appear after the allowed recalls. Reported separately from Skipped.
- Transfer
- Sends the ticket to another service or counter. It keeps its queue number and original registration time, so nobody loses their place.
- Park & resume
- Puts a ticket on hold so the counter can serve someone else. Any counter that handles the service can resume it, back in its original position.
- Cancel
- Ends a ticket before service starts, at the customer’s request or by staff. Its number is never reused that day.
- Close previous-day tickets
- Tickets left open from earlier days never appear in today’s queue. Staff see a banner and close them in one action, with who and when recorded.
4 · Calling order
Who is next, every time
Staff never choose by hand. Call next follows the same rules at every counter, so the order is fair and explainable.
Only this counter’s services
A counter calls from the waiting tickets of the services assigned to it: one service, several or all of them.
Priority first, then the longest wait
Higher-priority classes go first; within the same class, the earliest registration time wins, across all of the counter’s services.
A fairness rule
Priority never starves everyone else: for example, after every 3 priority calls, 1 standard ticket is called.
One ticket per counter
A counter serves one customer at a time, so Call next is disabled while a ticket is in service.
Never the same ticket twice
Every active counter for a service is offered its tickets, and the first to call takes it. Two counters can never call the same ticket.
Paused counters step aside
A counter on a break is excluded from routing and shown as Paused on the display.
5 · Estimated wait
A simple, honest estimate
Take the tickets ahead in the service, multiply by that service’s average service time, and share the work between the counters serving it. Round up to whole minutes.
- The average uses completed tickets of the same service over the last 30 days, or a default when there is not enough history.
- It is recalculated whenever the queue changes, and is never less than 1 minute.
- With no counter serving the service it says “Waiting for a counter”, and it is always worded as guidance, not a promise.
6 tickets ahead times 4 minutes average service time, divided by 2 active counters, equals about 12 minutes.
6 · The live display
The screen that calls for you
A full-screen page for any TV, opened once with the branch’s display link. Its five zones update on their own.
Now serving
The latest call in very large type with its counter, “A025, Counter 3”. Before the first call it says “Waiting for the next call”.
Up next
The next tickets to be called, with their counter where it is already known (5 by default).
Service queues strip
One card per active service: the latest ticket called, its counter and how many are waiting.
Chime and voice
Each call or recall is highlighted and announced: “A025, please proceed to Counter 3”. Volume and mute are settings.
Your videos and messages
Uploaded videos play in a loop and pause for every call; announcement messages scroll along the bottom.
Never a blank screen
It refreshes every 5 seconds by default. If the connection drops it keeps the last known state with a small “reconnecting” notice, and recovers on its own.
7 · Numbering
Numbers people can read
- A queue number is the service prefix (1 to 3 letters) plus a running number: A001, A002, A003.
- Each branch and service counts separately, so A014 and B014 can be waiting at the same time.
- The count restarts every day at the daily reset time, midnight in the branch’s time zone by default.
- A number is never reused on the same day, even if its ticket is cancelled.
- Companies choose 3 or 4 digits, and a service’s prefix cannot change once tickets exist for it.
- A001Consultation
- A002Consultation
- A003Consultation
- B001Laboratory
- B002Laboratory
- C001Billing
Tomorrow every service starts again from 001.
Get started
Give every customer a calm wait.
Click through a real HANA QMS workspace as an admin, a branch manager or a staff member, no sign-up needed. Or tell us about your branches and we will set up a walkthrough.