Without solutions such as a queuing system, waiting in line is something we've accepted as an annoying aspect of our everyday lives. Whether you are shopping, heading to a doctor's office, or getting your license plate renewed, you can expect significant wait times just about everywhere you go. Standing in physical lines is agitating and tiring, but we tell ourselves it is just the cost of doing business.
Technology is completely reshaping how we live our lives. It is changing how we talk to each other, how we entertain ourselves, how we work. Just about every aspect of our lives is dramatically impacted by technology. So, in this world of digitalization and innovation, why is it that so many people have to waste their valuable time waiting in lines? Crowded lines are antiquated systems of acquiring a product or service. Businesses now have opportunities to render long in-person waits redundant.
With the implementation of a virtual queuing system, businesses can drastically change how their customer flow process works. Virtual queueing systems are technology solutions that allow customers to enter a line and see wait times without being present in a physical location. Customers can also communicate with staffers using the virtual queueing system. Businesses can now offer their high-quality service to customers without the consistent arduous lineups.
The benefits of eliminating an in-person agonizing wait time with queue management software are significant for businesses. Customer satisfaction increases, your business flows more efficiently, and you can create a better overall atmosphere. These are only some of the many reasons it is high time to do away with long crowded lines.
QLESS is an entirely digital electronic queuing system used in healthcare, government, retail, and academic environments worldwide. QLESS’ efficient systems have helped businesses create a higher-functioning workplace without the infuriating customer experience of a long line. There is no better way to show your customers you are invested in providing quality customer service than implementing QLESS into your business.
QLESS might seem like a dramatic change for some businesses, but there are many reasons why this queuing system is something worth exploring. Let’s look at six different ways QLESS virtual lines can improve operations for your company.
A business's success or failure is dependent on its ability to acquire customers and keep them happy. Even if a business has an excellent product, if they're unable to provide their customers with a good experience, it won't matter. The customer experience is arguably the most important aspect of a business. A queuing system is a solution that goes a long way towards helping with this.
According to TechJury, businesses that focus on improving the customer experience make 80% more money. Also, 73% of customers say that the customer experience affects their decision to buy something. You need to show customers that you care about their experience. You also want to show that you're invested in removing the roadblocks that negatively impact their time at your business. If you do this, they will naturally respond positively to your business.
Let's dive into exactly how QLESS alters the customer experience. It all begins with the simple fact that people hate standing in line. In general, people find lines to be boring, confusing, and disenfranchising. Lines are a significant inhibitor to people enjoying their interactions with a business. But there is research out there that shows the frustration and angst that comes from being in a line isn’t entirely based on how long we spend in that line. It has more to do with how we feel while in line.
Making your business easier to access and more tailored to your customer's needs will help you in the long run. According to Forbes, 73% of companies with above-average customer experience offerings perform better financially than competitors. How you treat customers while interacting with your business defines their impressions of you. A long line is an impersonal, exhausting experience that doesn't send the right message.
If you aren’t treating customers how they feel they should be treated, you are not their only option. The customers you have are your most valuable commodity, and you need to treat them as such. It costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. Going above and beyond to provide a positive customer service experience is massive for customer retention. QLESS is a great way to do this.
All in all, QLESS dramatically reduces the negative impact of waiting in line. When customers do not need to be physically present, they can feel more relaxed and cared for. This also reduces the amount of time they need to wait and eliminates anxiety. A positive customer experience can play a major role in growth and retention. With QLESS digital solutions, you can give your customers the quality line experience they deserve.
Long lines don't just harm the customer experience. A significant lineup is an obstacle for your entire team. It makes organizing your business' day-to-day tasks drastically more difficult as customers stream in and out. As a result, the operations of your business are put under constant stress. This can harm employee morale and overwhelm management. They're forced to organize large groups of dissatisfied customers on the fly.
Employees shouldn’t have to waste their valuable time sorting through long lines and dealing with agitated customers. If you want your business to operate as effectively as possible, time management is going to be key. This is what digital queuing systems can help with.
There are many reasons to make sure your employees are happy. One reason is that companies with happy workers outperform companies with unhappy workers by 202%, according to Apollo Technical. The happier your staff is, the easier it is to retain them, and the better your business will perform. A more organized business leads to fewer dissatisfied customers your staff must interact with. As a result, there is a more pleasant work environment.
We’ve touched on how the efficient systems created by QLESS can make for happier customers. But, let’s dive in on how they can help businesses better organize their employee’s day. QLESS’ queue management systems don’t just allow customers to get in lines. They also give businesses the ability to completely sort and manage these lines in real time. Companies can structure virtual lineups according to various criteria that will make it far easier for staff to manage the busiest times of the day.
Front desk employees don't have to filter through information like this one person at a time. That process causes hold-ups that slow down the number of customers or clients employees can see. Customers can enter the line virtually and check in with the appointment type or employee they are looking to meet with. After that, they can wait from wherever they are until their appointment time is scheduled.
QLESS can help trim some of the unneeded delays in business processes by presenting alternate solutions that allow customers to handle the check-in process all from their cell phones. This helps make the business workflows more efficient and employee-friendly. Modern organizations that implement a queuing system can also see a large bump in improving communication between staff and customers.
QLESS has features that allow for bi-directional communication. This means employees can ask customers for pre-appointment screening updates. They can also view what lineup they are trying to join, and gain more information before the appointment begins. Customers can update staff on whether they have left the line or need more time. Then, your business can be more agile in adapting to these changes. Staff can also broadcast templated messages to the entire lineup throughout the business day. They can notify them of delays or changes to appointments. It is an effective form of mass communication.
Staff at businesses with long lines typically have a lot on their plate. Customers who have typically spent a significant amount of time waiting in line are often disgruntled. The frontline staff are the ones who have to deal with that. QLESS drastically improves their experience by cutting back on customer dissatisfaction and improving communication. It also helps employees be more productive by organizing their business workflows and simplifying their day-to-day customer interactions.
One of the most important tools businesses can have is information. Whether it is retail businesses or government offices, being hyper-aware of your company's performance is critical to success. For many companies, it is extremely difficult to procure data on things like your appointment processes and line up customer experience. There is no real way to track it. But that is one of the greatest aspects of QLESS and electronic queuing systems. Businesses can get highly accurate, highly valuable data on the performance of key aspects of their company.
The value of data to your business is extreme. Business intelligence (BI) is a process that uses technology to get data and analyze it. This helps businesses create plans of action.
Access to high-quality, actionable insights from data is an extremely valuable asset to businesses. Data insights can show you exactly where your business is at. It can illustrate where your business is performing well and where it is underperforming. This allows you to clearly see what needs to be done to improve your business processes. But getting this data without the right software is extremely difficult, and that is where QLESS comes in.
QLESS isn't just a time management platform that creates virtual queues. It is also a business intelligence software that provides essential data to the businesses that implement it. QLESS monitors several key aspects of the business that modern organizations must be aware of. It provides data visualizations and long-term details on various segments that can indicate how the customer flow of your business is performing.
There are even more insights available. You can also break all of this critical information into different segments. You can see wait times based on certain times of day, based on certain appointment types, and based on employees. This can give you a clear picture of what might be causing hold-ups in your business.
Business intelligence helps illustrate patterns in your business that you might not have been able to notice on your own. You're not alone if you feel like you need help to understand your business better. But don't worry, there are ways to get concrete data and visuals that show you what is happening and why. This can help you figure out what improvements you need to make to your business. If you notice that certain times of day performance falls or certain appointment types are causing long waits, you can make the adjustments to streamline your business processes.
No business is perfect. There are always aspects of your day-to-day operations that can be improved. It is just finding out exactly what they are with full accuracy that is the challenge. With the data from QLESS, businesses can know with complete accuracy which parts of their business are working best and which may be lagging. This way, they can make the necessary changes to provide better service to their customers. This technology will help businesses nurture a more efficient workplace.
Information is one of the most valuable tools your business can have. This knowledge can alter the long-term trajectory of your company. Data can help streamline services for universities, improve customer service in hospitals, or trim additional time-off waits in government offices. Implementing a queuing system, not only changes the queuing process, but you gain valuable information. This information can be utilized to change your business for the better.
The words “unprecedented times” have been constantly thrown around throughout the past several years, but they are undeniably true. When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in full force, it was unlike anything the modern world had seen before.
It seemed like everything was upended, from how we work to how we live our day-to-day lives. Businesses were faced with a never-ending list of safety protocols and lockdowns. This led to a decline in customers' willingness to frequent stores in person. Adjusting to the age of social distancing and pandemic anxiety is a tall task for enterprises worldwide, but it is one every business must face to survive.
One of the significant changes brought on by the pandemic is the increase in reliance on technology. The businesses that were able to survive during the pandemic were those that could quickly implement new technology to reduce or eliminate their need for face-to-face interactions. But what you can do is minimize the amount of in-person interactions to reduce risk and increase customer comfort.
The Coronavirus pandemic played a major role in increasing anxiety around the world. The numbers are quite staggering.
This dramatic change illustrates that people are more anxious than ever before. Much of that anxiety is rooted in fears about the pandemic. To help accommodate those anxieties, effective social distancing measures should be implemented.
These measures are things that many businesses have struggled to implement efficiently. University campuses have emptied their classrooms for online classes yet have long lineups outside admission offices. Healthcare organizations are serious risk centers for virus spread yet often have crowded waiting rooms. Government offices can typically have waits that last for hours, yet customers that are nervous about the pandemic just have to accept it or not receive necessary services. With digital queuing systems, this is no longer the case.
QLESS is a way to put customer safety first. It completely reduces the need for in-person interactions until the actual time of the appointment. Rather than having a congested workplace packed with people, you can have an entirely empty office and a packed virtual queue. This is an effective way of managing social distancing measures and the general anxiety that many customers are experiencing due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The implementation of this sort of technology is an innovative way to adapt to the constant changes of the pandemic. While as much as we’d all love for the pandemic to end, we’ve seen variants consistently spring up that further complicate matters. Assuming the pandemic will be over in short order may be optimistic thinking, as we are now multiple years in. Building the necessary infrastructure to be ready to adapt to the changes this pandemic might bring before they even happen is a great way to protect your business while also keeping customers safe. The digitalization of customer interactions rapidly increased due to the pandemic.
Many companies took the necessary steps to adapt to an increased desire to avoid in-person interactions and increase technological capabilities, and they were better for it. The same McKinsey report showed that 72% of companies that reported a very effective response to the pandemic were the first in their industries to experiment with new technologies during the pandemic.
The changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are likely here to stay. The pandemic accelerated the increasing desire of businesses and customers to digitize interactions for maximum simplicity and effectiveness. QLESS digitalizes a significant component of the business experience by completely reducing the need for congestion in academic offices, waiting rooms, or stores. It takes out the need for in-person lines that could be a source of anxiety for many and a cause of virus spread. This increases workplace safety and customer comfort.
The customer experience has value to businesses. As we've mentioned, retaining customers is much less costly than acquiring new ones, and having a low customer churn rate will allow you to effectively grow your business. There are additional benefits to providing customers with a great experience and going above and beyond to make adjustments to suit the evolving environment. Two of these benefits are improving your business' reputation and reducing customer walkaways.
If customers walk into your business and see a large, congested line, they will likely decide to take their business elsewhere. There is nothing more intimidating than seeing a slow-moving, large line, even if you expect to receive high-quality service at the end of it. This is a problem for businesses because walkaways are a very real missed opportunity that can cut into a bottom line. Reducing walkaways is a pathway to success.
Entering a long line with no real communication from the business is a classic example of indifference that businesses can now address. If there is no intimidating physical lineup, the experience is entirely different. Customers can enter virtual lines with the queue management software and see the exact wait time they are in for. Businesses can message back and forth with the customers in line, providing a more personal experience. This will drastically reduce the desire of customers to leave due to a visible line and perceived indifference and cut into the number of walkaways your business receives.
The more of a positive customer service experience you manage to create for your customers, the more positively your business will be perceived. It is a massive benefit for businesses of all kinds to be perceived positively by as many people as possible. If you are looking for a way to boost your reputation, a more personalized and comfortable experience brought on by a queuing system is a great way to do it.
One of the most valuable forms of marketing is strong word-of-mouth marketing brought on by a good reputation. According to Big Commerce, 92% of consumers believe suggestions from friends and family more than advertising. People are more predisposed to listening to recommendations from those they know because they are more impartial, trusted sources of information. If you want people to talk positively about your business, you need to give them good customer service and meet their needs.
While customers sharing negative experiences with your business is damaging, the reality is that customers are just as willing to share their positive experiences.
The benefits of customers publically voicing their positive experience with your business are significant. People are more likely to trust the opinions of their family and friends over sponsored content. Therefore, good public feedback on your business can be very helpful in developing a strong reputation for your brand.
QLESS can help your business drastically improve its customer service by improving communication and clarity. By showing the approximate wait time, offering bi-directional communication, and removing imposing in-person physical lines, you can reduce walkaways that could be harming your bottom line and improve your reputation. This, in turn, leads to free marketing and improved business performance.
The right enterprise technology will be capable of transforming a wide variety of key business processes in ways that simplify things for both customers and employees. Queue management systems succeed in doing this by making the line process less of an agonizing experience, but QLESS also has other utilities that make it invaluable to the modern appointment-based business. One of the core features that QLESS provides is their online appointment scheduling platform that eases the way businesses and customers schedule and change their appointments.
In this era of digitalization, appointment scheduling shouldn’t be a difficult process. Yet many businesses are stuck in the past with labor-intensive appointment scheduling processes that don’t provide customers with the freedom they need. Many businesses rely on an appointment scheduling phone line, but the reality is that this is more restrictive than it needs to be. Most businesses only accept scheduling calls from 9-5, which is the hours most people are working.
QLESS is an appointment scheduling app that allows for 24/7 access for customers. They can browse available appointment openings, select available appointment types, and pick what works best for them. It gives your customers more freedom to schedule based on their own specific needs, with unlimited, constant appointment scheduling access. Customers can also use QLESS for appointment pre-screening questions, which eliminates the need for any on-site wait time and delivers optimal pre-appointment freedom.
Having customer no-shows and late cancellations can be a serious blow to appointment schedules if businesses cannot adjust on the fly. If your business and employees allot time with a customer, and that customer cancels or doesn't show up, it can cause your business to lose money and disrupt workflows. Having tools that allow you to pivot on the fly will go a long way to helping in this regard.
QLESS’ appointment app is a flexible tool that can minimize the impact of cancellations or no-shows. QLESS has features that allow businesses to integrate scheduled appointments with walk-ins on the platform. The line will automatically prioritize customers with scheduled appointments and blend that line up with the flow of customers walking in without appointments. Businesses can easily fill appointment slots with walk-in customers, so the impact of a canceled appointment is less drastic.
Bi-directional communication also increases clarity for businesses. They can message back and forth with customers and hear up-to-the-minute updates that will help them manage their schedules. Customers can cancel appointments from the app, message staff if they are experiencing delays, and in general, keep your business more informed with details relevant to appointment scheduling. This will help you build your schedule and adjust to the by-the-minute changes appointment-based businesses have to face.
While it would be nice for everything to go according to plan, the reality of running a business is that things are constantly changing. The ability to respond to those changes and stay ahead of them is important. The QLESS online appointment scheduling platform gives businesses a tool that empowers them to stay ahead of the daily changes they will have to face while also making life more convenient for customers.
Appointment schedules are an important aspect of your business, and with the QLESS appointment scheduling app, you are better equipped to manage your day-to-day. The QLESS appointment scheduling features include the ability for customers to 24/7 set their schedule, a way to blend walk-ins with scheduled appointments, and bi-directional communication. These features can help businesses avoid confusion following cancellations and no-shows, have clearer dialogues with customers, and increase the ease of access for the people trying to use your services. This will improve your bottom line and make you a more agile, modern organization.
In every business, the systems of organization used are incredibly important aspects of success. From city hall to admissions offices, doctor's wait rooms, to retail stores, having a well-organized, structured enterprise is a major key to long-term growth and viability. With appointment-based businesses, this holds true. QLESS makes it easier to manage the flow of customers and handle the ever-evolving nature of the industry. It accomplishes this while not sacrificing the customer or employee experience.
Your customers are what sets you apart, and providing them with incredible service and devotion to improving their experience will set you apart. QLESS helps businesses do this in multiple ways. For starters, removing the anxiety and duress of a confusing, unexplained line wait will go a long way to making customers have a happier overall experience. They can wait in line from wherever they want, checking the QLESS app to see approximate wait times and check in with workers.
QLESS is made all the more viable in the age of social distancing measures and the coronavirus pandemic. Anxiety is high right now and people are worried about interacting with others. If you can take congested lines out of your business, your customers will be more comfortable. In the age of digitalization and communication via mobile phones, QLESS is a tool well-suited to the climate. People want to limit their interactions with strangers, and QLESS helps make that possible.
The benefits these features have for your business are numerous. Improving the customer experience will dramatically improve your reputation. Your business will have fewer walkouts and receive free word-of-mouth marketing from customers, which can improve your bottom line. The fewer dissatisfied customers your business is dealing with, the better the employee experience is. Dealing with unhappy customers can be difficult for you and your employees. This can damage your customer service reputation and make your employees unhappy. QLESS can help prevent these potential problems from happening.
Beyond the virtual line management, QLESS’ other core features make it an incredible tool for businesses. QLESS can help employees do their work better by organizing lines according to employee and appointment type. It can also help businesses respond more quickly to no-shows and cancellations. In addition, it can provide valuable data for enterprises that can guide the next steps.
The business intelligence collected and visualized by QLESS is an important way for enterprises to gain actionable insights into the performance of key areas of your company. Businesses can see the average wait times customers must face, analyze certain times of day where performance lags, or see if certain appointment types or employees are holding back processes. This will offer insightful, highly actionable data to help businesses move forward in the best direction.
Companies that constantly are looking for new ways to improve, new solutions to streamline processes, and augment the customer experience are the ones that last the longest and grow the fastest. In a time where customer expectations are sky-high, implementing the tools that make life as easy for them as possible is the best path forward. This is what QLESS can offer.
QLESS’ virtual queue management, business intelligence, and appointment scheduling features blend together to help businesses provide the best possible service to customers. Eliminating in-person waits, improving communication, and offering easier access to appointment scheduling services will dramatically benefit the customer experience and improve your business's reputation. Streamlining employee workflows, offering agile tools that help enterprises react on the fly, and providing actionable business intelligence will improve a company's performance. With all these essential features, QLESS is an effective enterprise solution trusted by major companies worldwide.
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University students attend higher education institutions with the hopes of expanding their minds and preparing for their future. Unfortunately, all too often they got lost in a system that doesn't cater to individual student experience. Instead of feeling that the administration exists for the students, attendees quickly realize that they must conform to the needs of administrators in order to be successful. Scheduling appointments, registering for classes, even asking advisors for help all become nightmarish experiences filled with long lines, tired and impatient staff, and inadequate information.
Oftentimes, students will enter university fresh-faced, excited, and ready for success. Over time, however, ineffective university resources begin to take their toll. When simple tasks like registering for classes or dealing with financial aid eat up so much of their time, their desire to continue with their education slowly decreases. Students struggle to gain support from on-campus systems, which explains why consistently negative experiences with campus resources are one of the main sources of attrition; unfortunately, universities struggle to increase student satisfaction with limited resources. While student experience often ranks as a top priority for administrators, improving on-campus systems seems like an insurmountable task. A large student population means long lines--there doesn't seem to be a way around the problem. Fortunately, online appointment booking tools and an effective scheduling application both provide a modern solution to a large problem in higher education.
By using an electronic scheduling application like the one from QLESS, academic institutions solve the problem of impatient students before it starts. Instead of expecting students to show up, wait in a line, and hope for the best, scheduling applications allow students to book an appointment ahead of time, eliminating the need for physical queues. In an age of ever-evolving technology, an electronic solution like a scheduling application can simultaneously push academic institutions into the modern age and improve the student experience.
Perhaps the most instantaneous result of an effective scheduling application is the elimination of physical lines, without an electronic tool, students often run into long lines at every on-campus location. While long queues are frustrating at any juncture, they're particularly irritating during key points in the year. When students struggle to register for class, change programs, or ask advice about their courses due to long lines, attrition begins to develop. Instead of forcing long queues that lead to general frustration and discontent, a scheduling application assigns students a specific time with which they can complete their necessary necessary business. When each student knows the time and date they can sign up for new courses, registering for classes becomes a breeze. Even signing up to see an advisor becomes a stress-free task--each person is assigned an appointment time, eliminating the pressure on both the student and the administrator. By bypassing lines and allowing individuals to address their issues at a specified time, students no longer waste their time waiting for help. They gain more time to study, hang out with friends, or even just relax, all of which will contribute to higher student satisfaction.
While a scheduling application gives students more free time, it also tailors the university experience to a new generation. Current and incoming university students have grown up with technology. They're well-versed in mobile applications, and they actually prefer to handle most of their business electronically. Academic institutions, like any business, attract the most customers when they know their audience and tailor their services accordingly, for a mobile generation, mobile scheduling applications should be the norm.
The QLESS scheduling application not only provides a mobile platform for students to access information from anywhere, it also sends text alerts to inform students of their appointment times. By creating a smartphone-friendly design, this scheduling application speaks to a main tenet of a new generation--consistent and reliable mobile communication. It ensures that students have simplified access to important academic information, and it lessens the possibility that they'll forget their appointment time and fail to show up.
While human error always stands as a distinct possibility, electronic scheduling applications allow students to feel comfortable an at-ease in their academic environments. By using technology they are already experts in, academic institutions create easy communication and connections between administrators and students. Students who feel comfortable in their academic environment are more likely to complete their university education, rather than cave to the pressures of campus life.
When students are constantly filtered into long lines and told to wait their turn, the personal element of higher education disappears. Students want to feel like their individual needs have significance, especially in an institution with the social weight of a college or university, many students accrue heavy debt in order to gain their degree. For instance, the desire to feel like their individual experience matters isn't misplaced. Difficulty gaining access to basic information and meeting essential needs for the future of their education is understandably frustrating.
Although electronic scheduling applications simply increase the organization and staff productivity on college campuses, they also allow each student to feel like they're receiving personalized attention. A specific appointment time communicates that each individual is important enough to receive focused attention, in which only their specific questions and needs matter. Simple as it may sound, a scheduling application can make all the difference in creating what feels like an individualized learning environment, despite the fact that each student receives the same time and attention to discuss their needs.
If students have a problem with campus systems, they want to make their opinions known; unfortunately, when it's difficult to even get a meeting in the first place, students don't feel that their concerns are being heard. Even if every individual problem can't be addressed immediately, allowing students to provide feedback on their experience can greatly improve student satisfaction with on-campus life. University processes may not change immediately, but allowing students to feel heard and appreciated subtly communicates that their opinion matters.
A scheduling application allows students the opportunity to address their concerns, without eating up the essential time of administrators. Instead of sitting in an office and listing off every complaint, students can fill out electronic surveys, effectively and quickly communicating the elements of the campus system that don't work for them. Feedback provides a two-fold opportunity for growth within the university. First, administrators hear student concerns quickly and easily, allowing them to adjust future processes to fix the most common problems. Second, students get their frustrations off their chest, lessening their irritation and providing hope that things will change in the future. A scheduling application allows universities to listen and react to the needs of their students, without decreasing the productivity of their staff. Students have a hand in the improvement of their education, and it doesn't come at a cost to either students or administrators.
Academic institutions are designed to push students towards graduation; unfortunately, the decision to leave university altogether is a common one. While each individual leaves their academic institution for their own reasons, dissatisfaction with campus resources often appears as one of the major sources behind drop-outs. Although it sounds like a no-brainer, it's worth stating that students who are satisfied with their college experience are far more likely to stay in school and eventually graduate.
An effective scheduling application increases student satisfaction with on-campus services. Students express their concerns, gain personalized attention, and generally improve their ability to function within a university setting. With a scheduling application, graduation seems like an achievable goal, rather than a faraway possibility. When students believe that they can graduate, they're much more likely to work towards that goal. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the work in front of them, students see a clear path towards reaching their degree. Sometimes a little hope and a plan is all it takes. Happy students who believe they can graduate are more likely to graduate. A scheduling application brings that goal to the forefront of their minds, encouraging students to stay in school and earn their degrees.
Using a QLESS scheduling application can change the life of university students everywhere. By eliminating physical lines and cutting down waiting times, scheduling applications allow students to feel like they're experiencing the personalized education they deserve; in addition, the mobile platform results in easy use for a tech-savvy generation and an opportunity for instantaneous feedback on campus services. Happy students are much more likely to stay in school, and to spread positivity about their academic institution, both online and in their personal life. If you want to increase your graduation rates, you need to learn more about QLESS systems today. If you think our system might be the right fit for you, contact us now. We'll answer all your questions about QLESS solutions. For more on improving campus operations and retention rates, read about how we've created college campuses without lines.
A well-developed workflow management system simplifies business processes at colleges and universities tremendously. As a business, these institutions provide education and degrees to their customers, also known as their students. Although colleges and universities stand as one of the most essential business organizations in young adult life, technological systems on-campus are often not on par with the fast-paced, technology-driven environment of the day. As incoming students reflect more expertise in current technology, so should their places of education. A workflow management system can change life at your university, both for your students and for your administrators.
In a school environment, multiple departments and individuals work together to contribute to the larger education machine. While some units identify prospective students, review applications, and send out offers of admissions, other divisions focus on registering current students for classes, organizing appointments with advisors, and assisting students with on-campus problems. Each of these individual systems work together to contribute to the overall goal of the organization--educating students and pushing them towards graduation, hence the need for workflow management.
A workflow management system simplifies all these processes. It's a software that automates some elements of your workflow management, taking the pressure off of your staff members and increasing the happiness of your students. By creating a streamlined network for all your most essential campus processes, a workflow management system allows each student to feel valued and supported, and each staff member to increase their productivity and efficiency.
A workflow management system creates an at-ease campus environment; not only that, it also brings your institution into the future. Easy-to-navigate education processes attract students, allowing your campus to continue running like the well-oiled machine that it is. Keeping your campus in the dark ages of technology not only hurts your students, it hurts your entire business. A high-tech workflow management system is a necessity your school can no longer do without.
Whether fair or unfair, students expect a lot of of their colleges and universities. An individualized learning experience is the standard, but most students would settle for consistent help from their on-campus systems. Unfortunately, high enrollment rates, a limited amount of resources, an overworked staff, and a surplus of tasks to complete often leave students feeling confused and overlooked. The more difficulty students experience navigating their education process, the more impatient they become. If enough time passes, the decision to leave school altogether becomes an easy one.
They're not getting the help they need to prepare for their future, why would they stay?
Consistently negative experiences with student services are one of the primary sources of attrition among college students. When students don't get the help or services they need, they drop out of classes, refrain from attending courses, or even leave the school altogether. As an organization that seeks to prepare young adults for their future, the current attrition rates are unacceptable.
Thankfully, a workflow management system presents a wonderful solution. By simplifying student access to on-campus services, a workflow management system decreases frustration and confusion among the student body. With a system like the one from QLESS, you can decrease attrition rates by as much as 50%. A workflow management system improves student satisfaction and increases retention rates by allowing each student to feel like their needs are being met.
While a workflow management system improves the lives of your students, it also leads to increased productivity of your staff. A higher education environment already deals with a lack of resources, but a larger problem presents itself in an ineffective use of the resources that do exist. Oftentimes, staff stretch themselves far too thin trying to meet the needs of all students, despite the lack of time or effective organization systems to do so. Advisors overbook themselves attempting to sort out class schedules, and the Registrar and Admissions offices are overrun with impatient students. While it's undeniably unfair to the students, it's equally as frustrating for the staff.
Workflow management systems streamline campus processes and effectively allocate your staff resources. By eliminating the need for physical lines and relying on technology-based systems for organization, workflow management systems allow your administrators to gain a clear view of the tasks they need to be completed. Instead of surprise assignments and a frustrating amount of work for staff members, each administrator focuses on their assigned tasks, increasing their overall productivity. Not only does it result in increased happiness for your employees, it also ensures that all your resources are used effectively, lowering operational costs and saving money in the long run.
In our technologically advanced world, physical lines and in-person wait times just aren't practical anymore. Many of the problems that develop in university settings stem from a general lack of organization. Without a workflow management system, students are forced to go to an office, wait in line, and generally waste their time in an attempt to progress in their college experience. At the same time, administrators have little control over the time and attention needed to help each individual student. With a finite amount of resources and an infinite amount of potential questions, administrators are unable to prioritize and organize accordingly. With that lack of organization, both staff and students waste their time, and neither leaves feeling happy.
A workflow management system sorts through the chaos in your offices and eliminates the inconveniences of poor organization. Instead of arriving at an unspecified time in a physical office, students are assigned an appointment time with which they can ask all their questions. Interactive virtual queuing simplifies the process if your student does need unexpected help, and mobile reminders ensure that each student arrives at their specified appointment time. Most importantly, all these processes are completed inside the system, without assistance from your staff, allowing them to save their abilities to actually help students and bypass the errors that often accompany in-person scheduling.
An effective workflow management system changes your on-campus life immediately. Improved allocation of resources, clear processes for students, and increased organization all lead to instantaneous changes in your business systems. However, workflow management systems also provide information on what needs to change in the future. As a completely automated process, workflow management systems collect valuable information on your student and staff patterns. Student wait times, staff efficiency, student needs--all these and more can be found within your workflow management system.
With QLESS systems specifically, we provide a real-time dashboard that consolidates data from multiple offices. At a glance, you have a general idea of what's happening in all areas of your campus. In addition, surveys within the system provide even more information about student satisfaction and necessary changes. Improving your business is a constantly evolving process, workflow management systems provide valuable insights to ensure that you can provide the best resources to your students for years to come.
We don't need to tell you that colleges and universities need students to stay afloat. Enrollment and retention present a major challenge for higher education institutions. That explains why many student administrators list student retention and student experience as their top priorities. While students may drop out when dissatisfied with their education, the ripple effect extends much farther than a single loss. Unhappy students spread information online and within their communities about the ineffectiveness of the school, giving other individuals the message that your institution isn't worth attending. While an individual drop-out can already present a hefty loss, consistent dropouts can negatively affect your application and enrollment rates over time.
An effective workflow management system leads to increased student happiness and higher retention rates over time, but it also allows your students to talk positively about your institution. Not only are you saving money on attrition, you're also building a strong reputation that will draw more students to your school over time. Reputation matters, both for the present and for the future. Workflow management systems support your ability to meet your student's needs, building a strong reputation as an institution that cares. With a reputation like that, who wouldn't want to apply?
Workflow management systems are a necessity in the modern age. It increases the happiness of your students and staff, leading to higher productivity and increased retention rates. In addition, it organizes your office with little effort from your staff and provides valuable insights into how you can improve your processes in the future. If you're ready to build a strong reputation, meet your students' needs, and save money for your business, you need to take the QLESS approach. Learn more about how our electronic queuing system can enhance your education systems today. Please contact us for more information about our system.
Waiting rooms have been an essential aspect of hospitals, doctor's offices, and other healthcare facilities. But it doesn’t take much thought to realize the idea is counterintuitive. Crowding individuals with ailments in congested areas while they wait for assistance is not ideal. This was only further emphasized as a person-to-person airborne pandemic struck the world. Patient queue management software can be the solution to remedy this.This experience caused many healthcare professionals to have to re-evaluate their waiting procedures. There were concerns about pandemic transmission in waiting rooms and the overall healthcare experience. Amid virus anxiety, would patients sit with others even with a mask on?For a while, there were no true means of eliminating the waiting room. But in recent years, to address these concerns, many healthcare providers have been implementing patient queue software like QLESS. This software aims to help reduce patients’ anxiety and create a waiting room experience that meets customers' expectations. The healthcare industry is crowded, and consumers abandon providers that can't meet their needs. According to Medical Economics, 69% of patients would switch providers for better services. Patient queue management software is an impactful solution that can de-congest waiting rooms and provide a safer, more patient-friendly experience. In a time where consumers easily switch businesses, the patient experience is vital. Below, we will break down what patient queue management is, how a virtual queue management system creates safer spaces, and why this is so important for patients and healthcare organizations.
Before we go any further, it is important to fully understand what patient queue management software is. The idea is relatively straightforward, and it has changed the healthcare sector. Why not have a virtual waiting room to manage customer flow instead of a physical one? Patients can access this virtual waiting room from their phones, computers, or on-site kiosks.With key features that enable customers to track the actual wait times for appointments, monitor the progress of the line they’re in, and communicate with staff, patients have a drastically changed experience when using healthcare services. Some organizations still hesitate to embrace and implement digital technology into the patient experience. But data indicates that customers already rely on digital technology and expect organizations to accommodate that reliance. According to a poll from Healthfully, 80% of consumers want the ability to use technology to manage their healthcare experience. Furthermore, the average consumer uses tech constantly throughout their daily lives. The average U.S. adult spends more than seven hours a day on screens, according to Exploding Topics. Healthcare organizations should prioritize implementing helpful tech solutions like patient queue management to avoid customer alienation. Patient queue management software has substantial benefits that enterprises should not overlook. With features that allow customers to enter virtual queues from their phones, patients can remotely wait in the virtual waiting room and monitor their queue times. Implementing virtual queues doesn't mean healthcare organizations need to eliminate waiting rooms. It simply gives patients the ability to choose.
The million-dollar question that healthcare organizations might have is whether or not waiting rooms are such a bad thing. Waiting rooms were the only option for healthcare services before technology advanced enough to make them less necessary. So how bad could it be? By implementing software to eliminate waiting rooms, might healthcare organizations solve a problem that doesn’t exist? The answer to this question is a firm no. Waiting rooms pose a genuine risk to older patients' well-being. A 2012 study of elderly residents of long-term care facilities published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that a visit to an emergency department is associated with more than a threefold increased risk of acute infection. While this vindicates the need for patient queue software, it is also common sense. Requiring sick and injured people to share a room for extended periods increases patient risk. The pandemic highlighted that the prior waiting room model is untenable during an airborne virus outbreak among those visiting emergency rooms and doctors' offices. Healthcare providers adapted by spacing chairs, having customers wait outside, and mandating masks. While they may have curbed the virus from spreading, they reduced operational efficiency and didn't enhance patient satisfaction. It is not insignificant that waiting rooms also have extremely long patient wait times. The longer customers are cramped in a waiting area, even if socially distanced, the more at-risk they are. Similarly, the more unhappy they will be. This is why it is incredibly important for enterprises to be very conscious of the state of their waiting rooms.
We’ve established that waiting rooms might inadvertently put customers at risk, but what do your patients think of them? Customer satisfaction is vital in healthcare, as it's still a business, and unhappy customers can easily switch providers. The waiting room is a defining step in the patient's journey before receiving service. So it is worth asking if increasing patient satisfaction in the waiting room experience is necessary or if customers are okay with the current status quo. Data shows that consumers distrust crowded waiting rooms and dislike the experience they provide. A QLESS survey of 250 U.S. adults showed that 59.4% of consumers associate congested waiting areas with unsafe conditions. If customers feel unsafe in the waiting room, chances are they will not enjoy their overall experience. A contributing factor in this situation is that the average waiting room is just not a pleasant place to be. Typical healthcare waiting rooms present sterile environments with white walls, fluorescent lighting, outdated magazines, and a T.V. This is hardly a positive environment, and according to Fierce Healthcare, unpleasant waiting rooms are a bigger issue for customers than long wait times. Rather than investing in more comfortable chairs or a higher-definition television, enterprises should focus on the real problem. Customers just don’t like waiting rooms either way. Patients prefer waiting from home or nearby cafes to congested waiting areas. Giving the consumer the option to skip the waiting room altogether is the best solution to a longstanding problem.
The healthcare industry is about more than just improving patients’ well-being, although that is the primary objective. The modern consumer isn’t satisfied with just receiving excellent quality of care. The experience for patients along the way is not nearly as important. Healthcare organizations that want to survive in this new age of experience-centric care will do well to improve their waiting room. According to Forbes, 60% of Americans have had a negative healthcare experience in the past year, and 52% of those people will tell others about their negative experiences. Curating a positive waiting experience without risk and discomfort is important in building a patient-friendly healthcare organization. This will help create loyal customers and position healthcare companies to succeed.
It is clear that there is a need for change in the waiting room experience. Customers don’t feel safe, and there is an established correlation between emergency waiting room visits and further infections. The problem has only gotten worse in recent years. A 2022 study by Yale showed that emergency room crowds had reached crisis levels and posed significant patient safety risks. The same is true across Canada. The crowding is due to an overstressed system, not necessarily management failure. De-congesting the waiting room is incredibly important for both safety and satisfaction. Let’s explore how patient queue management software can lead to less crowded waiting rooms while providing efficient patient flow.
The primary feature that QLESS offers that is designed to help de-crowd the waiting room is its remote check-in software. In a typical waiting room without a patient queue management solution, individuals have to check-in in person. They arrive at the front desk, inform staff they’ve arrived, fill in a form, and take a seat, waiting to hear their name called. This requires physical presence throughout the waiting process. Remote check-in software lets customers wait for their appointment without physically arriving until it begins. How this works is that customers will receive a link when they register for an appointment. They can access this link via mobile devices, computers, or an on-site kiosk. When their appointment is scheduled, they can tap the link and check in. Once they’ve checked into their appointment, the patient is automatically placed in a virtual queue. The queue displays the number of customers ahead and the projected wait time based on data tracking and machine learning, accounting for the line's size and wait times at different parts of the day. Customers can be queued based on appointment type or healthcare professional they're meeting. They can track their progress through an app or website and know when to be there. This means lines can move smoothly without customers needing to be in the waiting room until the end. This also lines up with what customers prefer. In a QLESS survey of 250 consumers, 57.2% of respondents indicated they are likelier to patronize a business if they have early insights into wait times. QLESS virtual queuing system's remote check-in feature eliminates the need for customers to enter waiting rooms until their appointment begins. They can choose whether they are comfortable in that environment and wait on their own terms.
Long wait times in healthcare have been a persistent issue and seem unavoidable due to the nature of the industry. Demand often exceeds the ability of facilities to provide efficient service due to the need for proper care and attention for each patient. This is why patients wait an average of over 18 minutes at physicians’ offices, according to PartnerMD, and 145 minutes at the average emergency room, according to Autoinsurance.org. Patient queue management software can’t entirely solve the issue of long waits that are endemic to the healthcare industry. However, it can provide organizations with a tool to increase staff productivity, manage customer flow, and improve overall efficiency, positively impacting wait times.
There are two key ways this software helps with this. Firstly, the patient queue management system completely automates the queue process, so enterprises don’t need to oversee it themselves. The software has configurable policies, like no walk-ins or a maximum 5-minute late policy for appointments. Then, the lineup can be completely automated, with the artificial intelligence-based system drastically more efficient and organized than a standard physical queue. QLESS’s patient queue management software also has smart calendar features that give staff a better sense of their day. The entire appointment calendar is displayed for them, showing the customer, appointment type, and more. The calendar is color-coded and organized and can be segmented, so employees have a heightened understanding of their daily workflow, increasing overall efficiency. By reducing wait times, healthcare organizations can reduce the time people need to spend waiting for appointments. The remote check-in features allow customers to wait from wherever they please, but inevitably there will still be some customers that prefer to wait for appointments in waiting rooms. With automated queue management and smart calendar features, the QLESS patient queue management system ensures waiting times are trimmed, resulting in less crowded waiting areas.
Communication in the healthcare process is incredibly important. Customers strongly desire communication from end-to-end in the healthcare process, and having better communication can lead to safer waiting rooms. With better communication, enterprises can create safer waiting rooms in several ways. Having customers that indicate they might be contagious wait remotely will reduce infection risk, and enabling customers to message staff if they are running slightly behind but still keep their appointment will lead to fewer delays. While this type of communication could lead to a safer, less crowded waiting area, many enterprises are ill-equipped to offer this level of communication. Customers expect communication, particularly through digital methods. According to Forbes, 80% of consumers surveyed said they prefer to use digital communications with their healthcare providers, and 43% said they want to engage digitally with their healthcare providers before, after, and during their visits. But many enterprises lack the digital infrastructure to provide this level of communication that customers are hoping for, even if it can make customers happier and lead to safer waiting rooms. The QLESS patient queue management system empowers healthcare organizations with bi-directional communication features that improve the connection between customers and staff. With the QLESS features, organizations can drive a more communicative approach to healthcare. They can individually message customers and receive responses, schedule messages to entire groups of customers, and create automated messages triggered at different parts of the patient journey. Better communication means less confusion, as late customers or no-shows often trigger chain reactions that lead to extended delays. With better communication, there are fewer bottlenecks, which means lines move faster and waiting rooms are less crowded. This also improves the patient experience, as enterprises can answer patients' questions digitally during busy times when they might not have the time to respond face-to-face.
One of the most significant ways healthcare organizations have pivoted away from the standard waiting room model is by leaning into virtual healthcare. The pandemic made face-to-face appointments a near-impossibility at many practices, and to combat this, many organizations pivoted to virtual healthcare options like telehealth. Providing medical care virtually remains important even after the peak days of the pandemic. According to McKinsey, virtual healthcare remains hugely impactful, with 46% of consumers using telehealth now compared to 11% in 2019.Telehealth leads to less congested, safer waiting rooms for obvious reasons. With the option to schedule remote healthcare appointments, customers don’t need to visit healthcare offices at all. If customers have a mild but contagious illness, healthcare organizations can schedule virtual appointments to ensure they don’t spread their illness. Ultimately, the fewer in-person visits, the less crowded waiting rooms will be. But many organizations might buckle under the weight of managing an entire virtual calendar without the proper digital solution.
QLESS has virtual service features that enable healthcare organizations to provide a positive patient experience remotely. QLESS is integrated with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, two popular video meeting platforms, and enables organizations to put customers in mixed queues that accommodate in-person and remote patients. How this works for remote patients is they would schedule an appointment online and select a virtual appointment. They will then receive a QLESS link and be placed into a virtual queue when they check in for their appointment. They will then be able to monitor their wait time, see who is in front of them, and receive a Zoom or Teams link when their appointment is ready to begin. Virtual appointments are a crucial part of the post-pandemic world. The QLESS patient queue management platform enables enterprises to integrate remote patients into their virtual queues and digital calendar, creating a smooth appointment process and easier virtual appointment management.
The waiting room is a longstanding problem in the healthcare industry that most organizations have neglected to address. The concept of making ill or injured patients wait for long periods in a congested room is one that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, although there haven’t been other options for organizations until recently. Now that QLESS for healthcare and other patient queue management systems exist, the need for waiting rooms has been drastically reduced. These digital solutions enable enterprises to create a virtual queue where customers don’t have to be physically present to wait in line or in the waiting room. The customer can check in, monitor their status in line, and communicate updates with staff, all from their phones or computers. This means they can wait outside the office, from their home, at a nearby park, or wherever else they’d prefer. Customers can still wait in waiting rooms if they want to, but QLESS allows them to wait remotely, helping to drastically reduce congestion in healthcare offices. Reducing risk in the waiting experience should be an important objective for all healthcare organizations, and it resonates with customers. Consumers strongly dislike the typical waiting room process that has been the norm in healthcare for ages. With QLESS’s queue software, healthcare businesses can meet the needs of the experience-oriented patient while creating a safer, more positive waiting process.
