The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has truly transformed how businesses now operate, not only due to limits on occupancy but also due to the need for greater social distancing. As businesses rush to adapt to this new way of life, the demand for virtual queuing solutions has seen an exponential rise. Organizations of all sizes are now seeking ways to redefine the consumer journey of their customers, while also ensuring their safety, at an unprecedented speed. While investing in a Queue Management Solutions is a worthwhile process, it is equally important to select a queue management provider who can fulfill your requirements and help your organization effectively achieve its goals in the long run. Hence, we would like to share some tips and factors to take into consideration while making your decision, based on our experience of over 20 years in the business.
The following tips also encompass all queries we have received over the last few months regarding the selection of an appropriate mobile queue management provider.
1) Supplier Scalability
Usually, a priority in the later stages of a project, data processing speeds and application performance are crucial aspects not to be overlooked while choosing the right queue system provider. The importance of both comes to light during the process of roll-outs, and if not satisfactory, it is mostly always too late to go back and find a more suitable technology partner. While it may be easy to process data of 10 to 20 stores during the pilot phase, the real challenge arises when the number of stores rises significantly.
Even if the server application and database is hosted on a very powerful cloud partner such as Microsoft, AWS, IBM or Google, the application and database structure should be well equipped to handle millions of hits simultaneously to ensure that your organizational goals for occupancy limits and a great customer experience are achieved.
“Does the company you are considering have experience in over 500 store deployments?”
2) Experience in Your Product Type and Target Market
It is important to note that handling queues entails more than just a software which serves people on a first come first served basis. Instead, it is an important source of information regarding customer experience, occupancy limits and social distancing metrics.
Additionally, it covers other aspects such as optimization of the workforce, customer segmentation, walk-away reduction and a lot more. These are areas which require years of in depth understanding of processes as well as advanced technological capabilities.
Check-list for validating experience:
- Local & International clients
- Years in business
- Recency of deployments
- Global coverage & dedicated team for 24/7 support
- Experience of working with wide array of business verticals
3) Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning Capabilities
At Wavetec, our philosophy is that you cannot manage what you cannot measure. This is where the importance of dashboards comes into play. This refers not only to well optimized business intelligence which can help you identify areas in which your organization can improve, but also help you predict the optimal allocation of resources in the long run so appropriate measures can be taken.
In recent times, the use of machine learning, especially deep learning, has helped predictive analytics in achieving lower margin of errors at a much greater speed. If your organizational goal is for instance to reduce the cost of workforce at your stores or branches, then it is essential to ensure that the queue system provider you are appointing has the appropriate human resources to handle machine learning.
“Predictive Analytics in 2020: What’s Possible, Who’s Doing it, and How”
4) Enterprise Security is Paramount
The definition of enterprise security is the process or actions a company follows to protect the data and information stored on their servers. Companies with well-established enterprise security management will have the proper policies and procedures in place to prevent the infringement of their integrity and customer confidentiality.
Data privacy and security with regards to the IT infrastructure are at the center of any enterprise technology solution. A simple statement by the queue system provider saying they comply with GDPR regulations or use a renowned brand cloud server hosting provider should not lead to your decision. You must consider other aspects such as penetration tests of the application, the code, security certifications, previous clients they have worked with and whether it was truly at a corporate level or just the management of several branches.
5) Customization is Key
Customers everywhere want personalized products and services, and most critically, they want them at affordable prices. For companies to meet this demand, they need a sustainable, flexible development, manufacturing and supply chain.
You will need a company that can move at the pace you desire; a company that in addition to a very powerful and reliable queuing engine has enough employees to cope with different projects at the same time. Changes on the front end are relatively easy, it is the backend systems that are more complicated to customize.
“Have you considered what types of calling logics you might have to implement in the second phase of the project?”
6) Global Customer Support Infrastructure
Customer support, especially regional presence to support your business directly from the principal provider is a crucial aspect for any project to be successful. Technology is only effective if it is well managed, and a dedicated customer success team that can respond rapidly to any queries or issues is the key marker of good performance.
7) Innovation & Product Development
This is an aspect which is crucial for your business and must be embedded in the core culture of the company you select. This involves innovation with a customer centric process of continuous and agile iterations which will help observe and measure if your organizational objectives are being met, and change until it makes a true impact. Hence, you will require a company which in addition to having the skills and capacity required also has a formal innovation process in place.
8) A Marriage Between Software and Hardware
Owing to the speed required to initiate a full roll out, software-based solutions are usually faster to implement and initiate a project. However, with the passage of time, you may feel the need to implement certain hardware devices to complement and enhance the customer experience. Be it a kiosk, a player or a digital display, it is important to ensure that your queue management system provider has the necessary experience with regards to appropriate hardware as well as post installation technical support.
The final decision ultimately depends on your organization’s needs and objectives, and although the aforementioned tips are not the panacea for selecting the right technology provider, we hope however that they prove to be a good starting point to assess what may be the best solution for your business!
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