Perhaps Colin in John Green’s “An Abundance of Katherines” should have used an RFID queue management system. Colin is a young man who happens to be dumped by 19 girls, all of which are named Katherine. As much as it’s tragic, I wonder if he had ever thought of utilizing a queue management system to manage his dumping process.
An RFID queue management is a system that controls queues. People are sequenced in a line and each awaits their turn to proceed. I recall that day, where I had to stand in a line for legit 40 minutes! It was horrible, given the fact that I had a huge load of clothes in my shopping bag and had to carry it throughout the dreadful experience. If I weren’t in a desperate need of the items I collected, I would have dropped the whole thing and left the store at once.
Here’s the thing. People aka customers hate waiting! They consider it a waste of time which it actually is. So integrating a reliable RFID queue management system will create an exquisite experience for the customers and save lot of money for the deploying company as it will reduce staff members.
One of the most irritating areas that have a lot of queue points is the airport (check ins, luggage drop point, lines for boarding pass etc). The United Arab Emirates has integrated an RFID queue management system in their airport. The main purpose of this initiative is to reduce queues and time passengers spend waiting granting them rather an exquisite experience.
The RFID queue management system is based on an RFID (ID) card given to each passenger; where passengers are able to their RFID card to complete their traveling procedures on their own with the intervention of any member of the staff. The process is as simple as follows:
- The passengers swipe/flash their RFID card onto an RFID reader in the ticketing area where all the information regarding the reservations is displayed. The passengers are assigned a seat on the plane (if they haven’t done that already) as they check-in through the RFID reader.
- The passengers then proceed to the baggage drop point, wave their RFID card onto the reader and place their luggage on the scanner’s belt where they are weighted and checked if they comply with regulations.
- Then the scanner issues an RFID tag to be attached on the luggage to prevent losses and track luggage.
- Finally, the passengers flash their ID cards once more on the boarding gates where a boarding pass is issued on a piece of paper along with the seat number. Voila!!
No queues. No wasted time. No waiting whatsoever.
Basically, these RFID readers are distributed in the shape of small counters distributed all over the airport.
For the customers this is the ultimate form of convenience and ease at a very affordable cost. This what any customer is seeking on a daily basis.
As for the adopting company, the advantages of the system on the long run overweigh the cost of the investment. These small counters will substitute the huge amount of staff members which leads companies to save a great deal of money, process more passengers in less time and generate much more profits.
Indeed, RFID queue management system is not exclusive to airports; it is reaching far beyond that to retail industries, hospitals, schools, restaurants etc. Integrating an RFID queue management system in retail sector, will enable a much faster reaction to customer’s demands, efficiently run checkouts, reduce customers’ waiting time thus enhancing their shopping experience which reflects in their loyalty. Of course, the more the customer’s satisfaction, the more likely they’re to visit the store which means more money.
Moreover, I have personally seen this in my last trip to Kuwait last summer. I went for breakfast at McDonald’s where I saw several kiosks spread all around the restaurant. These kiosks are touch screens where customers can order their food, add ingredients or remove them and then pay for the food with a credit card and that was quite it. The whole process is done in a matter of seconds. It reduces time talking with a person asking for a specific order, defying language barriers (the system is multi-lingual) and whatever problems may occur in the process. Again no queues. Although, this very system was not an RFID queue management system, still it has served the main purpose of any queue management system which is: NO ENDLESS WAITING LINES!
Our world has gotten so consumed with technology that is has became ubiquitous outreaching every aspect of our daily lives. It has, as well, changed the world of queue management. Companies all around the world should seriously consider integrating an RFID queue management system. An RFID queue management system enables an efficient front end management, reduce employees’ costs, and provide an excellent customer service. For real now, who wouldn’t want that? It’s a no brainer.