WaitNook

What it actually does

Six things, and one rule underneath them about what happens when a walk-in and a booking want the same slot.

What the queue software does

  • Lines that match the room

    More than one line per site, and a line per chair, bay, counter or person. Somebody waiting for one particular member of staff waits behind that person's line, not everybody's.

    A site can run several lines at once, and each line can have its own chairs, bays, counters or windows. Somebody who asks for a particular person waits behind that person only — so a busy stylist does not hold up the whole shop, and the customer who takes anyone gets seen sooner.

  • Services with real timings

    A menu with expected durations, and a wait estimate that learns from what actually happened rather than a flat number per head.

    Each service carries how long it usually takes, and the estimate corrects itself against how long they really took at your site. Choose a template when you sign up and the menu is already there — rename, reprice or remove anything.

  • Bookings in the same line

    Take appointments, hold capacity for them, and put them into the same line as walk-ins when their window opens. One console, one queue.

    Hold capacity for booked customers, release what nobody claimed, and slot a late arrival back in without sending everybody behind them to the back. Booked and walk-in share one console and one line.

  • A screen for the room

    Open a web address on any TV or spare tablet to show who is being served, with an optional chime when somebody is called.

    Any browser on a TV or spare tablet. It shows who is up and who is next, survives an unattended day, and can chime when somebody is called. Nothing to install and no extra hardware to buy.

  • People who are not standing there

    Customers get a link to watch their place from anywhere, and an email when it is their turn. Your check-in page works in English, Spanish and Canadian French.

    Customers get a link that shows their place moving, so they can wait in the car or the shop next door. English, Spanish and Canadian French. Email works today; text messaging is with the carriers for approval and switches on when it clears.

  • Numbers worth having

    Busiest hours, how long people really waited, no-shows, walk-aways, and how your sites compare. Exportable as a spreadsheet.

    Busiest hours, real waits rather than guessed ones, no-shows, people who gave up, and how your sites compare with each other. Every table exports as a spreadsheet.

One line, and a rule you can explain

The hard part of running walk-ins and bookings together is not showing both on a screen — it is deciding who goes next when they collide, and being able to say why out loud. Reserved capacity for booked customers, unclaimed slots released to the room, and a late arrival inserted at a bounded offset rather than at the front. Nobody jumps the line, and the person waiting can be told exactly why they are where they are.

Put the poster up this afternoon.

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Create your waitlist

Free to start. No card, and nothing to install.