Qminder Transforming Waiting Lines Through iPad App

    The New York Times recently ran a piece on the psychology of waiting, and pointed out that what’s important is not the amount of time we’re actually waiting, but how we perceive the wait. Deep down we all know this, but we stare at the LED board with blank stares, counting down how much longer it’s going to take.

    Rauno Rüngas, CEO of Qminder, claims that what makes waiting in lines so frustrating is the anxiety and anticipation that comes with having to wait in a fixed location. To update the “take a ticket machine” Qminder has released a tablet and phone solution that offers more precise information about where you are in line and how much longer it will likely take.

    If Qminder sounds familiar, it’s because they’ve been on a roll through regional startup programs. They first started and won the Garage48 hackathon, got into Seedcamp, and won Startup Sauna.

    Since then Qminder has been working on Qminder Connect, their easy plug-and-play solution for queuing. Their first is a Point of Service web application, where a receptionist can easily check in customers and clients, Qminder also comes as a tablet check-in application where customers can check themselves in by scanning a QR code with the Qminder app installed on their phone. If a customer does not have a smartphone, they can still plug their number into the iPad, and their number will be sent to them as a text message.

    The same iPad or Android tablet app can also act as a ticket monitoring solution, where people in line see what number is being called, as well as know how many people are waiting in front of them. Putting up an iPads may seem like an expensive proposition, but an updating, interactive solution can actually be quite reasonable compared to the costs of your standard ticket and LED board.

    Currently the company says it is negotiating with more than 40 resellers all over the world, and has made their app work the the machinery of the world’s largest “offline” queuing management company, Qmatic.

    CEO Rauno Rüngas admits that queues are not the sexiest problem to be working on, but they’re confident they’re solving a real problem