Priority Levels (Normal / High / VIP)
Every entry has a priority. By default everyone is Normal. Two more levels exist:
- High — moves the entry to the front of its priority bracket. Useful for time-sensitive cases: an elderly customer who can't stand long, a service vehicle that needs the bay back, an appointment that overran into walk-in territory.
- VIP — moves to the front of the whole queue regardless. Use sparingly; the public status page shows position numbers, and abusing VIP makes the position math look weird to other people waiting.
Staff set priority from the operator board's detail panel. Priority is visible in the entry list as a small badge.
Setting Up Zones
A zone is a sub-area of one queue. The classic case is a restaurant with a patio and an indoor section: one queue, but the staff want to know who is waiting for which area.
Enable zones in queue settings, then define each zone (name + optional notes). When someone joins, they pick a zone (or your staff assigns one). The operator board can filter by zone.
Zones are different from queues. Use a zone when the wait estimate, capacity, and queue type are shared but the physical area differs. Use separate queues when timing or service mode differs (e.g., bar walk-ins vs. restaurant reservations — those want different timeouts and different SMS templates).
When to Use Each
Priority handles people. Zones handle places.
Use priority when:
- A specific customer needs to skip ahead temporarily.
- A service-level commitment requires it (a paid premium membership, an SLA-bound case).
- Operations needs flexibility on a case-by-case basis.
Use zones when:
- The same queue spans separate physical areas with the same wait dynamics.
- You want analytics broken down by area ("how many no-shows on the patio vs. inside?").
- Staff need a quick filter on the operator board.
Common Patterns
- Walk-in clinic: priority for elderly patients and active emergencies; zones off (everything's one waiting room).
- Restaurant: zones for indoor / patio / bar; priority off (everyone waits their turn, no exceptions).
- Auto service: zones for express oil-change vs. full-service bays; priority for warranty cases.
- Government counter: priority for accessibility cases (wheelchair-only window); zones for separate service categories if the same queue covers them all.