as utilization of a customer mobile phone, allow customers to view queue data and join a queue prior to arriving at the service centre are seen to be more customer friendly. Customers who use this technology do not have to join a physical line or wait in a confined area watching LCD screens. Solutions that use the customers mobile phone, interact with the customer keeping them updated as to their place in the queue and when ready, call the customer forward for service. Solutions such as these improve efficiency within the business and also improve customer feedback surveys. Automatic queue measurement systems These use a variety of measurement technologies which predict and measure queue lengths and waiting times and provide management information to help service levels and resource deployment. Automatic queue measurement systems for small structured queues Automatic queue measurement systems are designed to help managers in two ways – first, through enhanced customer service; second by improving efficiency and reducing costs. They use people counting sensors at entrances and above checkout lanes/queue areas to accurately detect the number and behavior of people in the queue. Built-in predictive algorithms can provide advance notice on how many checkouts or service points will be needed to meet demand. Dashboards, available on a computer monitor or mobile PDA device, are often used to provide a range of information, such as dynamic queue length, waiting time data, and checkout performance on the shop floor. In the event that performance falls towards a minimum service level, in supermarkets or banks management teams can be automatically alerted beforehand, allowing them time to proactively manage the situation. Key measurements produced are: The number of people entering the store Queue length Average wait time Till operator or bank teller idle time Total wait time. A number of the large UK supermarket chains use such systems for service level and resource management. Automatic queue measurement systems for large and unstructured queues Where queues form in unpredictable locations and/or extend beyond a relatively small queue area, overhead detector based queue measurement systems cannot be effectively used. Alternative technology solutions using wide area queue sampling are effective in these situations. One method is using Bluetooth detection from mobile telephones held by people in the queue. Although a sampling technique, as typically 10 – 30% of telephone have active Bluetooth at any one time, it gives a reasonably accurate measurement of average