Virtual Queue Manager for Dynamic Agent Summoning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing queue management systems for events and attractions often lead to dissatisfaction among attendees due to long wait times, inefficiencies in physical and virtual queues, and resource wastage, such as empty or overcrowded buses, which negatively impact attendee satisfaction and throughput.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a queue manager to maintain a virtual queue, communicating with mobile devices to monitor agents and dynamically determine when to summon them to events based on their activity, location, and preferences, optimizing wait times and resource allocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a virtual queue system is implemented to allow attendees to reserve positions without physically standing in line, then attendee convenience is improved, but attendees may still experience frustration when they miss their window of opportunity due to being preoccupied with other activities
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors agent status through mobile devices and provides real-time feedback about queue position and summon timing. This allows attendees to understand their status and make informed decisions about whether to prioritize the event, resolving the contradiction between convenient virtual queue access and reliable event attendance.
Solution Approach 2:
The queue management system dynamically adjusts summon timing based on real-time monitoring of agent activity, location, and event characteristics. This dynamic adaptation ensures that attendees are summoned at optimal moments when they are most available, improving both convenience and reliability simultaneously.
2Device complexity
If bus transit is organized on a fixed schedule to transport guests between facilities and activities, then operational simplicity is improved, but buses may leave stops empty or at capacity wasting resources and guest time
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from fixed-schedule bus operation to dynamic, demand-responsive scheduling. Buses are summoned and dispatched based on real-time monitoring of guest locations, event schedules, and transit demand patterns, optimizing resource utilization while maintaining operational manageability through automated control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by monitoring guest movements and event schedules in advance, allowing bus schedules to be optimized proactively rather than reactively. This enables better alignment of transit availability with guest needs, reducing empty runs and overcrowding.
3Device complexity
If physical queues are used to manage event access, then queue order is maintained simply, but wait times increase and attendee satisfaction decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a virtual copy of the physical queue mechanism, using digital records and mobile device communication to track and manage queue positions. This virtual queue system maintains the fairness and order of physical queues while eliminating the need for attendees to physically stand in line, dramatically reducing wait time losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical physical queue system with an electronic/virtual queue management system. Instead of relying on physical line formation and manual monitoring, the system uses mobile devices, automated monitoring, and algorithmic summon timing to manage queue order, eliminating the time loss associated with physical queuing while maintaining fairness.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a system that comprises a memory and a queue manager that maintains a virtual queue in the memory for a consumable event, the virtual queue defining a current order of a plurality of agents, and summons one or more agents of the plurality of agents to the consumable event, wherein the queue manager is configured to communicate with a plurality of mobile devices, each mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices associated with an agent of the plurality of agents, wherein the queue manager communicates with each mobile device in order to monitor the associated agent, and wherein the queue manager is configured to dynamically determine when to summon one or more agents of the plurality of agents in the virtual queue to the consumable event based on the monitoring of the plurality of agents.