[
](/?source=post_page---byline--5b8eb49f1b35---------------------------------------)
[Yasas Sri Wickramasinghe](/?source=post_page---byline--5b8eb49f1b35---------------------------------------)
3 min readMay 5, 2021
\--
Free Google Solution, No Download or Login Required
With social distancing and safety measures, every business tries to implement solutions to make the customer experience better and safer.
“Hack to Help: COVID-19 at Experiments With Google” is a community that volunteers to build small web solutions and they have released an app to create and manage virtual queues for businesses.
Press enter or click to view image in full size
Virtual queue user interface
In this article, I will explain how you can use this excellent free tool for your business growth.
Features of Line-Up Tool
This is a small web solution that you can access via a smartphone or a pc. Features of this app are,
- Store Admin Page Creation — unique page for your business to view administration details.
- Share Store Admin Page — share the admin page with a URL within your co-owners/managers of the business.
- Generate QR Code for Customers — print or share with an email to scan and access the virtual queue of the store.
- Generate Store Code for Customers — share the store code to access the virtual queue of the store.
- Send Alerts to Customers in Queue— send alerts to customers notifying their turn to enter.
- Send Alerts to Store Owners — send alerts to store owner reminding to take in to the store soon.
How to Setup A Virtual Queue
Line-up application setup and usage
Setting up a virtual queue is straightforward.
Prerequisites:
- Smart Phone or Computer with Internet Connection
- Printer if you want to take a hard copy of store QR code(optional)
3 Steps to Setup a Store — For Store Owners
- Go to http://lineup.withgoogle.com
- Click “Add Your Business”
- Enter your business name and click “Set up”
Sample of a downloadable QR Code generated by Line-up
Your store is configured successfully.
You can adjust the ticket timer if you want. And download the QA code by clicking the “Download to print” button.
You may print it and display it at the store entrance or send it via email to customers.
Or, you can Share the store code(4 character code) with your customers.
Next, let’s see how customers can join your virtual queue.
3 Steps to Join a Virtual Queue — For Customers
- Go to http://lineup.withgoogle.com (or shorted URL: g.co/lineup) by typing on a browser or scanning the QR code
- If requested, enter 4 character long “Store Code”
- Click Join
Each customer gets a ticket number which is displayed at the top of the screen.
Customers can see the number of persons ahead.
By Clicking on “Send me an alert when it’s my turn” can be clicked if there is an urgency, an alert can be sent to the store owner (it will display on the store admin page)
Conclusion
This simple yet innovative tool might be handy if you manage a business and worry about maintaining queues adhering to social distancing. If you can encourage customers to use this tool, they do not want to physically be in a queue, but they can just be present at the store, when it is their turn.
I hope you found this article interesting. Please share this with your communities, helping to spread the news.
Thanks for reading! Stay safe, Stay home :)
Links
💻 My Website: https://www.yasassri.me
📷 Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasassri.me
Originally published on Medium.