If you run a clinic, a service centre or any business where people wait, and you start looking for a queue system, the first name many people in Thailand think of is QueQ, a queue app Thais have known for years.
This article explains what QueQ is, how it works, who it suits, and what the alternatives are if your business is a service business: a clinic, a service centre, a pet clinic or a hair salon. The aim isn’t to name the best system. It’s to help you pick the one that fits the way your business works.
What this article says about QueQ comes from its App Store page and public press coverage. Current features and prices may have changed, so check with QueQ directly before you decide.
What is QueQ?
QueQ is a Thai queueing and booking app, made by the Thai company Queue Q (Thailand). People install the app, take a queue ticket at a shop or venue that uses QueQ, follow where the queue is, and get an alert when the turn is near.
According to press coverage, QueQ started with large restaurant chains, because people eat out often and the app spread quickly that way. It then grew into banks, events, beauty clinics and government offices. Today the app has sections for restaurants, food ordering, banks and service centres, events, hospitals and national parks.
How does QueQ work?
From the app’s page and press coverage, QueQ works in several ways depending on the venue:
- A ticket in the app: the user picks a venue and party size, takes a number before arriving and follows it in the app. Joining from afar is limited to a radius each venue sets.
- A paper ticket from a machine at the branch: some venues have a kiosk or ticket printer. The ticket carries a QR code to follow the queue on a phone.
- Book ahead, get a number on arrival: at a government service centre, for example, the user books a time, then on the day confirms arrival inside the service area and only then gets a number.
- Booking with payment: national park tickets, for example, with a date and time slot, then a ticket with a QR code.
On the business side, press coverage says QueQ installs the ticket kiosk and the queue display at the venue, and the business gets average-wait data to plan its staff.
Where QueQ is strong
QueQ has clear strengths:
- Many people already have the app, especially people who eat out in malls often, and can take a ticket straight away with nothing new to learn.
- It’s well known: many customers see the name and know what to do.
- Experience with large venues such as banks, hospitals and government offices.
- Complete hardware, for venues that want ticket kiosks, printers and screens installed.
If you run a large venue that wants kiosks and screens set up for it, or a mall restaurant with a long line every day, QueQ is worth a serious look.
Why service businesses look at alternatives
For a clinic, a service centre, a pet clinic or a hair salon, the needs are often a little different:
- Customers come now and then. A patient who visits the dentist twice a year may not want to install an app at the door. A page that opens in LINE is faster.
- Booking comes first. Most clinics and service centres work by appointment, and the queue is the extra piece for days with both booked customers and walk-ins.
- Customer data matters. Visit history, services used, packages left and stamp cards, in the same place as the queue.
- No hardware budget. A small business wants to start with a QR on the door and a screen it already has.
That doesn’t make one system better than another. Each is designed for a different kind of work.
Five kinds of queue system
| Option | Suits | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| A queue app like QueQ | Large venues and mall restaurants where customers already have the app | Customers use the app, you reach its existing users, and hardware can be installed for you |
| A ticket machine and calling display | Offices and counters where everyone waits in one room | Bought or rented, and customers wait nearby to hear the number called |
| A POS with a built-in queue | Restaurants already on that POS | The queue links to tables and ordering |
| LINE OA booking tools | Businesses that mainly take bookings | Customers book in LINE, and with some the business pays LINE for messages |
| Booking with the queue and customers in one place | Clinics, service centres, pet clinics, hair salons | Bookings and walk-ins in one line, and walk-ins become regulars |
Choose by your kind of business
Clinics and small hospitals: start with appointments, then add a queue for patients on arrival. Booked patients get a queue ticket on arrival, walk-ins join the same line, and the calling screen shows numbers, never names. More in clinic queue.
Service centres and offices need both appointments and a counter queue, the way many government service centres already work: book a time, get a number on arrival.
Pet clinics have vaccination appointments and walk-in cases. Many pet owners would rather wait in the car than in a room full of other animals, so LINE alerts help a lot.
Bigger hair salons and car care take bookings and walk-ins at weekends, with walk-ins filling the gaps between appointments.
Restaurants: if you’re in a mall and most of your customers already use QueQ, QueQ is a good fit. If you want customers as LINE friends collecting stamps, a queue linked to a stamp card is another way, and with table booking a party with no free table can take a queue number instead.
Questions to ask any system
Whichever you consider, ask:
- Do customers need an app, or does it open in LINE?
- What hardware do you have to buy or rent?
- Is it priced per branch or per month? Is there a setup fee?
- Are alert messages included, or does the business pay for them?
- Can bookings and walk-ins share one line?
- Is the customer data yours, to follow up or give points?
- Can you see the numbers: busy hours, waits and people who left?
How Tellfox is different
Tellfox is online booking in LINE for service businesses, with customers and stamp cards in one place. The Tellfox online queue is an add-on that works with your bookings:
- Customers install nothing: a scan of the QR on the door opens a live ticket page in LINE or any browser, with no name needed.
- Any screen or tablet you already have can be the calling display, opened with a private link.
- Book first, queue ticket on arrival: booked customers tap “I’m here” on the booking page (the link in the confirmation) and join at the booked time.
- Walk-ins become customers, with a stamp card from the first visit.
- A long wait? Book a time instead, right from the ticket page.
- Services and the booking page set up from a photo of your price list, and changed by typing a message to the assistant in LINE.
- An add-on per branch on the Starter, Business and Pro plans, which you add yourself in your account. See the queue prices.
- 1Book a timeThe customer books online ahead of time
- 2ArriveTap I'm here on the booking page, or scan the QR at the door
- 3Get a numberAt the booked place, with walk-ins in the gaps between appointments
- 4Get alertsAlmost your turn, then you're called, in LINE
- 5CalledEveryone is in one line, on one screen
For the full picture, read the online queue system guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is QueQ?
QueQ is a Thai queue ticket and booking app. People take a queue ticket on the phone at a venue that uses QueQ, follow the queue and get an alert when the turn is near. It’s used in restaurants, banks, hospitals, government offices and other venues.
Can you book ahead with QueQ?
From what’s published, some venues let you book a time and get a number on arrival, while restaurants let you join from the app within a radius each restaurant sets. Check each venue’s terms in the app.
Can a small business run a queue without buying a machine?
Yes. Many online queue systems need only a QR on the door, the customer’s phone and a screen you have. More in you don’t need a queue ticket machine.
Should I choose QueQ or something else?
It depends on your business. If most of your customers already have QueQ, it suits you. If you’re a clinic or a service business that works by appointment and wants to keep its customer data, a booking system with a built-in queue may fit better.
Try it first
Send a photo of your price list to Tellfox in LINE and see your booking page in seconds. Try it in LINE
