Theory:

Waiting time calculation with Tof technology, Short explanation.

TOF stands for Time Of Flight.
There are other technologies for Queue Waiting time.  (e.g. bases on video technology)
Some of them are working OK in a homogeneous queue (without a big variation of distances between people and a lot of different trolleys.

Example where a queue system based on e.g. Video technology works OK

That will never work fine in an environment with unorganized queues with trolleys etc.

That means that the sensor is constantly sending out a matrix of infrared beam pulses and measures the time for the light to return.

The Tof technology can separate the height of object and people very accurately (withing 1-2 cm) This means that the sensor can re-create the shape of people and object without interference from external light and temperature.

This means that they are the most accurate sensors in the market as well as they are the least sensitive for external disturbances

The sensors are designed so it is possible to set up different counting lines. These lines count people in both directions. These lines can be turned in any direction and any shape. But the most unique feature is that it is possible to measure occupancy in different zones and filter people from trollies and other objects with an accurate height filter.
On top of this it is possible to count the ratio between Groups and People passing a line. This means that we constantly can judge how many groups are waiting in the queue and together with the current measured service time calculate in real time the accurate waiting time.

A group can be a couple, a family, a parent and a child etc. It is obvious that the time for service is more proportional to the number of groups than to the individual people.
Therefore, this unique feature to estimate the number of groups is very important for the accuracy.

The service time is also varying dependent on the average amount of items per purchase. So that is also different from time to time.

Also, the efficiency of the current cashier person influence the service time.
This means that we can also measure the average service time and, if the client wants, match to the individual cashier person.
The system can also measure Open/Close time for the queue.

The system is prepared for monitoring of the expected waiting time also to be visible for the customers. Beside that there could be a function for sending SMS or email to the personnel who is responsible for opening new queues to keep the waiting time on an acceptable level.

ActQueue Waiting Time system

Advantages