Patent ID: 11941642
Assignee: ACF TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: IT methods for management (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 15:
16. A queue management system for service providers comprising:
a plurality of service provider computing devices located in at least two different service provider facilities;
a customer device that is configured to prompt a customer to select from a plurality of services offered and receive a customer service request from a customer, wherein the customer device is configured to facilitate communication between the customer and a service provider located in a first service provider facility; and
a queue management server comprising a processor, and a memory including computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the queue management server to:
receive availability information for a plurality of service providers from the plurality of service provider computing devices;
generate a plurality of virtual queues;
receive a customer service request from a customer device identifying the type of service requested;
assign the customer service request to a queue position in a virtual queue based at least in part on the availability information associated with the plurality of service providers and the type of service requested, wherein the virtual queue is for a remote service provider in the first service provider facility or for an in-person service provider in the first service provider facility; and
notify a customer associated with the customer service request of the assignment,

wherein the computer program code, when executed, is configured to cause the processor to consider a virtual queue for an in-person service provider as well as a virtual queue for the remote service provider when determining the virtual queue that the customer should be assigned to, wherein each of the plurality of service provider computing devices are configured to facilitate communication with the customer device.