Which businesses turnda is for
If people wait for your attention, turnda fits. It's built around the shape of the wait, not around any one trade — so it works the same whether you run a counter, a set of rooms, or several locations.
Any business with a waiting line
- turnda is deliberately business-agnostic — a line is a line whether you're a clinic, a repair desk, a service counter, a salon or a location office.
- You describe your line in plain terms during setup — nothing in turnda is hard-coded to one kind of business.
- If you have people waiting and someone calling them forward, you have everything turnda needs.
How it adapts to you
| Question 1 — how a visit goes | Question 2 — who's served first | |
|---|---|---|
| Choices | Served at one place and done — a one stopThe queue visitors join and wait in. A location can run several. You may have seen this called an “area”.. Or moving through stops you name, like check → consult → collect — a journeyThe whole route of a visit that passes through several stops in order (for example reception, then consult, then pharmacy). Each stop is its own line.. | Plain first-come in pure arrival order, or appointmentsA serving rule where a due booking is always called ahead of waiting walk-ins. woven in alongside walk-ins with a fair-wait safety netA max-wait limit — a walk-in who has waited longer than it is bumped ahead of other walk-ins, but never past an emergency or a due booking. keeping things even. |
Add priority tiersAn optional label (for example senior, or an accessibility need) that moves someone up the line ahead of ordinary walk-ins — kept separate from emergencies. or emergenciesThe highest-priority flag — called ahead of everyone, including due bookings. Off by default. only if you need them — they're off by default. You can change any of this later.
Three worked examples
| Business | How it's set up |
|---|---|
| A barber business | One line, one stop. Walk-ins scan the poster; regulars book a slot online. Serving rule: keep it fairA serving rule that lets a long-waiting walk-in move ahead, while still serving due bookings first., so a booked 3pm trim is honoured but the walk-in who's waited 40 minutes isn't leapfrogged forever. Each chair is a counterThe place where one staff member serves — a desk, chair or room. Staff sign in to a counter to start calling people. You may have seen this called a “station”.. |
| A clinic | One visit, several stops: reception → doctor → pharmacy. That's a single journeyThe whole route of a visit that passes through several stops in order (for example reception, then consult, then pharmacy). Each stop is its own line. — the visitor keeps one number and one tracking page through all three, and each stop has its own rooms and rule. |
| A parcel counter | Pure first come, first served, no appointments, no names needed. Visitors take a number at the kioskA tablet at your counter where a walk-in checks themselves in without their own phone. or by QR code, watch the display, collect, done. |
If you're unsure, two questions settle it
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does a visit end at one place, or move through stops? | One place → a one-stop line. Stops → a journey. |
| Do people book ahead? | No → first come, first served. Yes → take appointments and pick keep it fairA serving rule that lets a long-waiting walk-in move ahead, while still serving due bookings first. (the popular default) or appointments firstA serving rule where a due booking is always called ahead of waiting walk-ins.. |
Everything else is tuning — and every answer can be changed later without starting over.
What it isn't for
turnda manages a line of people, not tables or seats. Restaurant party-size table-matching is out of scope. If your need is "who's next and where do they go," you're in the right place. If it's "which table seats six at 8pm," that's a different kind of tool.
Wondering how it compares to what you use now? The head-to-head is on our main site, turnda.com. This help centre focuses on doing the job once you're set up.
Related: Set up a simple counter · Set up a salon · Set up a clinic