Hold, no-show & putting people back

Real lines are messy — someone steps out, someone doesn't hear their number, someone comes back an hour later. These are the tiles that keep the line honest without ever losing a visitor.

Two ways to put someone on hold who isn't ready, both from a called visitor's tiles:

A virtual counter is a named place a visitor waits that isn't a counter — “Waiting for blood results”, “Waiting for your approval”. It is a Hold with a name your visitor can read. Each business names its own, and each line has its own list.

On the Queue, everyone put on hold this way is listed under Virtual counters, grouped by name, with how long each has been waiting (“Waiting” and the time). A group with nobody in it says “Nobody is waiting here.” The same list is where the two tiles live — “Call to my counter” or “Back in line at their place”.

Held visitors can still be transferred, or cancelled if they've left for good.

When someone is called and never came — they don't appear — mark them No-show and they move to the No-show tab.

An appointment that has not checked in gets your line's no-show graceHow long a late appointment is held before it is marked a no-show. after its slot time (a per-line setting, 10 minutes by default), then is marked a no-show. Someone you have already called is never marked a no-show by the clock: they stay Called until you press No-show or Complete — the full story is in No-shows & grace.

• When a display does carry it, the strip is headed “No-show” and shows numbers only, never names.
• Until you've added one on Displays, keep calling no-show names aloud yourself — the room isn't being told for you.

Select anyone on No-show (or even Recently served) and the panel offers two ways back. Back at their original place is there for the first few minutes (five minutes) and puts them where they arrived. Put back in line is always there, and where it lands them is a line setting (Line settings → Staff controls):

• People who have waited longer will still be called after them. Say yes with Put back in line, or Leave as is.

• If they still need their appointment's place, use their appointment record on the Appointments page instead of putting the visit back from here.

A visitor on 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. is different — their tile is Re-check in, which returns them to their current stop at their original arrival order.

A journey can't simply be “put back in line” from scratch, and once a multi-stop visit has properly ended it can't be reopened at all. The whole of it is in Running a multi-stop visit.

(This one's a walk-in to begin with, so there's no appointment to lose — see the box above for a booked visitor.)

A hold is meant to last minutes. If one is forgotten, turnda closes it after a set time — four hours unless you change it and the visit ends on its own — otherwise a hold nobody remembers would sit in your line for ever, quietly dragging your average wait out with it.

• The habit that protects you is the Hold list itself — glance at it before you close up, because anyone still sitting there has been waiting since you put them there.

A called visitor that nobody resolves — the staff member got busy, the visitor evaporated — would otherwise sit in “Being served” for ever.

• The timer counts from the most recent call — a Recall restarts it.
• If a staff member acts on the visitor first, the timer quietly stands down.

When the line reopens (or you press Resume joins), visitors held because the line was closed go back into the waiting line in their original order — but only up to the line's limit and only while it is open. Anyone who doesn't fit keeps waiting and is told politely. A separate Let everyone in anyway button brings the rest in over the limit or while the line is closed; it asks first, with the exact numbers.

Related: No-shows & grace · The lobby TV · Serving order & fairness