HelpRun the queueRunning a multi-stop visit

Running a multi-stop visit

A multi-stop visitThe 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. — reception, then the doctor, then the pharmacy — is one visitor, one number and one tracking link moving through several lines. Setting one up is in Journeys. This is what it's like to RUN one at the counter.

Everyone Where: Queue → a visitor's action panel 9 min read
Each stop is an ordinary line. It has its own counters, its own hours and its own waiting list, and you serve it exactly like any other. The only thing that's different is how somebody leaves it — instead of Complete, you send them on.
  1. 1Reception
    A-7
  2. 2Doctor
    Send to next stop
One visit, three stops — the visitor keeps one number the whole way.

Sending somebody on to their next stop

Once you have called a multi-stop visitor, one extra tile appears — Send to next stop.

  • One tap ends your part and puts them in the next stop's line.
  • They keep their place there — by when they first arrived, never at the back.
  • They keep their number and their tracking page updates itself.
RuleWhat it means
It shows as soon as you have called them It stays while they are with you at the counter. Not while they're still waiting — tapping it before they are called is refused plainly — “Call this visitor to a counter before moving them on to their next stop.”
At the last stop it isn't there at all There is nowhere left to send them, so Complete is the ending.
Two people can't send the same person twice If a colleague got there first, only one of you moves them; the other is told what actually happened, and nothing is done twice.
Every role can do it Staff included, at the lines they work.
They keep their place — only the wait clock restarts. The next stop's line puts them by when they first arrived. Somebody who arrived at reception at 9:00 and reaches the consult at 9:20 goes ahead of a person who got to the consult at 9:10. What starts again is the wait clock — somebody who waited 25 minutes at reception arrives at the consult with a clock reading zero, because each stop only sees its own waiting. (A transfer to a different line is the opposite: they join the back.)
  • That is deliberate, so each stop is staffed for the load it really has.
  • If the promise you make is about the WHOLE appointment, there's a line setting for that — see Journeys.
  • One thing does carry across — a priority tierAn 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 an emergencyThe highest-priority flag — called ahead of everyone, including due bookings. Off by default. keeps its rank at every stop.
If the next stop isn't open Closed, paused, or already at its capacity — you are asked what to do before anything happens: Skip that stop, End the visit here, or Send anyway — they wait until it opens. If you send them anyway, they aren't lost and they aren't dropped. They're held back at that stop (see below) and told, and the moment it reopens they're let in at their proper place.

Their visit — seeing and changing the plan

Next to a multi-stop visitor's name is a button, Their visit — see and change their stops. It shows their whole route.

  • Each stop numbered, a tick on the ones done.
  • “Here now” on the one they're at.
  • “Still to do” on what's left.
  • If they aren't on a multi-stop visit it says so rather than showing you an empty list.

On the Queue, a multi-stop visitor's row also tells you where they are and where they go next, so you rarely need to open the plan — for example “Now: Doctor · Next: Pharmacy”, or “Now: Pharmacy · Last stop”.

Four things can be changed. Stops that have already happened, and the stop the visitor is at right now, are sealed — except for the counter (below) — because changing them would only make the record untrue.

You pressWhat happens Who can
Any counter Each not-yet-started stop offers this by default; pick one of that stop's own counters instead and they'll be sent there when they reach it. You can also change the counter of the stop they are WAITING at right now, so a visitor is never stuck waiting for a counter that has closed. Anyone who serves the line can do this, staff included. Anyone on the team
Add a stop Shows every open line at this location as a tile. Choose Next (the very next stop) or At the end, then tap the line. A line they have already finished can be added again. The visitor keeps their original place in that line, and only this one visitor's plan changes. At a location with many lines a “Find a line” box appears. Any staff member at the location, when the line lets staff change a visitor's journey
Take this stop out Removes a not-yet-started stop. Use Put this stop back to undo it. A taken-out stop stays visible with a line through it and, where we know it, “Taken out by” who and when. Any staff member at the location, when the line lets staff change a visitor's journey
Move up Moves a stop one place earlier. Only stops that haven't started can be moved; the one the visitor is at now, and the ones already done, stay where they are. Any staff member at the location, when the line lets staff change a visitor's journey
Move down Moves a stop one place later, the same way. Any staff member at the location, when the line lets staff change a visitor's journey
Nobody is messaged about a change The visitor's tracking page changes at once and the usual “ready for you” message names the right place. A stop marked No message stays quiet whatever you change, and a stop you add follows its own line's setting.
A visit that has finished Its stops can't be changed — the dialog says “This visit is completed, so its stops can't be changed.”
Staff can change a visitor's journey — a switch on each line. In Line settings → Staff controls, Staff can change a visitor's journey is on for every line unless you turn it off. On, any staff member at the visitor's location — including staff who are tied to a different line there — can add, take out, put back and reorder the stops still to come. Staff from a different location cannot. Off — for a business where every stop must happen — only managers and the owner can, and staff see “Staff can't change this visitor's stops on this line. A manager can.” The switch is read from the line the visitor is in right now. Choosing a different counter for a stop is never blocked by it.
The counter list is greyed while it's loading — on purpose. An empty-but-usable list would read as “this stop has no counters”, when the truth might be “we couldn't load them”. If it stays greyed, the counters didn't load — close it and open it again rather than assuming there are none.
One thing to watch when finishing Complete now does the normal thing for somebody with a stop still to come — it sends them on to their NEXT stop, exactly like Send to next stop. You don't have to remember to use the other button; only the LAST stop actually finishes the visit. If you genuinely need to end a visit early and drop the stops still ahead, use End whole visit — it asks “End this visit now?” and names exactly which stops would be dropped, because that can't be undone.

When a multi-stop visitor misses their turn

Mark them No-show as usual. When they reappear, their tile is NOT “Put back in line” — it's Re-check in.

  • It returns them to THE STOP THEY WERE AT, at THEIR ORIGINAL PLACE in that line.
  • They don't go back to the beginning of their visit, and they don't go to the back.
Why the ordinary “Put back in line” is refused here. A multi-stop visit is one thread with one live place in it. Putting an earlier stop back by hand would give the same person two places at once and lose track of where they really are.
If you try You're told — “This visitor is on a multi-stop journey — use their next stop instead of putting them back in line.”
  • Once a multi-stop visit has properly ended, it cannot be reopened at all — if they come back, add them as a new visitor.

Held back at a stop that was closed

When people arrive at a stop while it's paused or full, they don't queue — they're held back, and a Paused tab appears on the Queue holding them. It only exists while somebody is actually held back there.

Resume joins lets them back in AT THEIR ORIGINAL ARRIVAL ORDER — nobody goes to the back for having been held back, because their join time is never touched. It brings back only as many as the stop's limit allows, and only while the stop is open; the rest keep waiting, and you are told how many came back and how many still wait. For those, a Let everyone in anyway button appears. It asks first with the exact figure, then brings them in over the limit or while the stop is closed, still in their original order.

  • Priority still outranks the clock, as everywhere else.
  • You're told how many came back.
  • Any role can do this, at the lines they work — the person on the floor when it gets busy is the person who needs to be able to stop and restart joins.

The record of one visit

ViewWhat it shows
Their visit — see and change their stops What is still to happen — the plan.
Their visit, stop by stop (the clock button) What already happened — joined, called, served, held, put back — with times in the business's own clock and who did each thing.

For a file you can keep or send, select the visitor on the Queue and open Report a problem about their ticket number (the bug icon in the top bar on a wide screen, or the same row in the account menu). At the bottom of that window, press the PDF button beside “Download the visit journey”. It lists when each thing happened, at which line, and who did it.

Only an owner or a manager at that location sees this button. It isn't shown to staff at all. If you're staff and need the file, ask a manager to take it.

Skipping a closed stop, and the one-visit report

Two things staff and managers ask for on a multi-stop visit.

What happensWhat it means
The next stop is closed Staff can skip it. For example, “Skip Doctor, go to Pharmacy”. The skipped stop stays on the visit's record, so the figures show it was skipped.
You need the full story of one visit A manager can download one visit as a branded PDF, in the language they are using, from the “Report a problem about …” window opened with that visitor selected on the Queue page. Attach it to a message to support if something went wrong.

Related: Journeys (multi-stop visits) · Call & serve · Hold, no-show & putting people back