HelpSet up your lineCounters (serving points)
Counters (serving points)
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”. is a serving point — a desk, chair or room — that a staff member can sign into. Every stop has at least one counter, and you name it yourself — turnda never makes up a name for you. When you call someone, this is the place they are told to go — on the lobby TV, in the spoken call and on their phone. Use the name your visitors will see at the spot, like Desk 1, Chair 2 or Room 3.
Setting up a line or a stop asks you for the counter name before you can save. Signing in at a counter stays optional — only a signed-in counter shows as staffed and has the serves tagged to it, and calling never waits on a sign-in. If a stop has exactly one counter, staff who have not signed in call to that counter; with two or more, they are asked which counter they are at.
What a counter is
Think of one counter per place a visitor is actually served — two chairs is two counters, one returns desk is one.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I have to name a counter? | Yes. You cannot save a new line or stop without at least one counter name, typed by you. turnda never fills one in. Use the name your visitors will see at the spot, like Desk 1, Chair 2 or Room 3. |
| Why is the name needed? | When you call someone, this is the place they are told to go — on the lobby TV, in the spoken call and on their phone. Use the name your visitors will see at the spot, like Desk 1, Chair 2 or Room 3. |
| I already had a stop with no counter. What happens? | Nothing is added or renamed for you. You will see a to-do, “Name the counter for” that stop, on your setup list. Until you name it, joining and calling keep working, and the TV, the spoken call and the visitor's phone use the stop's own name. |
| Can a single-counter business skip them? | No — a business with one desk still names that one counter. The difference is for staff: with exactly one counter at a stop, staff who call without signing in call to it automatically. There are two exceptions: staff are still asked which counter they are at if a colleague is signed in at that only counter, or if they are signed in at a counter on another line; and if the only counter is closed for today, the call names the stop instead. |
| Where do I see who is at which counter? | Beside the line name on the Queue, a one-line summary says how many counters there are and which are free, and the numbers band shows Counters busy. In the top bar, the Counter control opens “Your counter”, which lists the counters and marks each one that is “Taken by” someone. The Dashboard's “On the floor now” lists who is on which counter. Signing in at a counter is optional; it shows who is there and tags each serve to that person. |
| My line is split by staff. Who names the counters? | You do. Each person on that line who has no counter yet is listed under Name a counter for each person; type a name for each (the row reads “Counter for” and the person's name) and press Add. turnda never names a counter after a person for you. |
Add & assign
- Open the line's Line settings, then its Setup section, for the Counters row. “where staff sign in to serve”
- Type the counter's name (e.g. Desk 1, Chair 2, Room 3). The field is required and starts empty. When you call someone, this is the place they are told to go — on the lobby TV, in the spoken call and on their phone. Use the name your visitors will see at the spot, like Desk 1, Chair 2 or Room 3.
- Pick a teammate from Assigned staff, or leave it No one assigned. Whoever's on shift signs in with their PIN.
Removing a counter Unassigns anyone who was on it. You cannot remove a stop's last counter — a stop needs at least one, because it is the place visitors are told to go when they are called. Add another counter first, or close this one for today.
Open, close & busy
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Open | Free and ready for someone to sign in. |
| Serving | Someone's been called to this counter, is on hold there, or is mid-visit — any of the three, not only mid-visit. |
| Closed | Taken out of rotation, without deleting it — handy for a lunch cover. Use Close / Reopen. A counter can't be closed while it has a visitor called, on hold or being served — finish or move that visitor first. On a line where visitors pick who they want, the person at a closed counter shows to visitors as “Not in today” and can't be picked (see below). |
Someone is off today? If staff scheduling is off there is no leave list — just Close their counter. (With scheduling on, record the day off in the Leave tab of Schedule.) On a line where visitors pick who they want, that person stays on the list, greyed and marked Not in today, and can't be picked; “First available” and everyone else work as normal. Press Reopen and they can be picked again. A visitor who already picked them keeps their place. A person with more than one counter on the line counts as in while any one of theirs is open.
Can't remove a counter? You can't remove a counter showing Serving — bring the visitor back, or finish with them, first.
Counter has served people before? turnda keeps refusing to remove it, to protect that history. Close it instead — it stops being offered, and the record stays.
People waiting but nobody's called? Check a counter is open and signed into — an unstaffed counter shows up as a "needs attention" alert on your dashboard.
Related: PIN sign-in & counters · Dashboard