How to set up a free queue system for a small clinic (no app needed)

A crowded waiting room is one of the most common complaints about small clinics. Patients don’t mind waiting nearly as much as they mind not knowing how long they’ll wait, and having to sit in the same room the whole time.

A virtual queue fixes both: each patient gets a number on their phone, sees how many people are ahead, and is free to step outside, grab a coffee or wait in the car. When it’s their turn, their phone rings and the number appears on a screen in the clinic.

This guide shows how to set one up for free, with equipment you almost certainly already have.

What you need

• A computer, tablet or phone at the front desk — this is where staff press “Call next”.
• A printer for an A4 poster with a QR code (any office printer is fine).
• Optional: a TV or monitor in the waiting room to show the numbers being called. Any TV with a browser works, or a cheap streaming stick or an old laptop plugged into it.

You don’t need a ticket printer, a dedicated kiosk, or an app for patients to install.

Step 1: Create your queue

Open the free queue number system and fill in:

1. Your clinic’s name — it appears on the poster, the screen and the patient’s phone.
2. Rooms or counters — one per line, e.g. “Room 1”, “Room 2”, “Pharmacy”. Each one can call its own patients.
3. Services (optional) — if you run separate lines, for example Consultation and Pharmacy, add them here. Each gets its own letter: A001, B001…
4. When numbers reset — tickets start again from 1 every day at the hour you choose.
5. Voice — the calling screen can announce numbers in English, Chinese and/or Malay.

There’s no account to create. The console is saved on the device you used, and you get a private backup link (in Settings) that opens it on any other computer.

Step 2: Print the poster

In the Screens & poster tab, open Poster, then print it. Put it at the entrance and at reception. Patients scan it with the phone camera and get a number in the browser — no download.

On the patient’s phone they see:

• their number, in large print
• how many people are ahead of them
• a button to turn on notifications, so the phone rings when they’re called

On Android, notifications work straight away. On iPhone, patients add the page to the home screen first (the page explains how) — or simply keep the page open.

Step 3: Open the calling screen (optional)

On the TV in the waiting room, open the Calling screen link from the same tab and tap it once — browsers only allow sound after a tap. From then on, every time a number is called the screen highlights it and reads it out: “Number A015, please go to Room 2.”

If you have more than one room, each room appears side by side, with a list of recently called numbers.

Step 4: Start calling

At the desk (or in each consulting room), choose which room this device is and press Call next. The previous patient is marked as done, the next number is called on the screen, and that patient’s phone rings.

A few buttons cover everyday situations:

• Recall — announce the same number again.
• Missed — the patient didn’t come. The number moves to a “missed” list; when they turn up, call it from there.
• Take a number for them — for patients without a smartphone. Staff press it, and tell the patient their number (or write it down).

Should you stop people taking numbers from home?

By default, anyone who scans the poster can take a number, and each phone can only hold one at a time. For most clinics that’s enough.

If you want people to be physically there, turn on On-site only in Settings. Numbers can then only be taken by scanning a code on your screen or reception tablet, which changes every minute — a photo of the poster shared in a group chat won’t work.

What about patient privacy?

A queue number system doesn’t need to know who anyone is. This one never asks for names or phone numbers: a patient is just “A015” for the day. Numbers are cleared every day, and a queue that isn’t used for 60 days is deleted.

That also means you have no customer database to protect — which is one less thing to worry about.

Tips from clinics that use a virtual queue

• Put the poster where people already stop — the door and the reception counter.
• Say it at the desk: “Scan this, you can wait outside, your phone will ring.” Most patients get it immediately.
• Use services for different lines (consultation vs. pharmacy) rather than separate queues — patients see one simple number.
• Turn the calling screen’s voice on even if you call names out loud today; elderly patients appreciate both.
• Keep the backup link somewhere safe, so a second PC or a new tablet can open the console in seconds.