Queue management
Self-service ticket kiosks in Islamabad and Rawalpindi
A self-service kiosk lets a customer choose their service on a touch screen and print their own token, which sorts the queue before anyone reaches a counter. A floor-standing kiosk with touch screen, printer and service menu starts around PKR 220,000 installed, and it earns its cost where a branch runs several services at once.
- Typical price
- From PKR 220,000
- How long it takes
- One day to install, plus a live morning alongside branch staff
- Site survey
- Free in Islamabad & Rawalpindi
Design the menu around one decision
A kiosk works when the first screen asks one clear question with four or five answers. Menus that nest three levels deep produce a queue at the kiosk, which is worse than no kiosk. We write the service menu with branch staff in the words customers actually use, not the internal department names.
Site it in the arrival path
The kiosk goes where people walk in, with clear floor space around it so a person using it does not block the entrance. If a guard has to point every customer at it, it is in the wrong place.
Fit, wire and load paper properly
Power and data in conduit, the printer loaded with a roll size we leave spares of, and the paper door reachable by branch staff without a tool. A kiosk that only we can reload is a kiosk that is out of paper by Thursday.
Run a live morning alongside it
We stand with the branch through a real opening hour, watch where customers hesitate, and rewrite the menu wording the same day. Every kiosk we have installed has needed at least one wording change after watching real customers use it.
What the price covers. PKR 220,000 covers a floor-standing kiosk with touch screen, thermal token printer, enclosure, menu configuration and installation. A wall-mounted unit is around PKR 160,000. This assumes a calling system and displays already exist — a kiosk is an addition to a token system, not a replacement for one.
Included on every visit
- Service menu written with branch staff in customer language
- Floor-standing kiosk with touch screen and token printer
- Sited in the arrival path with clear floor space
- Power and data in conduit, no trailing leads on a public floor
- Paper roll reachable by branch staff, spares supplied
- A live opening hour observed with menu wording corrected
- Written warranty on hardware and workmanship
Questions people ask
Will older customers use it?
Many will not, and a branch that plans for that does much better. Keep a staffed dispenser or a guard with a handheld as the alternative — the kiosk exists to take load off the counter, not to force everyone through a screen. Branches that removed the human option saw complaints rise, not fall.
Is it worth it for a single-counter branch?
No. With one counter and one service there is nothing for the customer to choose, so a simple button dispenser at a fraction of the price does the identical job. A kiosk earns its cost from about three concurrent services upward, where the sorting it does is real.
What happens when it runs out of paper mid-morning?
Branch staff reload it — that is why we site the paper door where they can reach it and leave spare rolls in the branch rather than in the van. We also set a low-paper warning on the calling PC. A kiosk that needs a callout to reload is a kiosk that spends most of its life switched off.