Queue busters!

VIVA has partnered with homegrown queue-busting Skiplino Technologies, to introduce the kingdom’s first cloud-based queue management system by a telecom operator.
The online system which allows people to queue digitally through a mobile application, customers will now be able to book their appointments at any of the 19 VIVA retail outlets, or via the VIVA self-care app in just a few clicks anywhere, and at any time.
This collaboration with Skiplino marks another ‘significant step’ from VIVA Bahrain towards digital transformation and extending its support to Bahrain’s Economic Development Board’s (EDB) initiatives in encouraging the growth of the local ecosystem as a key engine to foster grassroot innovation and entrepreneurship.
Karim Tabbouche, VIVA Bahrain’s chief commercial officer, said the company recognises the need to play an active role to support Bahraini start-ups by empowering them with technological support and market visibility to help them succeed. “Moreover, this is in line with our efforts to maintain an edge in innovation by enhancing our customers’ experience through a convenient, on-the-go digital offering that gives them greater control over their time and life,” he added.
The system when booking the customer appointment takes into account the customer’s travel time and distance and any traffic delays and adjusts the appointment time accordingly so as to avoid making the customers wait at the outlet.
For VIVA walk-in customers, the cloud-based queue management system operates in the same manner, where customers can access the system and receive a SMS once their appointment is due.
Entrepreneur Zaman Abdulhameed Zaman, CEO of Skiplino Technologies, explained that on average, people waste six months of their life standing in queues.
“The application that we’ve created to achieve our objectives is simple, yet extraordinarily powerful. As well as saving customers’ time, it gives businesses the ability to easily monitor their visitors and use the results to improve their service.
“Skiplino solves this problem by helping users to queue in advance, or avoid queues altogether,” he said. “The app acts as a directory for all services that require you to take a ticket and wait in a queue to be served. It offers a smart mobile solution to improving traffic flow and saves people ‘a space’ by letting them enter the queue from remote locations.
“The application assists you, whether you’re a business or a customer, giving you an invaluable tool that will help eliminate wasted time and ultimately increase efficiency and productivity.
“We want you to get the most out of your day, saving you time by eradicating irritating and unnecessary waiting. At the same time we also want to help businesses and service providers to improve overall customer experiences.”
Skiplino has already earned several global accolades including the Forbes Innovation Award 2017, The World Summit Award 2016, named as one of the 100 start-ups by World Economic Forum, one of the top 20 start-ups in TNW Europe 2016 to name a few.