Queues

A queue is a named waiting list within a location. When a customer joins a queue, they receive a ticket with a sequential number. Staff at a desk call tickets from the queue one by one. The display screen announces each call.

Queue anatomy

Each queue has:

Name — the label shown to customers and staff, such as “Walk-ins” or “Appointments”.
Slug — a URL-safe identifier used in the customer join URL. Generated automatically from the queue name.
Customer join URL — the full URL customers visit to join this queue:
```
https://customer.jonot.io/{org-slug}/{location-slug}/{queue-slug}/
```
This URL is also encoded in the QR code you share at the entrance.
Capacity cap (optional) — the maximum number of tickets that can be in WAITING state at once. When the queue is full, new customers see a “queue full” message. Leave this field blank for no limit.
Expected service time — the typical time to serve one customer, from 1 to 1440 minutes. Set it in the queue form. Jonot uses this value to estimate wait times until the queue has enough recent data to calculate its actual pace. See Wait-time estimate.

Multiple queues per location

A location can have any number of queues. You can use separate queues for services that run at the same time. For example:

A clinic with “General Consultation” and “Pharmacy Pick-up” queues
A government office with “Passport” and “ID Renewal” queues
A bank with “Personal Banking” and “Business Banking” queues

Each queue has its own independent waiting list. A desk is paired to a specific queue at pairing time, so desks serving “Walk-ins” do not see tickets from “Appointments”.

Queue as the unit of management

Devices and staff work with queues as follows:

Kiosks are paired to a queue — customers who tap the kiosk join that specific queue.
Desks are paired to a queue — staff call tickets from that queue.
Displays show all active calls for a location, or the calls from a specific desk’s queue, or a combined board of up to 5 queues.

Create and manage queues in admin under the location’s Queues tab. See Create a Queue for instructions.

Capacity cap

You can limit how many customers can wait in a queue at once by setting a capacity cap (the Max waiting field in the queue create/edit form). When the cap is reached:

The customer join flow shows a “queue full” message.
The kiosk shows a queue-full state.
The queue is not joinable until a waiting ticket exits (is called, cancelled, or moved).

The server applies the limit to simultaneous requests as one operation. Two customers who join at the same time cannot increase the waiting count beyond the limit. Leave the field blank for an unlimited queue, which is the default.

Queue status

Every queue has a manual status that staff control independently of operating hours:

Active — the normal state. Customers can join, and desks can call tickets.
Paused — temporarily stop intake. New joins are refused, but everyone already waiting keeps their place. Use it for a short break or a backlog you want to clear before letting more people in.
Closed — stop new customers and indicate that service has ended for now. Waiting tickets remain in the queue rather than being cancelled. Only an admin can reopen a closed queue.

When a queue is paused or closed, waiting customers see a status banner on their ticket. People who try to join see a message that matches the status. A paused message says that the customer keeps their place and the queue will resume. A closed message says that the ticket remains in the queue but might not be served, and asks the customer to check with staff.

Setting the status:

In admin, an org-manager or location-manager sets the status (Active / Paused / Closed) from the queue’s edit form.
At the desk, staff can switch between Active and Paused with the Pause queue / Resume queue button. Use it for a short break without leaving the desk. Close and reopen a closed queue in admin.

Status changes take effect immediately and are pushed live to every connected desk, display, and customer.

Operating hours

A location’s operating hours control when customers can join all its queues. Outside these hours, customers cannot join and see an “outside hours” message. The queue picker shows “Closed — opens at [time]”. The desk and display show a Closed (hours) pill.

Hours are configured on the location (not per queue) in Admin → [Location] → Hours:

Timezone — a standard IANA timezone, such as Europe/Helsinki. Jonot applies all hours in this timezone and adjusts them for daylight saving time.
Weekly schedule — open and close periods for each day of the week. A day with no periods is closed. You can add several periods to one day, such as 08:00–12:00 and 13:00–17:00 for a lunch break.
Cross-midnight hours — hours can continue past midnight, such as Friday 20:00–02:00. Enter the close time as a normal clock value (02:00). If the close time is the same as or earlier than the open time, the editor treats it as the next day and shows a next day note beside the field.

Date overrides

Manage exceptions for holidays and special hours in the Date overrides section of the hours editor:

Closed override — closes a specific date regardless of the weekly schedule, such as a public holiday.
Custom hours override — replaces the weekly schedule for a specific date with different hours. A closed override takes priority over hours that continue past midnight from the previous day.

Overrides appear in a list below the weekly schedule and can be added, edited, or deleted at any time.