Walkbase Launches Walkbase Queue – The Most Advanced Queue Management Product to Predict and Reduce Airport Passenger Queue Times — Walkbase Queue Uses Real-Time Analytics and Advanced Positioning Technology to Improve Passenger Experience and Increase Airport Retail Revenues
Passenger Terminal Expo, Paris – March 10, 2015 – Walkbase, the provider of in-store analytics for airports and retailers, today announced the launch of its Walkbase Queue solution, an advanced queue management product to reduce queuing times at airports.
Long queues and waiting times are considered one of the most annoying parts of passengers’ travel experiences. Poorly managed queues at check-in, security, restaurants and gates directly impact passenger experiences and retail spend.
Walkbase Queue shows queue lengths, waiting times and passenger flow in real-time by tracking passengers’ smartphones through airport Wi-Fi. Unlike more traditional queue management systems, Walkbase Queue is able to predict airport queuing by analysing passenger arrivals from public transport and terminal entrances and project queue lengths for those passengers based on current conditions.
“Studies have shown that an extra 10 minutes queuing at security reduces passenger spend by 30 percent on average,” said Tuomas Wuoti, CEO of Walkbase. “When you factor in the sheer volume of passengers travelling through airports globally every day, shaving just a couple of minutes off for each passenger could increase airport retail spending exponentially.”
Wuoti continued: “Since our indoor analytics solution monitors entire airports, we are able to recognise queue formation. We can measure, in real-time, how many people arrive at parking halls, public transportation and terminal entrances, then use that data to automatically inform airport management of predicted queue lengths for 15 minutes later.”
Managing airport queues is more complicated than retail queues due to their snake-like formation. This means that more traditional methods of people counting, including queue management technologies based on camera analytics, are not as reliable nor as cost-efficient as Walkbase Queue. Instead of measuring the exact people count or queue length, Walkbase’s solution measures real-time passenger throughput in designated areas, and leverages a patented, state-of-the-art Wi-Fi-based technology for accurate indoor positioning.
Walkbase Queue has been developed in collaboration with a handful of leading airports to address frustrations with the technical performance of existing products in the market. Walkbase Queue is part of the Walkbase Platform, a holistic people flow and passenger engagement solution for airports.
Key features of Walkbase Queue include:
– Predictive queue formation
– Waiting times and predicted waiting times (min)
– Number of passengers in each queue (pax)
– Passenger processing flow at the gate (pax/min)
– Detection of overcrowded environments and abnormal situations
– Heat maps of the terminal; distribution of passengers and occupancy of the space
The Walkbase Queue solution is already being implemented in several partner airports, and will be generally available for implementation starting from May 1st, 2015.
About Walkbase
Walkbase is the indoor location and analytics platform for airports and retailers. Based on indoor location technology, the platform provides real-time analytics on passengers’ habits to create the most efficient and personalised travel experiences. It analyses passenger movements to predict crowding and queuing, as well as measuring the impact of airport layouts and gate changes.
The cloud-based solution is based on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth beacon technology, with patent-pending indoor positioning and industry-leading analytics.