A queue manager that fits in a browser tab
LineMarshal is the queue manager for your front desk. Open one tab to see everyone waiting, who is being served, and how long the line is running, then call the next person with a single tap.
No credit card. Live in under five minutes.
A queue manager should make the next move obvious. LineMarshal puts the whole line on one screen in the order people arrived, highlights who is up, and turns calling the next customer into a single click. No spreadsheet, no clipboard, no guesswork.
When you are ready for more, the same tab grows with you: per-provider queues, a calendar view that blocks out busy time, SMS alerts, and a lobby display that keeps the room informed.
The person who is already your queue manager
In most walk-in businesses the queue manager is not software, it is a person. The front desk lead at a clinic, the charge nurse on a busy morning, the owner of a two chair barbershop. They hold the arrival order in their head, remember that the man in the blue jacket stepped out to feed the meter, and know the family in the corner wants a different provider. It works right up until the phone rings, two people walk in at once, and whoever was next is nowhere to be seen.
The real cost of running the line by hand is not the list, it is the interruptions. Every few minutes somebody comes to the counter to ask how much longer, and the honest answer is a guess. A name gets written sideways in the clipboard margin and nobody can tell if it came before or after the one above it. At shift change the whole order lives in one person's memory and has to be handed over out loud. When two customers each believe they were next, the desk settles it with nothing to point at.
What queue software takes off the front desk
LineMarshal takes over the half of that job that never needed a human. Arrival order is recorded the moment somebody scans the QR stand at the door, timestamped, so there is nothing to argue about later. Position and an estimated wait sit on the customer's own phone and update as the line moves, which ends most of the how much longer traffic at the counter. As they near the front a heads up goes to that phone, and on the Max plan it arrives as a text, so people can wait in the car or run an errand and still be back in time.
What is left is the part that needs judgment, and that is what the board is for. Calling the next person is one tap. Skipping someone who stepped out pushes them back fifteen minutes and keeps them in line, and skipping the same person twice removes them as a no show, so nobody has to decide whether to delete a customer. A regular who phoned ahead can be added by hand, and any name can be dragged up when a case is more urgent than the one ahead of it. The estimate recalculates after each move, so the number on the customer's phone keeps matching the room.
Queue management that does not live in one person's head
Because the board lives in a browser tab, it is also the handover. The closer opens the same tab and sees exactly what the opener left, with no verbal briefing and no handwriting to decipher. Two or three people can work the same queue at once from a laptop, a tablet, and a phone on the floor, and every change lands on the other screens right away. Put the lobby display on a TV, included on every plan, and the room can read the order for itself.
At close, the analytics tab says what actually happened rather than what it felt like: customers served, busiest hour, average wait, average service time, show rate and no shows, across the last 7, 14 or 30 days. That is enough to move a shift start earlier or put a second person on the 11am rush. When one desk grows into several providers, the Max plan gives each of them their own lane, sends Any Available customers to the shortest one, and lays the day out on a provider calendar. The job does not change. The tab just does more of it.
How it works
Scan in. Text through. Dashboard in control. Book if you want a time.
Scan to join
Customers point their phone camera at a printed QR stand and they are in line. No app to download, no account to create, no kiosk to buy or maintain.
Texted when ready
A heads up text lands as their turn approaches, then a final alert says come back. People wait in the car, run an errand, or grab a coffee instead of crowding your lobby.
Run it from any browser
Staff watch the live queue, call the next person, and reorder on the fly. A lobby TV shows positions so the room stays calm and nobody asks how much longer.
Appointments in the same line
On the Max plan the same scan can book a time. Customers pick a named provider and a slot for later today, or join the walk-in line, and both land in one queue. Walk-ins fill the gaps around the booked time instead of stacking up behind it.
Appointments and walk-ins on one calendar
On the Max plan, every provider gets a live day calendar. Customers can book a same-day time with a named provider or join as a walk-in, from the same QR scan. Block out lunches and meetings, and walk-ins drop into the open gaps automatically. The wait times you show customers count those gaps, so the number on the screen always matches the room.
- A day timeline for every provider, doctor, stylist, or technician
- Block out lunches, meetings, and booked appointments in two taps
- Customers can book a same-day time with a named provider, or join as a walk-in
- Walk-ins drop onto the calendar automatically, flowing around each block
- Drag any appointment or block to a new time and the day re-flows around it
- Wait times update live and count the real gaps, so the number on the screen matches the room
Dr. Gupta
On shiftWhy teams choose LineMarshal
Modern queue management without the hardware, the contract, or the wait.
Under 5 min
to set up your first queue
$0
to start, no credit card
No app
works in any phone browser
SMS + push
so no one misses their turn
Frequently asked questions
What can a staff member do from the queue manager?
Call the next person, skip someone who stepped away, mark a no-show, reorder the line, add a walk-in manually, and see live wait times, all from one dashboard.
Can more than one staff member manage the queue?
Yes. The board updates in real time, so several team members can work the same queue from different devices without stepping on each other.
Does the queue manager work on a tablet?
Yes. It runs in any modern browser, so a tablet at the desk, a laptop in the back, and a phone on the floor all show the same live queue.
What does a queue manager do?
A queue manager keeps the order people arrived in, decides who gets called next, and tells everyone waiting how much longer it will be. In most walk-in businesses that is a person rather than a product: the front desk lead, the charge nurse, the shop owner. LineMarshal takes the mechanical half of the job, recording arrival order by QR scan, calculating each wait, and notifying customers as their turn nears, and leaves the judgment calls to your staff. The role stays the same, but the interruptions at the counter mostly stop.
How do I manage a walk-in line without a clipboard or a spreadsheet?
Put a printed QR stand at the door and let arrivals check themselves in. Every scan writes a timestamped place in line, so the order is never in dispute and nobody is writing names in a margin. Staff work the whole line from one browser tab: call next, skip, mark a no show, reorder, or add a customer by hand for someone who phoned ahead. Unlike a spreadsheet, the list also faces the customer, who sees their own position and estimated wait on their phone.
What happens if a customer misses their turn?
Skip them. The first skip pushes that customer back about fifteen minutes and keeps them in the queue, so a trip to the parking meter or the bathroom does not cost anyone their place. Skipping the same person a second time removes them from the line as a no show, and that no show is counted in your analytics. If they turn up in between, staff can drag their name back up the list and call them straight away.
How much does a queue manager like this cost?
LineMarshal is free for up to 50 customers a month, with no credit card, which covers a small desk outright. Pro is $49 a month for unlimited customers, and Max is $69 a month, adding a separate queue for each provider, Any Available routing, SMS notifications, and the provider day calendar. Analytics and the lobby TV display are included on every plan, including the free one. There is no hardware to buy, so the printed QR stand at the door is the entire install.
Ready to clear your lobby?
Start free. No credit card required. Set up in under five minutes.