CASE STUDY
Student Center of Top-Ranking University in Australia Deploys QLess to Improve the Student Experience
Campus increases student retention and improves staff productivity.
OVERVIEW
Around the world, students are united in the shared experience of standing in long campus lines. Such waits were not uncommon at a top-ranking university in Australia until they implemented QLess.
Digital queuing technology allows their students to join a virtual queue and wait their turn wherever they like, rather than spending their busy days in a crowded waiting area. By enacting a highly flexible system using the latest queuing technology, QLess improved the entire student experience.
KEY POINTS
- Student Center was trying to provide an excellent service to students, but had trouble managing the lines and providing a quality experience.
- QLess was able to help employees get back to helping students instead of managing the queues, while providing a better way for students to get in line.
“In order to improve the student experience, we needed to implement a digital solution,” said the Director of Student Services. “Of all the options we considered, QLess was the best from a student perspective, which is really our most important consideration. But it also freed up our foyer space and our staff’s time, all of which feeds right back into improving the overall student experience.”
“In order to improve the student experience, we needed to implement a digital solution. Of all the options we considered, QLess was the best from a student perspective."
—Director of Student Services
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Colleges and universities around the globe began closing their campuses in mid-March to protect staff and students from the coronavirus. SAIT was preparing for the closure, but were unsure how to transition to remote working—especially for those who dealt directly with students and prospects. They knew that student services calls would likely increase due to these unprecedented circumstances, as students would be worried and want to know what was happening with their education.
“To take advantage of our services, students had to find out where to go through various avenues, and then find time between classes to stand and wait in line,”
The university wanted to provide an easier method of queuing on its two major campuses. Equally important, service flow required improvements so that staff could spend more time servicing students and less time managing queues which could become difficult especially during peak periods.
SOLUTION
With a focus to improve the student experience, the university wanted a user-friendly queuing solution that took advantage of the latest technology. “Our students are great with technology so we needed a mobile solution to capitalize on that,” said the Director of Student Services.
The university researched various options before contacting Hague Australia who are the partner for QLess in Australia and New Zealand. They found the Hague Australia and QLess team’s helpful and easy to work with.
“Implementation has been highly successful,” said the Director of Student Services. “Training was clear and effective, the system very easy to use — it was quite an enjoyable experience from the initial implementation meeting, to the online and self-help training and through to launch. We received great support from Hague Australia and QLess, so overall it went very well.”
Although staff identified a high volume of face-to-face inquiries as a potential concern prior to the implementation, QLess performed well. “We had a major intake only three weeks after our soft launch, and QLess passed its performance test with flying colors,” said the Manager of the Student Service Centres.
Upon implementation of QLess, students join a virtual queue and receive text messages with their projected wait time and when they should return to the queue to be serviced. The system also informs students of delays and updates, and provides the option to reschedule without losing one’s place in line. While waiting, students are free to run errands or study – instead of physically lining up in a busy foyer. “Students can sit in a cafe and wait to be served,” said the Manager of the Student Service Centres. “The QLess platform is a great way to leverage mobile technology that improves the overall campus experience.”
As students took to using QLess, the foyer became less busy, creating a positive feedback loop and increasing overall efficiency. Staff no longer spent time managing lines with students navigating a crowded service area. The foyer became more welcoming, with users signing up at the kiosks, heading out and returning later for their meetings, creating a sense of intake and outflow rather than long, discouraging lines.
RESULTS
With fewer students crowding the foyer, the student services center on both campuses have become more welcoming spaces where individuals feel assured of being seen and receiving assistance. With a larger number of students taking advantage of the suite of benefits and programs available at the university, they can make the best use of their formative university experiences.
Within just three weeks of implementation, QLess eliminated more than 2,812 collective hours of physical wait time. This equals 382.59 days, or just over a year of physical queuing time students would have squandered otherwise.
The Director of Student Services reports that, “Overall, student and administrative feedback has been highly positive. The situation will improve further as more of our students take advantage of the new functionality.”
Mike Wheble, Managing Director of Hague Australia, added, “The key to this project was working closely with both the university and QLess teams. From the outset, all three teams had clear objectives to improve efficiency within the student service centre, improve the student experience, and reduce staff workloads. QLess helps achieve all three goals.”