Development of electronic transport queuing systems

Electronic queuing systems are used to distribute the flow of visitors to various commercial facilities, and help optimize the rhythm of vehicle migration at checkpoints. This helps to increase the throughput of the checkpoint, improves safety and reduces the burden on personnel, by automating most processes.

Such systems are most in demand at high-security facilities, such as warehouses, metal depots, grain, oil and gas and container terminals, as well as various industries and plants, which regularly enter and leave large vehicles.

Electronic queuing systems are multi-tasking software systems that can be assigned different functions, depending on the needs of the business. Most often these include:

• Visit planning. A separate interface where users can view the facility’s checkpoint schedule and select a suitable date and time through quick online check-in. To improve the interaction, the visitor may also be sent an appropriate electronic coupon or notification via SMS or e-mail.
• Parking system. Allows rational use of parking space on the territory of the enterprise and ensures the safety of vehicles.
• Traffic flow management. The use of an electronic queuing system allows you to regulate the number of visits to the company’s facility and set up vehicle migration in accordance with the work schedule.

• Fixation of visitors and transport. Thanks to the system of pre-registration and software integration with video cameras or interactive stands, data on entering cars and persons can be read and entered into the database automatically. This will reduce the entry fixation time to a few seconds.
• Control of gates and barriers. Electronic queuing systems can be integrated with physical objects that restrict the entry and exit of vehicles to automate the passage.

In simple terms, an electronic queue for freight transport consists of many separate modules, the functionality of which may differ. At the same time, all of them are closely interconnected and act as a single mechanism, thanks to the use of a centralized database.

Separate modules of the electronic queue system can work on different platforms and operating systems. For example, the interface for planning a site visit can be implemented as a website or a separate mobile application, and part of the software used by operators on the premises of the enterprise can be installed on a computer and function as a desktop application.

Accordingly, a different technological stack will be used to implement such solutions:

• Web applications. The development of the frontend part of such projects is carried out in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, or in reactive technologies Vue.js and React.js. The backend part can be built in PHP programming language and its Yii2/Laravel frameworks, Python language and Django/Flask frameworks, Java language or in Node.js environment.

• Mobile applications. The implementation is carried out on native technologies: for the IOS operating system, this is the Swift programming language, and for Android, the Java and Kotlin languages. To speed up the production time of a project for both operating systems, as well as reduce the required investment, Flutter can be used to develop mobile applications.
• Desktop applications. To develop such projects, the PHP programming language and its Yii2 / Laravel frameworks, or the Python language, and, accordingly, its Django / Flask frameworks are used.

The choice of the optimal technology stack is carried out by the development team based on the technical requirements for the project and the tasks that it will perform.

In order for the system of electronic queues for transport to meet the requirements of the company and effectively perform its functions, its development is carried out in several stages. Let’s consider them in more detail.

Stage 1. Gathering information

At the first stage, specialists collect information about the company, perform an audit of its IT infrastructure, and also conduct a briefing for the customer in order to determine the specific goals and objectives of the project being developed.

Stage 2. Creation of technical documentation and design

When the data is collected and systematized, the developers determine the technology stack that will be used during production, design the logic of the software, user interaction points and create an interface structure in the form of mockups of individual pages with a convenient navigation system.

The result of this step is a full-fledged software prototype, which will become a kind of “foundation” at all subsequent stages.

Stage 3. Design

Despite the complexity and versatility of electronic queuing systems, they must remain convenient for the end user. This improves the user experience and reduces the amount of time it takes for staff to learn new software.

To implement the external design, professional UI designers are connected to the project. They can create an interface completely from scratch, or use patterns that already exist on the market, which helps to significantly speed up the production process.

Stage 4. Frontend development

The frontend acts as an “intermediary” between the user and the server part of the project, while its functionality may differ depending on the technologies used in its development.

When creating a frontend part based on static HTML, CSS and JavaScript technologies, its task will be to receive requests from the client, send them to the server, and then output the result in a convenient format. However, if the development uses reactive technologies Vue.js and React.js, then in addition to the tasks described above, it will be able to partially process data before passing it to the backend. Consequently, this reduces the load on the server and also significantly speeds up the performance and responsiveness of the software.

Stage 5. Backend development

At this stage, the server part of the project is implemented. It is not available to users and is responsible for the logic of the entire functionality of electronic queue systems.

As part of backend development, programmers form the correct code architecture, create and configure databases, perform integrations with third-party services via API or REST API, and also ensure a high level of software stability and security.

Stage 6. Testing

When the technical work on the project is completed, it undergoes mandatory testing. This helps to detect and eliminate possible bugs even before the system is put into operation in the enterprise.

There are several types of software testing:

• integration testing;
• functional testing;
• performance testing;
• acceptance testing.

If an error was found, QA engineers make a bug report and return the project for revision, after which they perform regression or retesting.

Stage 7. Technical support and development

Once the software is deployed to the company’s server and devices, the technical work doesn’t end there. The fact is that for the first time after the start of operation of the system, users may encounter hidden errors that were not discovered at the testing stage and need to be eliminated. Such work is carried out as part of the technical support of the project.

In addition, the first months of working with a project often show what functionality can be improved or additionally created to increase the effectiveness of the product. To do this, developers release separate patches with updates, which are subsequently integrated into an already working software package.

Electronic queuing systems will help automate the work of checkpoints on the territory of your facilities, significantly increase the speed of vehicles passing, and help distribute the flow of cars so as not to create traffic jams and potentially emergency situations in the checkpoint area. In addition, by minimizing human involvement in this process, you can reduce labor costs and get rid of errors caused by the human factor.

AVADA MEDIA has practical experience in creating and deploying electronic queue systems for various business areas. For the development of such projects, we use already formed teams of specialists, with already established communication and interaction, which allows us to guarantee high speed and quality of the software being created.