Setting up

Lines, services and desks

Lines, services and desks are the three things every visit runs through. This page shows owners and managers how to add, change, pause and remove each one, and how they fit together.

How the three fit together#

Every visit in Line Me Up passes through three things you set up once and adjust as you learn:

• A line is where people wait, in order. Each line has its own token letters (so a ticket reads something like CO-…), its own usual time per person, and its own switch to stop new arrivals. Most places need only one line. Add another when people wait for different things.
• A service is what a customer comes for: a haircut, a consultation, a wash. Services make up the menu customers choose from, and each one sends the customer to a line. Customers pick from your services and never need to know which line is which.
• A desk is a place where customers are served: a chair, a counter, a room, a bay. Staff pick a desk when they start their shift, and the desk calls people from the lines it serves.

Put together: a customer picks a service, which puts them in a line, and a desk that serves that line calls them. A line with nobody waiting is skipped, so a desk serving two lines keeps busy with whichever has people.

The three screens are in the staff app's sidebar under Set up: Desks, Lines and Services. Owners and managers can open them; desk staff cannot. A manager sees only the lines they look after, and the services and desks on those lines.

Add a line#

1. Open Lines in the sidebar.
2. Press New line at the top of the page (or Add your first line if you have none yet). A sheet opens beside the list.
3. Type a Name, such as "Haircuts", "Car wash" or "Consultations".
4. Leave Token prefix empty to have one made from the name, or type your own (see the letters on a line's tokens).
5. Under How do people join?, pick Walk-in, Bookings only or Walk-in + booking.
6. Under Usual time per person, pick the chip closest to how long one person takes: 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, 30 min, 45 min, 60 min, 90 min, 120 min, or — for a booking that takes most of a day, such as a sports ground or a hall — 5 h, 6 h, 8 h, 10 h or 12 h. For anything else, pick Other… and type the minutes in Other time.
7. Fill in the optional fields if you want them (they are explained below).
8. Press Save.

The line appears in the Your lines list straight away, switched on and taking new people. Customers can join it from your page, QR code or link, and you can now give it services and desks.

What the line list shows#

Each row of Your lines tells you, at a glance:

• Line: its token prefix, its name, and how people join it.
• Waiting: how many people are in it right now.
• Avg wait today: how long people have waited on average today, or a dash if nobody has been called yet.
• Taking new people: a switch, with On or Paused written beside it.

The heading above the list sums it up, for example "3 lines, 12 waiting, 1 paused". Press any row to open that line's sheet. On a phone each line is a card, with an Edit button.

Each line also gets a colour of its own, which the staff app uses to tell lines apart on charts and on the Desks list. Line Me Up picks the colour for you, and a line keeps the same colour everywhere; there is nothing to set.

Choose how people join a line#

Customers see a small mark beside each line showing which kind it is. The two kinds that take bookings are included from the Basic plan:

When your plan's limits apply and your plan does not include bookings, only Walk-in is offered, with "Included in Basic and above" under it. A line that already takes bookings keeps its setting.

Set the usual time per person#

Usual time per person is about how long one person takes at the desk, in minutes. It does two jobs: it sets the wait people are told, and it sets the length of booking times on lines that take bookings. Any whole number from 1 to 720 minutes (12 hours) is accepted. A booking still has to fit inside your opening hours for that day: an 8-hour line on a day open 9:00 am to 5:00 pm offers one time, 9:00 am, and a 12-hour line offers none until the day is open for 12 hours.

A service can have a time of its own (see Add a service). When it does, that time is used instead of the line's, so a 90-minute colour and a 15-minute trim on the same line are not averaged together.

Choose the letters on a line's tokens#

Every ticket carries its line's Token prefix, so staff and customers can tell lines apart from the token alone. Setup makes one from the line's name; you can change it here.

1. Open Lines and press the line.
2. In Token prefix, type 1 to 6 letters or numbers. Lowercase letters are turned into capitals.
3. Check the preview beside the box: it shows what the next token will look like.
4. Press Save.

As the hint under the box says, new tokens start with the new prefix. Tokens already given out keep theirs, and today's numbers carry on rather than starting again at 1.

Tell people where to go and what a line is for#

Two optional fields on the line's sheet help customers find their way:

• Description: a short note about the line (up to 280 characters).
• Location: where people should go, for example "Second floor, Room 4" (up to 120 characters). Customers see it on your page beside the line.

A desk has its own Where to go sign too, for the exact room or chair. That is set on Desks (see Add a desk).

Limit how many can wait at once#

Most people waiting at once caps how many people can be in the line before online joining stops. A new line starts at 50.

1. Open Lines and press the line.
2. Type a whole number in Most people waiting at once.
3. Press Save.

Once that many are waiting, customers cannot join from their phones: on your page the line reads Full for today. The check holds even when lots of people try to join in the same moment. Staff at a desk can still add someone who is standing there. The Live Board shows how full each line is with a bar.

Pause a line, and open it again#

Pausing a line stops new arrivals at once. Everyone already waiting will still be seen. It is useful near closing time, or when you are short of hands.

To pause a line:

1. Open Lines.
2. On the line's row, turn off the Taking new people switch. The row now reads Paused.
3. A message confirms it ("Haircuts paused.") with Undo for a few seconds, in case you pressed the wrong one.

To open it again:

1. Turn the Taking new people switch back on.
2. The message reads "Haircuts taking new people again." and the row says On.

While a line is paused, customers see Not taking new customers beside it on your page, and it takes no new bookings. Staff can still call everyone already in it.

You can also pause a line from the Waitlist: each line's column has a Pause line button in its header, and Resume line to undo it. Both do the same thing.

Decide when someone counts as a no-show#

The No-shows group on a line's sheet decides what happens when someone does not come.

• Mark no-shows automatically (on for a new line): Line Me Up gives up on somebody who does not come, so the desk does not have to. Turned off, nobody is marked a no-show and nothing counts down at the desk; the desk marks no-shows itself.
• Called but didn't come — mark as no-show after (10 minutes for a new line, 0 to 120): how long after being called someone is given up on. Make it long enough to walk from the waiting area. With automatic no-shows off, this box is greyed out.
• Booked but didn't arrive — mark as no-show, so many min after their time (lines that take bookings only; 15 for a new line, 0 to 240): later than this, someone with a booking can no longer check in, even with automatic no-shows turned off. Someone who has said they are running late is given that long after the time they gave instead.

Lines that take bookings also have a Bookings group with How early they can arrive (15 minutes for a new line, 0 to 240): earlier than that, someone with a booking cannot check in yet.

Give a line's services a process#

Its services follow picks a process: what happens before or after the service (paying first, a test, coming back to the same desk). Leave it at Nothing — they are served and done for an ordinary visit. A service can have a process of its own, which wins over its line's. Processes are made on the Processes screen; see Processes: visits with several steps.

Remove a line#

1. Open Lines and press the line.
2. At the foot of the sheet, press Remove this line.
3. Read the question: "Remove Haircuts? Nobody can join it any more, and its services stop being offered."
4. Press Remove to go ahead, or Keep it to change your mind.

The line leaves the list and comes off every desk that served it. Its past visits stay in Visits and Insights. Its services stay on the Services screen marked Line removed until you move or remove them.

Line Me Up refuses to remove a line, and says why on the sheet, when:

• People are still in it, waiting, booked or being served. Pause it so nobody new joins, and remove it once they have been seen.
• It is your only line. Add another first, or customers will have nothing to join.
• A process sends people to it. Take it out of that process on Processes first.
• Other teams look after it too (for a manager): only the owner can remove it.

Build your menu of services#

The Services screen is the menu customers choose from. Until you add services, customers join your lines directly by line name. Once you add some, they pick what they came for and the service puts them in the right line.

The menu is a tree up to three levels deep. A group title (for example "Hair") groups services and cannot be picked itself; what is under it ("Cut", "Colour") is what customers choose. A third level can hold variants ("Colour" › "Full head", "Roots").

The list, Your menu, shows every row in menu order, indented by level, with its Line, Duration, Price, Book with other lines and an Offered switch. The heading counts them, for example "12 choices in 3 groups". On a long menu, each top-level group folds away behind Show … services, and the Find a service box finds a service or a group by name.

Add a service#

1. Open Services in the sidebar.
2. Press New service (or Add your first service). If you have no lines yet, the page offers Go to Lines instead: add a line first.
3. Leave Group under at Not in a group for a top-level item, or pick the group it belongs in.
4. Choose its Line: the line a customer joins when they pick this. Inside a group, Same as above follows the group's line, even if that line changes later.
5. Type a Name (up to 60 characters).
6. Under Customers can pick this?, leave Yes selected.
7. Type the Duration (minutes), from 1 to 720, or leave it empty to use the line's usual time.
8. Type a Price (₹) if you want one shown. It is optional and for display only: nothing is charged for it.
9. Leave Offered to customers on if customers should see it now.
10. Press Save.

The service appears in your menu, and customers see it on your page the next time it loads. In the list, a service with no duration of its own reads "Line's usual" with the line's time.

Group services under a heading#

To make a group:

1. Press New service and type the group's name, such as "Hair".
2. Choose the Line its services will join.
3. Under Customers can pick this?, choose No, it's a group title. The duration and price boxes go away: a group title groups what is under it, and customers pick those, not the title.
4. Press Save.

To put services in it:

1. On the group's row, press Add under this. A new service sheet opens, titled "New in Hair", already grouped under it.
2. Fill it in as in Add a service and press Save.
3. To move an existing service into a group, open it and choose the group under Group under.

A service in a group joins the group's line, and the list says From its group. To send one service in a group to a different line, open it and pick another line. That is how a menu can mix lines: "Hair" on the stylists' line, with "Hair wash" under it going to the basins.

Change the order of the menu#

1. Press the service or group you want to move.
2. Press Move up or Move down. It moves one place among the items in the same group (or at the top level). A group moves with everything in it.
3. Press it again until it is where you want it.

Customers see your menu in the same order.

Let customers combine services from different lines#

Book with other lines decides whether a service can be chosen together with services from other lines. On, someone can choose a haircut and a manicure in one go, and gets a place in each line. Off, they can only add more from the same line. It is on for a new service.

1. Open Services and press the service.
2. Tick or untick Book with other lines.
3. Read the line under it: "Can be booked with 2 other lines" says how far it reaches, and "No other line has a service it can be booked with yet" means the other lines' services have it turned off.
4. Press Save.

In the menu list the column reads With other lines or This line only.

Stop offering a service for now#

The Offered switch on each row takes a service off your page without deleting it. People already waiting keep their place, and you can offer it again whenever you like.

1. Open Services.
2. Turn off the Offered switch on the service's row. A message says "Colour not offered to customers." with Undo.
3. Turn it back on to offer it again ("Colour offered to customers.").

Switching a group off hides everything under it; those rows say Its group is not offered. The same switch is on the service's sheet as Offered to customers.

Give a service its own process#

What happens around it on a service's sheet picks the process for that service alone: what happens before and after it. Leave it at What its line does to follow the line's process. Processes that are not finished are listed greyed, with what is missing. See Processes: visits with several steps.

Remove a service#

1. Press the service to open it.
2. Press Remove this service at the foot of the sheet.
3. Read the question. For a group it also says how many items under it go too: "Remove Hair? This removes the 4 items under it too. Customers stop seeing them. Anyone already waiting keeps their place."
4. Press Remove, or Keep it.

Add a desk#

Desks come in two kinds. A shared desk can be picked by anyone at the start of their shift. It suits counters and chairs that different people use on different days. Their own desk belongs to one person, who works at it every shift; nobody else can pick it. Desks you add here are shared. To give somebody a desk of their own, add them on Team (see Your team, roles and leave).

1. Open Desks in the sidebar.
2. Press New desk (or Add your first desk).
3. Type a Name, such as "Counter 2" or "Chair 3".
4. Optionally fill in Location, where it is for your staff ("Ground floor, by the door").
5. Optionally fill in Where to go, the sign customers look for, like "Room 12", "Bay 3" or "Chair 2".
6. Under Which lines does it serve?, tick every line this desk calls from.
7. Press Save.

The desk appears in Your desks, reading Nobody on it until someone picks it at the start of a shift.

Choose which lines a desk serves#

A desk on shift that takes from a line is what keeps that line moving. Open a desk and tick or untick lines under Which lines does it serve?, then press Save. A line no desk serves will gather people with nobody to call them; the Live Board raises an alarm when that happens while people are waiting.

Share a desk's calls between its lines#

When a desk serves two lines or more, its sheet shows a calls from section with a slider per line, in steps of 5%. 70 / 30 means about 7 of every 10 calls come from the first line when both have people waiting. A line with nobody waiting is skipped, so the other gets every call.

1. Open the desk on Desks.
2. Move the sliders under "Counter 2 calls from:" until the split is what you want.
3. Press Save.

When you change which lines a desk serves, the split starts even again ("The lines changed, so calls start evenly."). This is the desk's usual mix. During a rush, a manager can change it for the moment from the Live Board's Calls from without opening Desks.

Limit a desk to certain services#

A specialist chair or bay should only be sent people it can serve. Takes only these services lists your services, grouped by line.

1. Open the desk on Desks.
2. Under Takes only these services, tick the services this desk does. "None ticked: everything on its lines."
3. Press Save.

Call Next at that desk now hands it only people who came for those services. Services on lines the desk does not serve are greyed with "Not on this desk's lines": tick the line first.

Take a desk out of use#

Turn a desk off while it is out of use (being repainted, say). Nobody can start a shift there and nobody is sent there. It stays on Desks so you can turn it back on.

1. Open Desks.
2. Turn off the Can be used switch on the desk's row. A message says "Counter 2 switched off." with Undo. The desk now reads Not in use.
3. Turn it back on when the desk is ready ("Counter 2 can be used.").

A desk can be switched off only while nobody is on it, so the switch is greyed while someone is working there. Ask them to end their shift first.

Turn someone's own desk into a shared one#

An own desk's sheet shows "Worked by" and the person's name, and a Kind of desk choice. Choose Shared desk and press Save: that person will pick a desk at the start of each shift instead. This works only while they are off shift. Going the other way, giving a desk to one person, is done on Team.

Remove a desk#

1. Open the desk on Desks.
2. Press Remove this desk.
3. Read the question: "Remove Counter 2? It stops appearing anywhere. What was served there stays in Insights."
4. Press Remove, or Keep it.

Only shared desks are removed here. Someone's own desk leaves with its person: remove them on Team. A desk someone is working at cannot be removed: "End their shift first".

See what every desk is doing#

The top of the Desks screen sums up the floor: Desks in use (with the desks nobody is on and those switched off), Serving and calling now, and On a break with each desk's reason. Below it, each row of Your desks shows:

• Desk: its name, and who is on it or whose desk it is.
• Location: where it is, with "Customers see …" for its Where to go sign.
• Calls from: its lines and each line's share of its calls.
• Right now: Free (with how long), Called, Serving, On a break (with the reason and when they expect to be back, or Overdue past it), Nobody on it, or Not in use.
• Can be used: the on/off switch.

On a big floor, type in the search box ("Desk, place or who is on it") or filter by Calls from (a line) or Right now (a state).

Managers and the lines they look after#

A manager can do everything on this page for their own lines. The screens show them only those lines, the services on them and the desks that serve them. Where something is shared with lines they do not look after, the owner decides:

• A desk that also serves other lines opens read-only: "This desk also serves lines you don't look after, so only the owner can change it."
• A line other teams also look after can only be removed by the owner.
• A group that also holds services on other lines is shown, so they can see where their own services sit, but only someone who looks after all of it can change it.

What your plan includes#

Each plan includes a number of lines and desks. These are the numbers from Pricing:

When your plan's limits apply, the Lines and Desks screens show a count beside the New line or New desk button, such as "3 of 3 lines on Free". Once you reach it, the button greys out. Nothing you already have is taken away. Line types that take bookings and Book with other lines are included from Basic, and processes from Standard. See Plans, visits and billing.

When something does not look right#

• People are waiting and nobody calls them. Check on Desks that a desk with someone on it serves that line, is not switched off, and is not limited to services those people did not choose.
• Customers say a line is full. It has reached Most people waiting at once. Raise the number, or add people at the desk.
• Customers cannot see a service. Check its Offered switch, and whether its group is switched off (Its group is not offered), or its line was removed (Line removed).
• A line will not remove. Read the sentence on the sheet; it says what to do first.
• A switch springs back. The change did not go through, and the row says so ("That did not go through — the line is still open."). Check your connection and try again.