App provides real-time wait estimate for any queue

Waitbot wants to aggregate crowdsourced data to give consumers information about any waiting times for any business.

We’ve already seen how businesses can implement a fair turn-taking policy to help consumers avoid queues with the Qminder app. Now Waitbot wants to aggregate crowdsourced data to give consumers information about any waiting times for any business.

The team behind Waitbot plan to use a number of technologies to glean their data from multiple sources – including social network updates, smartphone GPS positions and reports from its userbase and partner businesses. By developing an algorithm to automatically sort this data, determine how busy each location is and estimate a wait time, the startup hopes the app – expected to launch first in Chicago – will give users an idea of whether it’s worth heading to the bank right now, or if they should choose a different restaurant to go to that evening. Once up and running, Waitbot will also be able to track historical data for each venue and include that in its algorithm. It hopes that companies will want to partner with Waitbot in order to offer transparency to their customers and enable a more even spread of business throughout the day. The video below acts as a trailer for the app:

According to the company, Americans spend around 37 billion hours queuing for services each year, so an app such as this could help them make decisions that will save them time and boost their productivity. Are there other ways to determine queue size for remote locations?

Spotted by: Murray Orange