GB2283601A - Queue management systems - Google Patents

Abstract

A queue management system is provided for monitoring and directing individuals waiting in a waiting area for interaction with a plurality of service locations. The system comprises sensing means (20) in or near the waiting area which sense each individual entering or in the waiting area. Each of the service locations has signalling means (44) which can be operated to provide a signal when the service location is free for use by an individual. A recording means (2) records signals from the sensing means (20) and the service locations (44) so that the number of sensed individuals who attend service locations can be determined. A further "no-queue" sensor can be positioned at the head of the queuing position which will recognise when no individuals are present. A "no-queue" signal sent to the central control unit will cause it to override or ignore signals received from the locations. The system allows the monitoring of service location usage and queuing time and allows decisions to be made by the manager of the system about how many service locations need to be provided to provide an efficient service. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to the monitoring and management of people arriving at a location for the purpose of receiving services at a plurality of service positions.

Places such as banks and post offices are generally organised so that there are a plurality of service positions or tills and a waiting area for people to queue in whilst they are waiting to make use of the service tills. The problem with the known arrangement arises when there are a number of tills in use at any one time. People at the head of the queue may not always be aware of when a till becomes free for use.

If more than one till becomes free for use at the same time, then confusion may arise as to which till should be approached by the person at the head of the queue. A delay in noticing which till or tills are free for use and confusion about which till to approach can result in a less efficient service for customers of the tills and possibly longer waiting times.

A variety of queue management systems have been devised to provide means of queue management.

GB 2190222 (Evans) discloses a till indicator system in which till operators have buttons which can be operated to send a signal to a central memory. The stored signals then prompt appropriate audio commands or light up lamps associated with the relevant till positions on a first in first out basis.

GB 2162349 (Adaptacom) concerns a till control system for banks. There is a central indicator positioned so it can be readily seen by the customers waiting to be served. The indicator is driven by a central control unit. There are sensor bars positioned at each till position. When a customer approaches a free till the sensor bar will send a signal to the controller which causes the till free indicator on the indicator board to be extinguished. When the customer leaves the till position then the sensor operates to cause the appropriate till number to be indicated again on the indicator board as being free for use. The sensor may be an infra-red detector. There is also provision for information on the use of the tills to be stored by the central control unit and printed out.

GB 2187584 (Adaptacom) concerns bank tills with position lights. Each till has a button for the till operator to press when the position is free. A signal from the button passes via a central controller to a central indicator and to the relevant till lamp. A buzzer can be provided to give an audible indication that tills are free. There is also means for recording till signals by the central controller and facility to print out details of these to provide a record of transactions.

GB 2178206 (Sorenson) concerns queue regulating systems in which there is a central controller receiving input signals from each till when it is available for use. The signals received from the tills are used to give appropriate audible signals to the people queuing. Local sensing means may be provided at each till to monitor whether or not a customer is present. Lights above each till point may be provided. The central control unit is provided with a memory and this can be fed to a printer to print out details of transactions. A pressure pad sensor may be provided at the head of the queue in order to sense the presence of an individual there waiting to be served.

W087/02972 (NCR) concerns a queue controlling system in which the main queue is sub-divided up into local queues at each till. Directions are given to the people in the main queue by a voice synthesizer. The intention is to avoid the use of a central illuminated display panel. Each till operator is provided with buttons to send signals to a central control unit to indicate that either the till is closed or that the till is available for use by customer. There is also a detector such as a pressure mat at the head of the queue used to detect the presence of an individual.

The inventor has discovered that a disadvantage of the existing queue management systems is that they are unable to provide information about how many people enter the queuing area. The inventor has found that a proportion of people will enter a queuing area but will subsequently leave it perhaps because the waiting time appears to be too long. The existing systems do not have means for collecting this information.

Unless there is information about the number of people queuing and preferably regarding the expected wait time for a person entering the queue, then a customer service operation cannot be tailored properly to customer levels or to accommodate fluctuating numbers of people wanting to use the service.

Another problem identified by the inventor concerns customer service arrangements where some or all of the till operators cannot see the queuing area where people wait for service. The disadvantage of this is that a till operator who is free and who does not receive a customer will attend to some other task whilst the till is indicated as being free for use. A customer may arrive and be directed to that till in the expectation that the till operator is free only to find that the till operator is engaged in some task. This can appear impolite to the customer.

In a first aspect the present invention provides a system for monitoring individuals waiting in a waiting area for interaction with a plurality of service locations comprising sensing means in or near the waiting area which senses each individual entering or in the waiting area and which provides signals representing individuals sensed, and signalling means at each one of the plurality of service locations which can provide a signal when the associated location is free to receive an individual, wherein recording means is provided to record the signals from the sensing means and to record the signals from the service locations so that the number of sensed individuals who attend a service location can be determined. The number of sensed individuals who do not attend a service location may therefore be deduced.

The system preferably further comprises a source of time signals and said recording means records time information provided by said source of time signals. The time information may be recorded in association with signals representing the entry or presence of individuals in the waiting area, and/or the signals from the service locations. Waiting times may therefore be obtained.

The sensing means preferably comprises two or more individual sensors and the or each sensor preferably surveys a discrete portion of the waiting area. In one arrangement, the waiting area is wholly surveyed by a plurality of sensors such that any person in the waiting area will be sensed by one sensor.

Two or more sensors are preferably arranged so that the said waiting area portions are spaced apart from one another to the extent that a said individual cannot be sensed by more than one sensor at a time.

The sensing means may provide a signal for each individual sensed entering or in the waiting area.

Alternatively, the sensing means may sense the individuals entering or in the waiting area and maintain a cumulative total of sensed individuals. The signal provided to the recording means may therefore represent the total of sensed individuals.

The signal or signals are preferably provided at predetermined intervals, the predetermined interval being preferably less than one second. A preferred interval falls in the range 1 millisecond (ms) to 1 second (s), more preferably 10 to 100 ms. Alternatively, the sensing means may provide a signal every time an individual enters or is sensed in the waiting area.

The sensing means may comprise two sensors provided at the entry to the waiting area, the order in which the sensors sense a moving individual indicating the direction of movement of that individual. Thus the sensors may be arranged such that each monitors a respective region along an entry path into the waiting area. By monitoring the signals from the two sensors a count can be made of individuals entering and/or leaving the waiting area. A count of the number of individuals in the waiting area can therefore be maintained.

However, when both sensors of the pair sense stationary individuals at the same time this indicates that a queue has reached the entry to the waiting area. The manager of the system would become aware that more service locations should be made available to reduce the length of the queue of individuals which had formed. Similar pairs of sensors may be placed at one or more locations along the waiting area to provide warning of the queue having extended back to a particular point.

When a larger number of sensors are employed, the number or pattern of sensors sensing an individual at a given time can be used to estimate the length of a queue of individuals formed in the waiting area. The signals from the sensors optionally in association with time information for the respective signals can also be used to determine where in the waiting area movement of individuals is taking place. The movement of individuals to and from the end of the queue can be monitored. The sensors are therefore able to provide realtime information about the length of a queue of individuals in the waiting area at a given moment and the rate at which individuals join and leave the queue.This information can be used in conjunction with information about the average rate at which service locations become free to estimate the time that an individual entering the queue can expect to wait before attending a service location.

The positions of the sensors may extend from the entrance of the waiting area through the waiting area to the part of the waiting area where the head of any queue will reside.

Accordingly, the sensors may therefore include a pair of sensors at the entrance of the waiting area as described above.

The sensing means of the or each sensor may comprise at least one ultra-sound emitter and detector, light beam source and detector, infra-red sensor, pressure sensor or a combination thereof.

The sensing means are preferably positioned above floor level. However, the sensing means may be at floor level when certain types of sensing means are used e.g. pressure mats.

The sensing means may for example comprise a chain of elongate infra-red sensors placed end to end in a line along the queuing area at floor level or above.

The sensing means may have a radio transmitter to send signals by radio frequency transmission and the recording means may have a radio receiver to receive transmissions.

By sending signals by radio transmission the sensing means can be made portable so that it can be moved quickly and easily to a desired position in the waiting area. Other forms of remote data link may be employed such as modulated infra-red transmission.

The system may further comprise means to encourage the formation of a queue of individuals within the waiting area.

The queue encouraging means may be physical barriers or they may be markings on the floor.

The signalling means at the service locations are preferably switches, buttons or keypads which are available for use by the operators at the said locations.

The system may further comprise indicating local means associated with at least some of the service locations which on operation of respective signalling means provide a visual signal to individuals that a service location is free for use.

The system may further comprise main indicating means which provides indications of service locations free for use.

The main indicating means is preferably in the waiting area and is preferably positioned so as to be at the head of any queue of individuals in the waiting area. The main indicating means provides information about which service location is available for use in response to signals from the control means. The indicating means preferably provides audio or visual information or both. A preferred visual display comprises light emitting diode (LED) arrays depicting arrows and numbers. The radio receiver for radio signals sent by the sensing means may be at the same location as the main indicating means, the signals from the sensing means being received by the main indicating means before being passed to the central control unit, preferably by way of a cable.

The system may further comprise a control means receiving and processing signals from the sensing means and the service locations, preferably in association with time signals. The recording means may be part of the control means in which case the signals from the service location signalling means and the sensing means may be received by the control means first before being passed to the recording means. The control means may have means for connection to a micro-computer for communication therewith.

The system may further comprise a printer to print out recorded information. The printer may be separate from or integral with the control means.

The recording of the service location and waiting area entry signals may take place over a series of predetermined time periods. The time periods may be adjusted according to the number of locations, the average length of time of use of a location and the frequency of use of locations. A preferred time segment is 15 minutes. Alternatively, the actual time at which a signal is given may be recorded thereby enabling more detailed information to be obtained about how the service is operating.

In second aspect the present invention provides a direction indicating system for individuals waiting in a waiting area to interact with one of a plurality of locations, comprising signalling means at each location which can be operated to send a signal when a said location is free to receive an individual, control means for receiving said signals and responsive to said received signals by the production of output signals, at least one indicating means activated in response to said output signals to show when a given location is free for use, and sensing means positioned to detect the presence of an individual waiting in said waiting area, the sensing means sending signals to the control means dependent on whether an individual is present, the said signals or their absence directing the control means not to produce said output signals in response to signals received by the control means from the said signalling means at said plurality of locations when no individual is waiting and/or directing said control means to send a return signal to a service location that has signalled to said control means, said return signal indicating that no individual is waiting.

Thus, the control means may suppress unnecessary calls to customers in the waiting area and may also inform the locations that no individuals are present when the said sensing means indicates no individual is present. Operatives at the service locations may then be made aware that they are free for other tasks.

The control means may be the same as the control means referred to in connection with the first aspect of the invention.

Generally, all features described herein in the context of the first aspect of the invention may be employed also in connection with the second aspect thereof.

Thus, the sensing means may be as defined in connection with the first aspect of the invention. The sensing means may have a radio transmitter to send signals by radio frequency transmission and the control means may have a radio receiver to receive transmissions.

The said at least one indicating means are preferably provided associated with each location to provide visual indication of when said locations are free. The indicating means may be activated in response to signals received from associated signalling means and/or from the control means.

The said at least one indicating means may be or include the main indicating means referred to above in connection with the first aspect of the invention.

The signalling means are preferably connected to one another and to the control means. The connection is preferably by way of wires or cables.

The sensing means may be provided at the same location as the main indicating means. When the sensing means comprises a plurality of individual sensors, one or more sensors may be provided at the same location as the main indicating means, the rest being provided in the waiting area.

The system may further comprise recording means to record said signals.

The direction indicating system may include further sensing means for detecting the number of individuals entering the waiting area. The signals from the further sensing means will be sent to the control means to be recorded thereby.

In a third aspect the present invention provides a method of monitoring the use of a plurality of service locations and associated waiting area by individuals comprising: (a) sensing the entry of individuals into or presence of individuals in the waiting area, (b) recording the sensed entries or presences, (c) recording the signals provided by the said plurality of locations when the locations become free-for-use by an individual, (d) comparing the number of individuals recorded as being or having entered the waiting area with the number of location "free-for-use" signals recorded.

All the features described in the context of the first and second aspects of the invention may be employed in the third aspect also.

In a fourth aspect the present invention provides a method of monitoring movement of bodies into and out of a zone, comprising detecting the passage of said bodies through a first sub-zone by the use of a first sensor adapted to produce a first-sensor signal indicating the presence of a body in said sub-zone, detecting the passage of said bodies through a second sub-zone by the use of a second sensor adapted to produce a second-sensor signal indicating the presence of a body in said second sub-zone, said sub-zones being arranged sequentiaily in an access path to said zone to be monitored, identifying pairs of first-sensor and secondsensor signals sequential in time as relating to the passage of a said body through said access path and deriving from the order of their occurrence the direction of movement of said body along said access path.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a queue management system; Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the arrangement of ultra-sonic queue entry sensors; Figure 3 is a schematic representation of the general arrangement of sensors.

Referring to Figure 1, the queue management system (QMS) has a central control unit (CCU). The CCU has a central processor 2 which is programmed to record input signals and then provide predetermined output signals in response to the input signals. The CCU has a time signal generator (not shown), a read only memory (ROM) 4 and a random access memory (RAM) 6. There is power management circuitry 8 and a back-up power supply provided by battery 10. A liquid crystal display (LCD) 12 is provided to indicate the current status of the system to the user and to provide information when setting up the CCU to perform desired functions. Switches 14 are provided to enable configuration of the CCtJ to operate in a desired way. The CCU has inputs and/or outputs to provide interfaces with various components of the QMS.There is an interface 16 for up to 24 till positions. There is an interface 18 for a queue entry sensor (QES) 20, an interface for a no-queue sensor (NQS) (not shown) and an interface 22 for additional sensors 24 e.g. pressure pads, turnstile gates, infra-red sensors which might be needed to report the flow and presence of customers in other areas. There is an interface 26 for a main display 28 and an interface 30 being a standard parallel printer port for a printer (not shown).

The printer is a standard dot matrix printer and the CCU is programmed to provide information to be printed out by the printer in a predetermined format. The CCU sends a line of data to the printer every 5 minutes. The CCU is programmed to print out a summary of the total information at the end of any period of operation. The system therefore provides an automatic monitoring, recording and printing out of the days till transactions and queue entry information. The CCU program can be overridden to force the system to close early or to provide an immediate print out of total information.

The CCU is equipped with sufficient battery backed RAM memory to store one days transactions, should the printer fail or not be connected to the CCU. The CCU has an RS232 interface 32 which allows transfer of the data generated on to a suitable external piece of hardware e.g. a personal computer (PC) 34 or a modem (not shown). A PC with suitable software permits analysis of till usage and waiting time to be performed.

The CCU is equipped with a monitor socket (not shown), which is a "data out" line -designed to support a remote display for a manager to monitor till activity or an average waiting time display.

The CCU contains a speech processor 36 supported by speech data ROMs 38 to provide male or female voices to be selected by till operators and delivered via an amplifier 40 by a speaker 42 in the main display panel 28.

The main display 28 is mounted at eye level or above, facing the head of the queue position. The main display has a green LED display capable of showing arrows to the left or to the right and a till number. The numbers of the display are 100 mm tall. The speaker 42 delivers a voice message into the immediate vicinity of head of queue which is about 2 metres away.

The main display receives signals from the CCU causing it to deliver one customer instruction sequence at a time, giving the customer clear audio/visual prompts to move in a given direction to a selected vacant till position. The main display also contains a radio receiver which receives signals from the QES 20. The NQS is also located in the main display.

Till number service indicators 46 are mounted just slightly above eye level at each one of the till locations.

The indicator shows till number on a green LED display 57mm tall. Each indicator is mounted on a swivel bracket angled towards the head of the queue.

The NQS is an infra-red sensor and provides a means of validating whether or not a customer is present at the head of the queue and waiting to be served. In the event that no customer is present, the no-queue sensor will send a signal to the CCU prompting it to override till operator triggers and cancel any recorded till signal. The NQS is reset when the QES is activated.

The QES is a personnel infra-red detector (PIR) sensor which "counts" individuals as they pass the sensor. The QES is mounted on a post at the point where people pass to approach the head of the queue area. Information is transmitted to the CQ by a 418 MHz radio transmitter (not shown). The radio receiver (not shown) is located in the main display 28 and the signal received passed on to the CCU. The QES is self-contained and powered by batteries.

The queue entry sensor provides a means of measuring waiting time as well as a means of resetting the NQS. The QES is a counting device and the data gathered from it can be validated by comparison with the number of till operator triggers.

Each till has till operator triggers 44 in the form of keypads which allow the following operations by the till operators: (a) The selection of a male or female voice for an individual till position.

(b) The "logging on" of the till as being open for business (c) The sending to the CCU of a signal saying that the till is ready to receive a customer.

(d) The "logging off" of the till to close it.

(e) The sending of a signal to cancel a previous signal.

The till operator trigger can also receive signals sent by the CCU: (i) Informing the operator that a till free message previously sent to the CCU is logged and stacked awaiting display (ii) Informing the operator that till free message is now being delivered and that the next customer is on the way (iii) Informing the operator that there are no customers present at the head of the queue and that the till free message just given is cancelled.

By using a micro-controller device in each hand controller, it is possible to make the connection to the control unit very simple. The connection consists of a single screened data cable, which is multiplexed in such a way as to provide the power to the hand controllers and a bi-directional data path. All of the hand controllers are "daisy-chained" from this single connection.

In Figure 1, 48 denotes a mains power supply unit and 50 denotes a battery level indicator.

A typical sequence of operations performed by a till operator at till number 3 is as follows: (a) Till operator selects from male/female voice to call customers forward.

(b) Till operator logs on to open till. CCU responds by putting till indicator display on constant illumination.

This indicates to the customers that the till is in service.

(c) Till operator presses call forward button.

(d) Main display activated. Voice message says "till number three please". At the same time the main display shows an arrow in the direction of the till 3 and displays the number 3. The till indicator light also flashes to highlight its location.

(e) After a preselected delay till number 3 indicator goes on to constant illumination. The next message sequence is then delivered.

The length of the message sequence is programmed to allow the next message to be delivered immediately after next customer has left the head of queue and is proceeding towards till 3.

A second embodiment of the QMS comprises the QMS of the first embodiment except that the queue entry sensor comprises a pair of ultrasonic sensors side-by-side . Figure 2 shows the general arrangement of an ultrasonic "queue entry" sensor comprising a pair of ultrasonic transducers, each of which comprises an emitter 52, 52' and a detector 54, 54'. The detectors are connected to respective amplifiers and level detectors 56, 56'. The emitters 52, 52' and the amplifiers and level detectors 56, 56' are connected to a microcontroller 58. A connector 60 is provided for testing and set up purposes. A further connector 62 is provided to connect the micro-controller 58 to the QMS CCU. A serial data output 64 is provided and 66 represents a power supply line.

In operation, the ultrasonic sensors emit their detection signals 40 milliseconds apart. The signals sent from the sensors to the CCU via the micro-controller can be monitored and can indicate the presence or absence of individuals in the area surveyed by the sensors. Furthermore, because of the paired arrangement, and the recording of signals by the CCU with respect to time, information can be obtained about the direction of movement of any individuals passing the sensors.

The detection of an individual by the first sensor of the pair followed almost immediately by the detection of an individual by the second sensor of the pair indicates that the individual has travelled past the sensors. The direction of travel is indicated by the order in which the sensors detect the individual. Individuals can be detected entering or leaving the queue and a "queue full" status can be detected with the sensors.

The paired sensors can act as a queue entry sensor in much the same way as the PIR sensor of the first embodiment.

If the paired sensors sense stationary individuals then the end the queue has reached the position of the sensors in the waiting area. The queue may even extend passed the sensors.

The paired sensors operate on a low voltage and are powered by rechargeable batteries. The signals from the sensors are communicated to the CCU by way of a radio communication link.

The sensors can therefore be free standing and moved as desired to a position in the waiting area.

A third embodiment of the QMS is similar to the first embodiment except that the queue entry sensor is replaced by an "in queue sensor" (IQS). The IQS comprises a series of ultrasonic sensors arranged side-by-side along a queuing area.

Each sensor monitors a segment of the queuing area. The segments lie next to one another so that the whole queuing area can be monitored. The segments are spaced apart sufficiently so that the sensors will not interfere with one another. The sensors will emit their ultrasonic signals in response to the presence of an individual in their respective queue segments and these signals are communicated to the CCU which records them with respect to time an analyses them. The segments of the queue which have a stationary individual in can be identified as can segments in which the movement of individuals can be detected. The direction of movement can also be determined. Taken together, the signals can be used to indicate the length of any queue at a given time. The number of entries and exits of individuals from the queue can also be determined.

In all the embodiments described above, an additional feature may be included. A pair of PIR sensors can be positioned at the doorways of the premises which houses the waiting area and service locations. Figure 3 is a schematic representation of the general arrangement of the sensors.

There are two doorways 68, 68' to the premises and the paired PIR sensors 70, 70', 72, 72, are located inside the premises by the doors. People entering the premises through the door will be sensed by the sensors. The sensors are connected to a micro-controller 74 which serves as an interface between the sensors 70, 70', 72, 72' and the QMS CCU 2.

When the QMS is running the sensors operate continuously and provide signals in response to individuals passing through the infra-red beams when entering or leaving the premises.

These signals are communicated to the CCU via the microcontroller. The sensors are in pairs and so the order of signals from the sensors is recorded with respect to time by the CCU and then analysed to provide information about the direction of movement of individuals into and out of the premises. The CCU has a memory of previous signal patterns accepted as representing the movement of individuals in or out of the building. The signals received by the CCU can be compared with the memory patterns in order to eliminate false signals. The inclusion of the PIR sensors allows a determination of the number of people who enter the premises but who do not queue for interaction at a service location.

Claims (29)

1. A system for monitoring individuals waiting in a waiting area for interaction with a plurality of service locations comprising sensing means in or near the waiting area which senses each individual entering or in the waiting area and which provides signals representing individuals sensed, and signalling means at each one of the plurality of service locations which can provide a signal when the associated location is free to receive an individual, wherein recording means is provided to record the signals from the sensing means and to record the signals from the service locations so that the number of sensed individuals who attend a service location can be determined.

2. A system as claimed Claim 1, further comprising a source of time signals, and wherein said recording means records time information provided by said source of time signals.

3. A system as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the sensing means comprises two or more individual sensors.

4. A system as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the or each sensor surveys a discrete portion of the waiting area.

5. A system as claimed in Claim 4, wherein two or more sensors are arranged so that the said waiting area portions are spaced apart from one another to the extent that a said individual cannot be sensed by more than one sensor at a time.

6. A system as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the sensing means provides a signal for each individual sensed entering or in the waiting area.

7. A system as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the signal or signals are provided at predetermined intervals.

8. A system as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the predetermined interval is less than one second.

9. A system as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 8, wherein the sensing means comprises two sensors provided at the entry to the waiting area such that the order in which the sensors sense a moving individual indicates the direction of movement of the individual.

10. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the sensing means comprises at least one ultra-sound emitter and detector, light beam source and detector, infra-red sensor, pressure sensor or a combination thereof.

11. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the sensing means is positioned above floor level.

12. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the sensing means has a radio transmitter to send signals by radio frequency transmission and the recording means has a radio receiver to receive transmissions.

13. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising means to encourage the formation of a queue of individuals within the waiting area.

14. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising local indicating means associated with at least some of the service locations which on operation of respective signalling means provides a visual signal to individuals that a service location is free for use.

15. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising main indicating means which provides a visual and/or audible indication of service locations free for use.

16. A direction indicating system for individuals waiting in a waiting area to interact with one of a plurality of locations, comprising signalling means at each location which can be operated to send a signal when a said location is free to receive an individual, control means for receiving said signals and responsive to said received signals by the production of output signals, at least one indicating means activated in response to said output signals to show when a given location is free for use, and sensing means positioned to detect the presence of an individual waiting in said waiting area, the sensing means sending signals to the control means dependent on whether an individual is present, the said signals or their absence directing the control means not to produce said output signals in response to signals received by the control means from the said signalling means at said plurality of locations when no individual is waiting and/or directing said control means to send a return signal to a service location that has signalled to said control means, said return signal indicating that no individual is waiting.

17. A system as claimed in Claim 16, wherein the control means both suppresses said output signals and also informs the locations that no individuals are present when the said sensing means indicates no individual is present.

18. A system as claimed in Claim 16 or Claim 17, wherein the said indicating means is in the waiting area.

19. A system as claimed in Claim 18, wherein the said indicating means is positioned so as to be at the head of any queue of individuals in the waiting area.

20. A system as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 19, wherein the said indicating means and the said sensing means are at the same position.

21. A system as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 20, wherein the sensing means has a radio transmitter to send signals by radio frequency transmission and the control means has a radio receiver to receive transmissions.

22. A system as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 21, further comprising recording means to record said signals.

23. A system as claimed in Claim 22, further comprising a source of time signals, and wherein said recording means records time information provided by said source of time signals.

24. A system as claimed in Claim 23, further comprising a pair of sensing means at the entry to the waiting area, the order in which the pair of sensing means sense a moving individual indicating the direction of movement of the individual.

25. A system as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 24, wherein the sensing means comprises one or more infra-red sensors, ultrasound emitters and detectors, light beam sources and detectors, pressure sensors or a combination thereof.

26. A system as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 25, further comprising means to encourage the formation of a queue of individuals in the waiting area.

27. A method of monitoring the use of a plurality of service locations and an associated waiting area by individuals comprising: - (a) sensing the entry of individuals into or the presence of individuals in the waiting area, (b) recording the sensed entries or presences, (c) recording the signals provided by the said plurality of locations when the locations become free-for-use by an individual, (d) comparing the number of individuals recorded as being in or having entered the waiting area with the number of location "free-for-use" signals recorded.

28. A method of monitoring movement of bodies into and out of a zone, comprising detecting the passage of said bodies through a first sub-zone by the use of a first sensor adapted to produce a first-sensor signal indicating the presence of a body in said sub-zone, detecting the passage of said bodies through a second sub-zone by the use of a second sensor adapted to produce a second-sensor signal indicating the presence of a body in said second sub-zone, said sub-zones being arranged sequentially in an access path to said zone to be monitored, identifying pairs of first-sensor and secondsensor signals sequential in time as relating to the passage of a said body through said access path and deriving from the order of their occurrence the direction of movement of said body along said access path.

29. A system for monitoring an assembly of individuals or a direction indicating system for individuals substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.