NCR Corporation
TERMINAL ACCESS AND LOAD MANAGEMENT

Abstract:

Cameras capture time-stamped images of customers, carts, and items possessed by the customers. Customer queues at checkout stations/transaction terminals are monitored for queue lengths, opened terminals, closed terminals, and a total number of items possessed by each customer within each queue. Queue wait times are calculated for each queue and the queue wait times are displayed on monitors adjacent to the queues. Customers approaching the checkout stations are directed to specific queues based on the queue wait times. Closed terminals are opened in advance of a time when a shortest expected wait time for the queues is expected to exceed a threshold wait time. In an embodiment, each queue length is managed based on staff performance metrics associated with staff operating the terminals.