Waitwhile is an invaluable tool for many businesses looking to enhance their customer service experience by efficiently managing queues and appointments. However, it’s essential to recognize and prepare for the limitations associated with sudden surges in customer traffic. By implementing scalable infrastructure, proactive communication, and strategic planning, businesses can ensure a smooth and positive experience for all customers, even during peak times.
Limitations of Handling High Traffic Surges
A sudden influx of customers can strain servers, potentially leading to operational challenges, a less than ideal customer experience, and inconsistencies in managing your customer journey. While Waitwhile is designed to handle high volumes, extreme traffic spikes may challenge any system.
High traffic use-cases:
Time-Based Promotions
Product Drops
Celebrity Events
We recommend reviewing Waitwhile recommendations and understanding what could result if these recommendations are not put into practice.
Waitwhile Recommendations
Potential results if high traffic surges occur
Registration Experience An overwhelming number of registrations in a short period of time can result in a Location too Busy error message. While Waitwhile will attempt to submit the guest registration several times before displaying this message to the guest, it could result in frustration and loss of participation.
Operational Efficiency Having an extremely large waitlist could potentially lead to performance deficiencies when it is being managed by a high number of resources or users. For example, two (2) resources/staff try to serve the same customer at the same time.
Strategies to Mitigate High Traffic Surges
Limit Registrations Set a maximum capacity for your virtual queue to prevent system overloads. Inform customers when you reach capacity by closing your registration and provide options for scheduling future visits.
Segment registrations into separate locations if your customers are joining your waitlist/queue for different reasons. Consider creating a separate waitlist for each reason they might be looking to join.
Send Advance Notifications for VIP guests rather than emailing your entire invite list all at once. This could include a phased or time release to keep all of your customers from trying to join at the same time.
Talk to Waitwhile about Performance mode. In this mode, the system reduces its database checks to account for higher throughput. In particular, the system relies less on database transactions, meaning it sacrifices some consistency for less contention between simultaneous requests. Learn more about Performance Mode.
Note: Performance Mode is offered for Enterprise subscriptions plans only.
Specific traffic to avoid
when considering whether to use Waitwhile (with or without Performance Mode), it’s important to identify scenarios where the platform may not be a good fit, either due to limitations in architecture or the tradeoffs involved in enabling high-throughput configurations.
Here’s a breakdown of the types of traffic and events you should generally avoid using Waitwhile for:
1. Simultaneous mass check-ins (thousands in seconds)
Example: A stadium opens gates and thousands of fans try to check in at the exact same moment.
Why it's a problem: Even with Performance Mode, Waitwhile is optimized for steady, high-volume flow, not for sudden, instantaneous bursts of thousands of interactions per second. This can overwhelm system resources and lead to inconsistent queue behavior.
2. Real-time competitive booking (first-come-first-serve races)
Example: Limited spots (e.g., 10 concert meet-and-greet slots) go live at 10:00 AM, and thousands of users race to book the same slot in milliseconds.
Why it's a problem: Waitwhile does not guarantee absolute fairness or strict atomic control at millisecond precision. This means users might perceive inconsistency in availability or order when milliseconds matter.
3. Highly regulated use cases (where consistency is critical)
Example: Healthcare, government services, or legal appointments requiring strict enforcement of limits and auditing.
Why it's a problem: Performance Mode relaxes certain constraints to improve throughput. This could result in momentary violations of limits (e.g., overbooking or duplicate positions), which may not be acceptable in tightly regulated industries.
4. Events deeding real-rime synchronization across multiple systems
Example: Complex setups where queue position, booking confirmation, and inventory availability must be kept 100% in sync with external systems in real time.
Why it's a problem: When latency or inconsistencies are introduced (especially in Performance Mode), Waitwhile may not be able to guarantee real-time data syncing at scale.
Need Help Evaluating Your Event?
If you’re planning an event and are unsure whether Waitwhile is a good fit, feel free to reach out. We’re happy to review your traffic expectations and help determine the right configuration.
Have additional questions or need assistance? Reach out to us via chat or at support@waitwhile.com.