Rather than waste a day waiting in line, a person in Michigan, Texas, Massachusetts and a growing number of other states can check in at the Department of Motor Vehicles remotely via computer or cell phone or through an in-office kiosk. The app, which was created by Pasadena, Calif., tech firm QLess, will estimate the time until your number is called and send you a message when you’re up next. Running late? Send a quick text and you’ll be moved back in the queue.
“We believe time matters, and we’re on a mission to eliminate waiting lines worldwide,” says Alex Bäcker, QLess founder and CEO. “Our technology has liberated more than 20 million people from waits long and short, collectively giving humankind more than 500 years back, while simultaneously giving control back to an organization.”
Already a success for retail stores, healthcare facilities, college campuses and polling places, implementing QLess at DMVs was a logical next step. QLess reports a 75 percent reduction in people who walk away because lines look too long. For probably the first time ever, DMV customers are saying visits are actually “pleasant.”
“My wait was so short that I only lost two of my five lives on Candy Crush,” Darren Little notes of his review of Michigan’s program in The Detroit News. “We shouldn’t expect government to develop the latest and greatest technology,” he adds, “but we should expect them to utilize existing technology to make government work better.”
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