Zone4 employs an automated registration queueing system in order to deal with high demand registrations that could render the registration system inoperable. The system automatically detects when traffic to a registration rapidly increases and begins to queue registrants according to the order in which they arrived on the registration page. Once queued, a registrant is provided an exact time when the registration will be opened to them.
While in the queue, refreshing the page or closing and re-opening the page doesn’t change their position in the queue. Once the registrant’s allotted time has occured, the green button changes from a spinner to “Register Now” and allows access into the registration.
The queuing system doesn’t control how many people the registrant adds to their cart and there is no time-limit for completing their checkout. If a registrant doesn’t use their allotted time slot within 24hr, their access in the queue expires.
This system greatly improves the user experience because registrants are given a clear expectation of when they will be allowed to register, and ensures the system is running smoothly for all registrants regardless of the demand load. This is similar to the queuing system routinely seen during covid for vaccine bookings.