Bergen Community College chooses Q-Flow to improve Student Experience

Bergen Community College is the largest community college in the state of New Jersey. Since its founding in 1968, Bergen has graduated more than half a million students with associate degrees and professional certificates.

To improve the student experience while reducing operational costs, Bergen Community College sought a modern appointment booking system that could support student services more efficiently. This search led the institution to adopt Q-Flow’s online appointment scheduling solution from ACF Technologies.

The Challenge

Bergen Community College currently serves approximately 13,000 students enrolled in degree programs, along with around 5,800 students participating in continuing and adult education programs. These students are distributed across multiple campus locations, including Paramus, Hackensack, and Lyndhurst.

In 2013, Bergen Community College recognized that improving and streamlining the student experience would be essential to the institution’s continued success. As a result, the college began searching for a solution capable of addressing several operational challenges.

The institution aimed to implement a system that would:

Streamline student services and reduce waiting times
Manage the flow of students and campus visitors more effectively
Improve operational efficiency and staff satisfaction
Create a stress-free on-campus experience for both students and staff

Bergen Community College established a directive to eliminate long queues, optimize service processes, and demonstrate measurable improvements in student services across all departments.

The Solution

Bergen Community College implemented the Q-Flow queue management solution in 2013 to streamline student services and improve the overall student experience.

The initial deployment included self-service kiosks installed in five departments across Bergen’s three campuses. These kiosks allow students to join a virtual queue quickly instead of standing in line to see a staff member. The system also routes students to the appropriate department and staff member, while digital signage displays queue progress and directs students to the correct service desk or location.

Students receive SMS notifications confirming their ticket number and their position in the queue. They are also notified when they are third in line, giving them time to return to the waiting area before being called for service.

This first phase of the Q-Flow deployment helped streamline the student experience and allowed staff to focus more effectively on student services. In 2016, the system was further upgraded to simplify appointment booking and reduce administrative effort for both students and staff.

01 Active Directory (AD)

Synchronization was implemented at Bergen CC to allow for a secure single sign-on experience to Q-Flow by the staff. Plus, up-to-date student data was set to automatically import to the Q-Flow system every hour. This ensures that students’ most current information is available to the service agent and that the student is able to identify themselves at the kiosk with their student card.

02 Self-check-in

Placement of self-check-in kiosks with magnetic card readers, receptionist functions, dynamic queues for seasonal events, digital signage, and audio announcements were also incorporated into Bergen CC’s Q-Flow setup.

Enhancements were made to the system over time, including the addition of a calendar module that allows staff to schedule appointments directly within the platform. Ticket printers were also integrated so reception staff could issue physical tickets to students waiting in line when needed.

In June 2021, Bergen Community College adopted the ACF mobile application, which integrates with the Q-Flow platform to support a hybrid service model. This solution enabled the college to manage both in-person and remote student services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using ACF’s virtual check-in capabilities through the Online Appointment Booking System (OABS), Bergen was able to validate student identities and manage appointments securely.

The mobile platform was designed to be easily configurable, allowing Bergen Community College to adapt quickly to changing service requirements during the pandemic period.

When restrictions eased and students returned to campus, SAML authentication was implemented to strengthen security within Bergen’s OABS environment and ensure secure access for students using the platform.

In December 2022, the online appointment booking system was further enhanced to support the continued demand for hybrid services, which remain popular among both students and staff.

The Results

Today, Bergen Community College’s Q-Flow deployment supports more than 50 agents, managers, and administrators. The implementation includes six ticket printer stations, five standalone self-service kiosks, seven waiting area public announcement systems, and 13 digital signage displays.

The tailored Q-Flow solution has helped Bergen Community College streamline student interactions and provide easier access to essential services through both virtual and in-person engagement channels. The hybrid model introduced during the pandemic continues to reduce unnecessary wait times and staff downtime while improving the overall student service experience.