13.3 Characteristics of a Queuing System
In this section we take a look at the three parts of a queuing system: (1) the arrivals or inputs to
the system (sometimes referred to as the calling population), (2) the queue or the waiting line
itself, and (3) the service facility. These three components have certain characteristics that must
be examined before mathematical queuing models can be developed.
Arrival Characteristics
The input source that generates arrivals or customers for the service system has three major
characteristics. It is important to consider the size of the callin