Journal of Basic Physical Research ISSN; 2141-8403 PRINTS, 2141-8411 ONLINE Vol. 2, No. 1, pp 50-56, June, 2011 Available online at www.jbasicphyres-unizik.org *Correspondence Author. Email:onyesolu_mo6@yahoo.com 50 USING MULTI SERVER QUEUEING MODEL TO IMPROVE SERVICE DELIVERY *M.O. Onyesolu, I. E. Onyenwe and D. Edebeatu Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Physical Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (Accepted: 5th December, 2010) ABSTRACT The endless customers waiting for service delivery is a phenomenon that bothers both the management and the customers alike. This study attempted to uncover the impact of increase in service rate or increase in the number of available server(s) on the performance of the system. The study reveals that though an increase in service rate improve service delivery, an increase in available number of servers improved service delivery better and reduced waiting times. KEY WORDS: Queue, model, steady-state, performance, equilibrium. INTRODUCTION Waiting line is what we encounter everywhere we go, while shopping, checking into hotels, at hospitals and clinics, traffic lights, in banks’ tellers, fast- food joints, barber shops, bus stands, etc [1 and 2]. In a traditional non-queuing environment, customers can be left confused as to what line to stand in, what counter to go to when called and distracted by noisy crowded environment [2]. Therefore, we encounter queues in our everyday lives. In situations where facilities are limited and cannot satisfy the demand made upon them, bottlenecks occur which manifest as queue [1]. When customers wait in queue, there is the danger that waiting time will become excessive leading to the loss of some customers to competitors [3]. Queue results whenever people or items from different destinations or sources gather or converge at a point (or facility) in order to obtain related services. The rate at which people or items gather and the capacity of the service facility or facilities determine the size of the queue [4]. Studies related to queues have been carried out by researchers such [1, 5, 6 and 7]. Queueing theory has applications in diverse fields, including telecommunications, traffic engineering, computing and the design of factories, shops, offices and hospitals [8]. In queueing theory, a queueing model is used to approximate a real queueing situation or system so that the queueing behaviour can be analyzed mathematically. Queueing models allow a number of useful steady state performance measures to be determined. These performance measures include the average number on the queue or the system, the average time spent in the queue or the system, the statistical distribution of those numbers or times, the probability the queue is full, or empty, and the probability of finding the system in a particular state. These performance measures are important as issues or problems caused by queueing situations are often related to customer dissatisfaction with service. Sometimes it may be the root cause of economic losses in businesses. Analysis of the relevant queueing models allows the cause of queueing issues to be identified and the impact of proposed changes to be assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Waiting line at the Senior Staff Canteen, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, South Eastern Nigeria was studied over a period of 6 months. Senior Staff Canteen sells varieties of foods (rice, garri, semovita, with egusi soup, vegetable soup, and bitter leaf soup), and soft drinks, different brands of beer, as well as a limited number of specialty items (such as ukwa) on specified days. This canteen operated a single channel waiting line for a period of four months and a multi channel waiting line for another period of