News

March 30, 2026: Field Level Configuration is Live!

Our Efficio solution now has a full set of administrative applications. This means that any organization and its services, users, and events can be set up and ready for instant use, on the fly, in the field. There is no dependency on backend technical setup. From there, service organizations can entirely manage the full lifecycle of all their services, users, and events themselves. This sets the stage for rapid deployment and scaling of the Efficio solution.

March 6, 2026: Paperless Client Check In is Live!

Our Efficio solution is now fully established for the entire client check in and line management process at the weekly Love the City Center food pantry. Client details are now captured electronically, using tablets, providing instant demographic data on the 200+ clients and 1000+ individuals impacted each week.

Reflecting on the experience at Love the City Center, the impact of our Efficio solution has been significant:

• It has replaced manual and paper-based client check in processes with an electronic one. This allows clients to be checked in less than half the time required previously
• It has enabled a dignified and calm queue, replacing a system where hundreds of clients lined up for hours with one where clients are free to use their time as they wish. Now, clients can get estimates of service time and even monitor the line from their mobile phone. Feedback from clients is universally positive.
• It enables other event staff, who can remotely monitor things like the number of clients yet to be served and the estimated event end time.
• It allows the capture of impact information on other previously uncounted clients, like agencies and food-insecure volunteers that receive food.
• It provides electronic data on recipient demographics, providing better transparency generally as well as documentation in support of grants.

We are proud to be helping enable a vital community service, which was featured in a recent PBS Documentry.

February 19, 2026: Volunteer Management Keynote

We presented our Volunteer Management Study findings as a keynote address at the Westside Coalition monthly meeting, sponsored by the Volunteer Collective. The presentation received great interest and positive feedback from approximately 40 in-person and remote attendees.

November 28, 2025: Efficio is Live!

The Efficio application saw its first live pilot use at the Love the City Center food pantry, where it was used to issue line numbers, manage service, and count clients at the time of service. Some client were also asked to pilot the feature where they could monitor the line status and currently served number from their own phones.

The pilot was a success, and Efficio was met with much interest and positive feedback from the food pantry clients and event staff alike. Clients very much appreciated the way in which it had the potential to free them waiting in line in the future. During the event, we captured statistical data and other observations that will inform the next set of Efficio application improvements as well as process improvements on site enabled by Efficio.

October 20, 2025: Queue Management Proof of Concept

We delivered a working prototype web application called Efficio, that is designed to allow any service organization to check in clients, issue line numbers, and manage the line in real time. This application embodies the concepts learned in our research on queue management, and it uses a paradigm similar to the way airline passengers are boarded. Clients can be checked in, validated, and issued a line number in one step. Clients can even use their own device with realtime notifications to know when they will be served, thus freeing them from queueing for hours.

The prototype is built using highly scalable open source technology that is designed to simultaneously support thousands of events simultaneously. While the initial version is focused on clients, the solution is architected to also handle volunteer check in/out processes in the future. We are actively evolving the solution and have identified several sites for field testing.

October 3, 2025: Queue Management Whitepaper

We delivered a whitepaper on queue management practices at social service organizations to the principals of Love The City Center and Food Cycle LA, based on their interest in better managing client check in and lines. This qualitative study included a comparative analysis across organizations and documented the better practices that are in use in the field. It suggested a comprehensive process that could address many line management problems.

The tendency of many social service organizations is to simply expect clients to line up for service. We found that this approach can result in myriad problems and negative ripple effects in service delivery, while fundamentally failing to respect the dignity of clients. These issues will only grow as needs increase and resources become scarce.

As part of this study, we identified aspects of a shared technical solution that could address many of the issues observed.

September 20, 2025: Comparative Volunteering Study

We delivered an exhaustive study of volunteer operations for one of the largest food banks in Los Angeles. The work included qualitative analysis and interviews at the food bank's pantries and comparative analysis of volunteer operations at peer agencies. Findings were delivered in a 25 page report, with analysis and recommendations for the short and long term. The client implemented many of the recommendations made.

Our study found a wide range of approaches to engaging volunteers when looking across organizations. We found that experienced and consistent volunteers are a priceless source of flexible capacity for addressing the inevitable upsets that occur in this space. We also found that volunteers fall into different segments, each with different goals. Despite this, many organizations do not intentionally manage their volunteer pool to consider these factors. We also confirmed the potential value of shared solutions for volunteer operations, from training, to check in/out.

July 31, 2025: Resource Listing Proof of Concept

We completed a technical proof of concept of a shared solution in which any service provider could list and manage their own services, with locations and service schedules. The goal of the work was to determine how a common platform might be built, using leading edge open source tools, to provide robust and rich functionality at low total cost, using industry standard data formats.

The proof of concept was built using Drupal 11, the latest version of a widely adopted free content management system (CMS). Location mapping functionality was provided through the Google Maps API. The data was structured to align to the Open Referral data standard.

This work demonstrated the value of open source CMS for rapidly building robust solutions. However, it was also determined that bringing this particular solution to production at this point of time is hampered by systemic problems that would take significant resources to overcome. The success of any resource listing site depends on critical mass, and achieving that requires buy-in from many organizations and government entities.