As sample records move through the survey process, sample management needs to keep track of which records are available for calling, which records are currently in use by the interviewing software, and which records have been called and their call outcomes. It does this using Queues.

Queues are not things that exist in the way that sample records or sample management scripts exist. Instead, they exist because their names are defined in DPM or in the sample management script. When a record is placed in a queue, the Queue field in the sample record is updated with the queue's name, and the queue then consists of all records that have that queue name in the Queue field of the sample table.

The sample management system comes with a set of predefined queue names that cover most of the common queueing requirements. These are defined as customizable site and project properties in DPM. You can make whatever changes you need using DPM Explorer.

Although it is useful to have all queues defined in a property, and it helps sample management to work efficiently, this is not a requirement. If the sample management script refers to a queue that is not defined in one of the predefined queues properties, it is added to the appropriate property automatically and can be referenced in the same way as the predefined queues.