A position or arrangement in a group, series, or sequence. Also used as a verb: to slot.
In the context of air traffic coordination, a slot is authorization to take-off or land at a specific airport during a specified time period. Slots are used at extremely busy airports to prevent repeated delays caused by too many flights trying to take off and land simultaneously. They are issued by EUROCONTROL as part of its flow management system, and are subject to a variety of conditions including aircraft type, weather, runway capacity, etc.
If slot machines paid out nothing at all, players would stop playing them and casinos would go out of business. Fortunately, most jurisdictions require that slot machines return at least 85 percent of the money that is put into them.
The term slot is also used in the context of computer technology, referring to the location on a motherboard where an expansion card is installed. There are a variety of different types of slots, including ISA slots, PCI slots, AGP slots and memory slots.
Using slot-based scheduling is beneficial for teams that frequently interact with clients or customers on an appointment basis. It helps to organize important deadlines for projects, consultations and presentations by assigning them to specific time periods. It is also an effective way to establish consistency and improve communication throughout a team. For example, health care providers often schedule appointments for patients based on their availability using a slot-based method.