Guests stay longer when their phone isn't dying

Why it works for cafés & restaurants

• Longer dwell time, which usually means a second order
• A visible amenity you can list on your own profile and menus
• No power draw worth measuring and no staff training

The problem here

Someone sitting with a dying phone is someone about to ask for the bill. Not because they are finished, but because the phone is how they get home and how they pay for the taxi. Meanwhile the table by the one working socket is occupied all afternoon by a laptop and a single coffee, and the staff are lending out a personal cable that comes back frayed, or does not come back.

Where the station goes

By the till or just inside the door. It has to be somewhere a guest passes without being walked there, because nobody asks a waiter where the charging station is — they either see it or they do not. Put it where people queue and it gets used by everyone waiting; put it in a back corner and it gets used by nobody.

What this takes from you

What it takes from you is a corner of a counter or a wall. There is nothing to buy, nothing to maintain and no contract minimum: the station is ours and so is looking after it. How it is paid for we agree with you — free to your guests, earning for you, or simply handled. For a group or a chain, one conversation covers every branch, and branches do not have to be set up the same way.

Where we have done this

OctiVault stations have run in cafés, beach clubs and restaurants inside Emaar Misr's Marassi, Palm Hills Developments' Hacienda developments, Tatweer Misr's Almaza Bay and G Developments' Seashell.

What managers ask

Will it add much to my electricity bill?

No — it draws about what a phone charger left plugged in all day draws. It is not an appliance and it is not a fridge. There is no separate meter and nothing to reconcile; it runs off a normal socket.

Do my staff have to explain it or hand anything over?

No. The guest scans the station with their own phone and the unit comes out. There is nothing behind the counter, no key, no deposit and no cable to lend. If someone asks a question, the only answer staff need is that it can be returned at any OctiVault station, not just yours.

I have one small site. Is it worth your while?

Often yes — cafés and restaurants are the venue type where a single well-placed station gets used hardest, because the dwell time is long and the decision to stay is made at the table. Whether a site works comes down to foot traffic and how long people sit, not floor area. Tell us about the site and we will say plainly if it does not fit.