.svg)
A Fluro install takes about 30 minutes.
That's the surface answer. The deeper answer is that 30 minutes of install is the visible end of weeks of preparation, and the start of what often becomes a multi-year venue partnership.
Here's what actually happens.
Before the Install Day
By the time the team shows up at the venue, several things have already happened.
The venue partnership has been agreed - station count, placement, timing. The placement has been discussed in detail, often after a site visit. The right station configuration has been selected based on patron volume, available space and venue character.
The hardware has been prepared at our operations base. Stations are pre-configured, signage is printed, power banks are loaded and tested. The SIM activation through Optus IoT has been queued, ready to go live the moment the station is plugged in.
The venue contact has been briefed on what to expect, what staff will need to know, and how to reach support if anything comes up. None of this is rushed. A bad install creates problems that take weeks to fix.
The Install Itself
The day of, the install team arrives with the station, the power banks and the signage. The visit usually happens during a quieter trading window - mid-afternoon at a bar, post-breakfast at a hotel, between services at a restaurant.
The station is positioned according to the placement plan. Power outlet identified, station physically secured if required, signage placed where patrons will see it.
Once the station is plugged in, it takes a few minutes to come online. The remote system recognises the connection, activates the SIM, syncs the station to the backend, and the first power bank rentals become possible.
The team runs a test rental. A staff member or the install team scans the QR code, completes a rental, returns the power bank. The whole loop is verified before the team leaves.
The Staff Briefing
The next 10-15 minutes are spent with venue staff. This part matters more than people expect.
The briefing covers what the station does, how to point patrons to it, what to do if a patron has a question, and what to do if anything goes wrong. The team leaves contact details for our Australian-based support, walks through the most common patron questions, and makes sure at least one staff member feels confident.
Good staff briefings predict good rental volume in the first month. Venues where staff actively point patrons to the station outperform venues where the station is just sitting in the corner.
The First Week After
The install isn't finished when the team leaves the venue. The first week is when the partnership either takes hold or doesn't.
Our team monitors the new station closely. Rental volume, station health, patron interactions, any issues flagged by venue staff. If something needs attention - a placement adjustment, a signage tweak, a quick clarification with the venue manager - it gets handled in the first few days.
By the end of week one, the station has either settled into its rhythm or it hasn't. If it hasn't, we go back. Adjust the placement. Update the signage. Walk through the staff briefing again. Whatever it takes.
The network is built one well-executed install at a time. Cutting corners on any one of them compounds.
The Operations Layer
After the first week, the station enters the regular operations rhythm. Power banks are restocked on a schedule based on rental volume. The station is monitored remotely for any anomalies. Power banks are replaced on a defined lifecycle. If anything needs physical attention, the operations team handles it.
For the venue, the experience after the install is meant to be invisible. They get fewer charging requests at the bar, less cable management and a slightly better patron experience. The work to make that invisible is happening continuously in the background.
What the Team Does That Doesn't Show
Most of the operations work doesn't show up in any patron's experience.
Restocking trips run on schedules built around venue trading patterns, not delivery convenience. We don't restock during peak hours. We don't show up unannounced. Our team treats venue staff the same way good suppliers treat any hospitality business - quiet, helpful, on time.
Maintenance happens before issues become visible. Stations flag anomalies remotely; the team responds before patrons notice anything. Most venue partners go months without ever needing to think about the station, which is exactly what we want.
When something does need attention, the response time matters. Australian-based support, real phone numbers, the same person twice if you need to escalate. Hospitality runs on relationships, and relationships fall apart when support is impersonal.
Why the Install Matters
The install is where the venue partnership starts. Every detail of how it goes - the preparation, the placement, the staff briefing, the first week of monitoring - compounds into either a strong partnership or a wobbly one.
A venue that has a smooth install and a strong first week becomes a long-term partner. A venue that has a chaotic install and a confusing first week often becomes a partner that quietly stops engaging.
We've spent four years refining how installs work. The current version isn't perfect, but it works at scale.
The Human Side
Behind the install team, the operations team, the support team and the engineering team are people who have spent years on this. Many of them have been at Fluro since the early Chapel Street days. They know which placements work for which kinds of crowds, they know which staff briefings need extra attention.
Phone charging looks like a hardware business from the outside. From the inside, it's a hospitality business. The hardware works, but it works because the people behind it understand the hospitality industry that hosts it.
That's what we're really installing when we install a station. Not just the hardware. The whole operation that keeps it running.