Waiter call system for restaurants
A waiter call system lets a guest ask for service without catching someone's eye. Here is what the options are, how escusi does it without hardware, and what it costs.
What a waiter call system is
It is any way for a guest to signal the staff from the table: a button, a code, a sticker. The good ones tell the waiter which table and what the guest wants, and tell the manager when a request has waited too long.
Restaurants buy one for the same reasons: guests stop waving, the far tables get served like the near ones, and the second round or the bill gets asked for the moment the guest wants it.
The three kinds
Wireless call buttons
A transmitter on every table and a pager or wall display. Simple, but the button only says “table 9”, it runs on batteries, and it costs about $550 for 50 tables before replacements.
QR codes
Free to print, but the guest has to open the camera, scan and wait for a page, and most QR systems are built for ordering, not for calling someone.
NFC stickers
A passive chip on the table. The guest taps the phone on it and a page opens with the buttons. No battery, no hardware, and the request carries the table and the message.
How escusi does it
- 1
Any NFC sticker
Any NTAG213 sticker, about 50 cents. Write it once with the Admin app and stick it on the table.
- 2
No app needed
The tap opens a web page with the buttons. The free escusi app is optional: faster, and it works at every escusi restaurant.
- 3
On the staff's phones
The request arrives as a push on the waiter's own phone: the table, what the guest wants, and a timer.
- 4
Translated
A guest types in their language; the waiter reads it in theirs.
- 5
4-minute reminder, 7-minute alert
If nobody takes the request, the waiter gets a reminder after four minutes and the manager an alert after seven.
- 6
Nothing to break
No transmitters, no receiver, no batteries, no chargers. A damaged sticker costs 50 cents to replace.
What it costs
$4.99 a month for the whole restaurant: unlimited tables, unlimited staff, all three apps. Plus the stickers, about $25 for 50 tables, once. See how that compares to call buttons and QR codes.
Set up in ten minutes
Sign up, add your restaurant and tables, invite your staff with a code, write the stickers with the Admin app, tap to test. The full walkthrough is here.
Common questions
With escusi, $4.99 a month for the whole restaurant plus about 50 cents per table for the sticker. Button systems cost about $550 for 50 tables up front, plus batteries and replacements.
Yes. Every iPhone since the iPhone 7 and nearly every recent Android phone reads NFC stickers with no setup.
No. The tap opens a web page. The free escusi app is optional and faster.
The request stays open with a timer. After four minutes the waiter gets a reminder; after seven the manager gets an alert and can hand it to someone else from the live board.
Yes. Room stickers with front desk, housekeeping and room service buttons. See the hotel page.
Start with one table.