In the midst of our hectic and fast-paced lives, hotels should always be a welcoming and inviting sanctuary. No matter what their reasons are for checking in, people expect a certain level of comfort and convenience from their hotel stay. However, since hotels are essentially a space we share with strangers, security will always be a crucial factor that shouldn’t be overlooked; and sometimes overzealous security in a hotel environment can be disruptive to the experience.
Over the years, various systems of establishing security have gone in and out of style. Some of the more traditional methods require significant resources on the hotel staff’s part and are easy to intercept. Keyless hotel room entry, however, used in conjunction with BLE locks introduce a much more secure and convenient solution, making the overall hotel guest experience more pleasing.
Bluetooth Technology Is Superior To Traditional Hotel Locks. Here’s Why.
HOTEL KEY CARDS ARE EASY TO LOSE
For many hotel guests, traditional key systems aren’t meeting guest expectations. Losing a hotel room key or key card, or commonly leaving it in their room, can easily turn into a nightmare for any weary traveler. The process of acquiring a new key can be embarrassing and sometimes even expensive.
Furthermore, the event of such a loss poses a privacy and theft risk that is increasingly becoming unacceptable for hoteliers to face in 2019.
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Hotel guests utilizing OpenKey’s mobile key technology can unlock their room anytime as long they have their mobile phone on hand, and their secure digital key is still valid, giving hoteliers and guests complete peace of mind.
INCREASED SECURITY AND PRIVACY
Certainly plastic keycards offer a higher degree of security than an old-fashioned hard key, but both kinds of keycards (magstripe and RFID) have their own security challenges. Both are capable of being duplicated with RFID requiring more sophisticated equipment than magstripe cards. Mobile keys offer a more secure alternative than any other type of key due to the fact that each digital key created for the guest via their mobile device is completely encrypted and impossible to replicate
REAL-TIME SYNCHRONIZATION
Maximizing a hotels’ security environment requires keeping a log of guest and staff movement. Hotels with systems in place to do this are far less likely to be targeted by bad actors looking to take advantage of lax security environments. Guest access to certain areas should be restricted to those for which permission has been granted based on loyalty tier or room type. Staff should have access only to those areas directly involved with their tasks at the hotel to limit loss liability.
Digital keys make this type of monitoring much simpler and secure as each key resides on a specific mobile device. OpenKey’s mobile key platform captures every step in the process, from initial guest check-in to guestroom access, common area and exterior door access to create a highly accurate picture of guest activity. Similarly, staff access is tracked specific to their mobile keys and available for security review.
HIGH COST OF KEY CARDS
Plastic keycards can be expensive. Some hotels have managed to have their Magstripe keycards paid for by serving up pizza coupons and the like on them, but even Domino’s won’t foot the bill for replacing RFID keycards that can run upwards of $0.60 each to replace. And guests are terrible about returning their keycards, even when hotels place boxes on every floor to ask for them back. The hotel industry loses millions of dollars a year just making up for lost or damaged keycards. This is where the benefit of digital keys really becomes evident. In addition to the improved security offered by mobile keyless entry, digital keys eliminate the wasted cost of discarded plastic keycards and the negative environmental impact they have in landfills as well. On average, mobile keys often cost half of what a plastic RFID key card does, providing a major benefit for hoteliers.
On average, mobile keys often cost half of what a plastic RFID key card does, providing a major benefit for hoteliers.
IN CONCLUSION
Many hoteliers and guests don’t even think about the hotel key system, but its impact on the overall stay experience is undeniable. Hotel guests will keep coming back to where they feel most comfortable, and guests who check into an OpenKey-enabled hotel using their mobile phone are sure to have one less worry on their mind.
