As mobile access continues to grow in importance, hotels are seeing opportunities to further enhance the guest experience and make arrivals even more seamless by enabling smart mobile access to car parks, lifts and guest rooms. By integrating a mobile access platform, a hotel reaches most of its guests through the very tool they are likely to always have with them.
Many tech-savvy consumers now expect self-service solutions, which have been a key driver in the adoption of mobile key technology in the hospitality industry. Depending on how it is used, mobile key technology can save a lot of time during check-in, stay, and check-out. This is particularly interesting for business travelers who appreciate being able to skip the reception desk and go directly to their assigned room, and for leisure guests arriving after a long journey.
On the hotel brand side, mobile key solutions can help increase guest loyalty and direct bookings, and improve efficiency so that receptionists can get back to hosting and providing first-class guest service. It also saves hotels significant costs in programming, tracking, and replacing plastic cards.
We have all experienced the frustration of checking in after a long flight while the receptionist sticks his head in his computer and monotonously asks you for your name and passport details to create your profile and then programs your plastic card. With the right PMS integration, your guests can now check in on their way to the hotel and receive their room keys directly to their mobile phones. Our solution goes a step further thanks to our partnership with Google Wallet, allowing hotel guests to use a digital key stored in Google Wallet to access their room with a tap of their Android smartphone, adding even more convenience for them.
Integrations with web-based PMSs offer the next step in hotel automation and efficiency. They enable instant updates between the PMS and the cloud-based access management platform, eliminating the need for guests to return to the front desk to update their keys if they want to check out late or extend their stay.
Cloud-based access management provides real-time access management and insights that allow the hotel team to grant or revoke access to specific doors based on ‘reservation status’ in the PMS. Access logs are instantly visible in the 4SUITES Manager, showing who entered which door and when. Hotels that want to use fewer staff, reduce their staff, or focus their staff on guest satisfaction can easily set up ‘triggers’ to activate and send mobile keys to their guests’ mobile devices.
Are mobile keys future-proof?
The biggest challenge in replacing hotel locks is the cost and concern about the “future-proofing” of new locks. Hotels want to make sure that the significant investment they make in upgrading their old hardware will still be viable in the next 10 years. This is where the biggest advantage of IoT smart locks comes into play: they can be easily updated remotely over the air with the next technology upgrade, making them future-proof and cost-efficient in the long run.
4SUITES has the latest access control features and security protocols. Our IoT-powered hardware and over-the-air update capability ensure that our customers are always up to date with the latest solutions and requirements. In a few years, the locks you buy today will have completely new features because the access management system is upgradeable and has software that can withstand the next upgrades. The firmware of the cloud-based locks can be updated over the air (OTA) and the cloud software is updated regularly.