Hotel Door Lock System Upgrades Offer Security, Convenience and Convenience
Door locks may seem like a small detail, but they play an important role in guest experience and security. Upgrading to a system with RFID, magstripe, pin code, and Bluetooth locks offers operational benefits, including streamlined processes and better monitoring.
Electric lock systems with sensors and chip cards are popular with hoteliers because they can be easily reprogrammed. They also offer convenience for guests and are easy to integrate with a smart hotel PMS.
Keyless Entry
The reliability of hotel door locks and mobile key access solutions is critical to the guest experience. They enhance convenience during the check-in process, contribute to energy-saving initiatives and reinforce a commitment to safety and security.
The most popular style of hotel lock system uses smart credentials like a PIN, a chip card or a smartphone app to grant guests access to their rooms and other on-site areas. These locks can be monitored and reprogrammed by hotel staff from a site-wide digital portal, eliminating the need for teams to manually track individual keys.
Another style of hotel lock allows guests to bypass the front desk by using a numerical code to unlock the room. These systems are ideal for hotels with smaller deployments that want to minimize the need for personnel to manage credential management.
Keypads
When a guest arrives at your hotel, the door locks are one of their most important first impressions. They can also be a source of anxiety over security, ease of use and even reliability.
Keypad locks offer a simple and affordable way to upgrade your hotel without having to install new cylinders. These locking systems hotel door lock system require guests to enter a numerical code that is generated with each reservation, and they are easy to manage from the front desk using a PMS.
This style of hotel lock can be programmed to allow guests access during a specific timeframe. However, they are prone to wear and tear, are often misplaced by guests and can be picked, so they’re not as secure as other options.
Unlike mobile keys, which depend on an app and can be difficult for guests to use (whether due to lack of smartphone literacy, unintuitive user experience or even if the phone battery dies), smart locks with keypads offer a reliable form of access that will not need to be replaced by a new device when the guest checks out.
Electronic Keys
Many hospitality businesses use smart locks for hotel rooms and common areas as a secure and effective alternative to magstripe locks. This type of system allows staff to view and adjust permissions remotely via a digital portal or in-app services like remote check-ins, amenity booking and customer support. Larger hotels may also choose to integrate RFID, PIN code and Bluetooth capabilities into their electronic lock system for added security and convenience.
A popular choice of electronic locks for hotels is RFID cards or key fobs that contain digital credentials that match user information with a hotel database to grant access. These hotel door locks allow guests to unlock their doors by simply waving the card in front of a reader, rather than inserting or swiping it. These types of hotel lock systems offer the same high-security benefits as IC cards but provide a more convenient, sleeker design and require less maintenance.
Most people who stay at hotels have received a hotel key card, and they likely know how to work them. However, few are aware that most hotel key cards are not as secure as you might think and are prone to failure or glitches.
RFID Key Cards
In hotels that use RFID key cards, guests can enter rooms and gain access to hotel facilities without a physical key. These cards are the size of a credit card, making them easy to slip into a wallet or purse. They contain more information than magnetic stripe or barcode cards, including the room number allotted to that specific card. Unlike magstripe and pin code hotel door lock system locks, the card itself never activates the lock, instead, it transmits the identification signal to the guest’s smartphone or an encoder station at the front desk that unlocks the door.
Using Bluetooth Low Energy, these types of locks allow guests to unlock doors with their mobile phones, which is ideal for many modern hospitality environments. The phone sends an encrypted “message” to the lock that only allows entry from authorized individuals, such as guests and employees with the appropriate permissions. This type of locking system is more secure than traditional mechanical keys, as it eliminates the possibility of key copies or hacking. In addition, the mobile app can be deactivated when a guest checks out, minimizing security risks.
Smartphone App Control
Many hoteliers are replacing old magstripe locks with systems that offer guests a mobile key, PIN code or RFID card to open their rooms and access on-site amenities. These systems offer more reliability, convenience and security than traditional keys or magnetic cards, as well as allowing staff to monitor, adjust and revoke permissions through a site-wide digital portal. This can also save staff time, as it eliminates the need to constantly check-in guests or reactivate key cards after each use. When used in conjunction with a noise monitoring system like Netatmo, smart locks can even allow hoteliers to keep tabs on guest room activity and respond to any problems quickly and appropriately.
The main challenge facing hospitality business owners today is to find ways to improve efficiencies and create new revenue streams. With guest turnover rates high, hotels must reliably account for and provide access to private rooms as well as public areas, without risking property integrity. With a range of hotel door lock systems available, owners should consider how convenient they want their access to be for both their guests and employees as well as their ability to integrate with existing hotel structures and technology.
