Mobile keyless entry is no longer considered experimental in the industry. Within the largest global hotel brands, keyless door locks have certainly gone mainstream and the adoption continues to rise unilaterally across the hotel marketplace, from both the major brands to the smaller independent hoteliers. By the end of 2020, it is predicted that around 25% of even those hotels with smaller brand portfolios will offer mobile keyless entry.
What is a keyless door lock?
A keyless door lock is the ability for guests to unlock their rooms using a digitally encrypted ‘key’ that resides on a smartphone, tablet or watch via a dedicated hotel app. No need for traditional keys or plastic key cards that are easily misplaced or de-activated.
Key trends for keyless door locks
- Larger hotels are driving adoption for smaller venues
- 66% of travellers say they would prefer to use their smartphone as a room key and mobile keys increase improvement of guest satisfaction by 7% (source: MCD Partners)
- Magstripe locks are the nearing end of useful life
- 46% of hotel guests, say hotels surveyed by Hospitality Tech, consider mobile key is an important on-property feature for them, while only 16% of the hotels in the survey offer mobile key (Source: Hospitality Tech)
- Hotels can save on average $1,000 per month in discarded RFID key cards.
Benefits of integrating room keys with a unified network
Keyless entry systems managed on a unified network offer more convenience. Users can use their own device, saving time and skipping queues. Hotels can also have better security as guests are less likely to misplace their smartphone as opposed to a plastic key card. Lesser considered, keyless entry also provides greater revenue opportunities. Hotels will have the option to offer upsells, upgrades, room service and restaurant and bar bookings via smartphones.
Bringing door locks online also considerably helps with security within the hotel including:
- Easier room changes and late check-out
- Enhanced security for lost cards and unauthorised entry
- Door not closed notification
- Remote online card/lock authorization
Key considerations in selecting a mobile keyless lock system
- Consider why you are doing it – what’s the specific business case?
- Is it a seamless experience for the guest?
- How will you maximise user adoption?
- Consider re-training staff costs as well as system and hardware
- How will it integrate with the hotel’s existing IT infrastructure and network?
- Will it integrate with existing security features such as access permissions and audit trails?
- Have an overall guest app strategy and ensure the mobile key can sit alongside e.g. check-in/ out and room service ordering functions.
- Can the mobile solution extend to other access control situations such as paring elevator access, lockers, spa facilities?
- Is the protocol used easily rolled out and managed?
Are you ready to go keyless?
Whilst many keyless door locks use Bluetooth or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) rather than WiFi, the provisioning of mobile apps will need a robust unified WiFi network to be effective. With a unified network, there will be no need for endless hours of maintenance and an army of IT technicians.
Instead, Vital WiFi provides 24/7 guest and staff support and supervises the network remotely to ensure all is running as it should; providing optimal service across the entire building at all times.
Contact us to simplify your network needs and modernise your digital services.
