The Evolving Electronic Lock

Hotel technology is often divided into three categories; technology for the guest, technology used internally, and technology that bolsters hotel relationships with the high tech world. Perhaps more than any other hotel industry supplier, electronic door lock manufacturers have demonstrated a commitment to each of these areas of product development. To get more news about best smart locks wifi, you can visit securamsys.com official website.

The evolution of the electronic door locking industry began with guest security, and expanded to increase operational efficiencies available to property management through access control and system integration. The industry now stands poised to enter the new millenium as a major technology provider, positioning hotels as key players in an era of increased electronic commerce.

Few inventions have had such widespread and practical appeal to the hospitality industry. Since the introduction of the recodable electronic door lock in the late 1970's, hotel security has been virtually transformed. The focus at the time of inception was increased guest security, but the benefit to the property was quickly realized. Hotel security experts, along with media pundits, the courts, and the insurance industry all agree - keycard locks, which can be easily changed so that every guest gets a new key, are the best way to boost security. In fact, there is speculation that by the end of this decade, hotels that do not feature electronic locking mechanisms in guestrooms will be unable to obtain insurance. Even the simplest of key card locks have been found to reduce break ins by up to 80%, reminding us that effective guestroom security is an essential part of the hospitality package.

Employee access control was one of the first system enhancements to increase the level of internal technology. In order for a property to be maintained efficiently, hotel personnel require their own means of entry to rooms in which they must perform daily routines or tasks. In the past, distribution of conventional keys to housekeepers, room service attendants, and maintenance personnel compromised guest belongings and increased the liability of the hotel. In some instances of theft, the victim was often the hotel (where even the negligent customer is king), and claims went unchallenged. The "burden of proof" is welcome by a hotel equipped with modern electronic locks, for the actual lock serves as a log, monitoring and recording up to 1,000 entries (about 100 days worth). Many reputations have been restored and many a thankful employee has been cleared of suspicion due to the success of these products. Employee key cards can be coded to allow access only to their assigned units of responsibility and only during the hours of their shift. Knowledge of these system capabilities may also serve as a deterrent to those less ethical.

At ILCO UNICAN, true on-line security systems are giving hotel operators even greater peace of mind. Tom Caudill, VP of Sales and Marketing Worldwide for Lodging Products, describes the additional safety features of a monitoring system providing the status of every lock in the hotel. Information conveyed by this system can be used to determine the occupancy of a room, which can be communicated with energy management systems. Doors left ajar transmit an alarm, and a courtesy call ensues. Master keys can be disengaged instantly from the main console, without having to delete the sequence from each lock, (a tedious task deplored by the Director of Security).
Smart card" is a generic term for a card the size and thickness of a credit or debit card embedded with a microprocessor chip. The chip itself has intelligence and computational power similar to that of early personal computers. These powerful processing capabilities make smart cards much more secure than other types of cards presently in use. They can handle encryption techniques that protect the information stored on the cards.

Think of a smart card as a very small personal computer belonging only to you. Because it's small enough to fit in your wallet, it's portable. And like a personal computer, it can be programmed to serve many different purposes and do many different things. Smart cards are currently being used to secure financial transactions, as stored value cards, for insurance identification, to store medical information and to personalize cellular phone communication from anywhere in the world. The beauty of the smart card is that it can offer all of these applications with considerable information storage capacity and security.

Phil Wilder, Director of Marketing for San Diego-based Computerized Security Systems, believes that the value added by smart card technology offers the hotel operator "a revolutionary new way of marketing and merchandising to the guest". In a world moving towards one-to-one marketing, smart cards hold the capability to customize and better serve individual needs. The smart card can carry information that is only yours, such as travel preferences and loyalty program account information. Programs and incentives are easily tailored to guests based on their own usage patterns of hotel services. Smart cards can also provide more privacy and security in accessing payments and information services, because the microprocessor chip that holds the information cannot be easily duplicated.