Giving guests a smooth check-in experience is key to a great guest experience. No one wants to wait in queues and fill in paperwork after a long journey.
Providing contactless check-in technology and allowing guests to open their doors with their smartphones saves time, reduces costs, and helps you earn more revenue.
Read on to discover the benefits of contactless check-in and electronic door locks, how to implement the technology successfully, and future trends and innovations.
Electronic Door Locks Enhance Security and Convenience
Hotel electronic door locks provide secure access control to guest rooms. This technology is quickly replacing keycards and mechanical locks traditional due to their many advantages.
Electronic door locks utilize Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to communicate with guests' smartphones.
Upon check-in, guests receive a digital key on their smartphones, typically through the hotel's app or via a secure link sent via email or text message. The digital key is encrypted and stored on the phone, ensuring secure transmission and storage.
To use the mobile key, guests approach their room door and activate the lock using their smartphone. The lock and phone communicate via BLE or NFC, verifying the digital key's authenticity and granting access if authorized.
Benefits of Electronic Door Locks
Electronic door locks benefit hotels and guests alike, creating a better guest experience while improving operational efficiency.
Benefits for Guests
- Convenience: Mobile key door locks eliminate the need to carry physical keycards or keys. Most guests always have their phones with them. This makes it convenient to access their rooms without searching for or potentially misplacing keys.
- Contactless experience: Mobile key technology promotes a contactless guest experience. It reduces the need for physical touchpoints, such as interacting with front desk staff or handling keycards.
- Seamless check-in and checkout: Mobile key door locks let guests complete the check-in process remotely, bypassing the front desk altogether. During checkout, guests can return the digital key through the app, simplifying the departure process.
Benefits for Hotels
- Operational efficiency: Mobile key door locks streamline operations by reducing the workload at the front desk. They reduce the need for keycard distribution, reprogramming, and replacement. Instead, hotel staff can focus their attention on providing customer service and other tasks.
- Enhanced security: Mobile key technology offers robust security features. Digital keys are encrypted, reducing the risk of unauthorized access or key duplication.
- Guest experience: Offering mobile key access can enhance the guest experience and provide a competitive advantage for hotels. Tech-savvy travelers who value convenience and innovative solutions will especially appreciate this technology.
- Integration with hotel systems: Mobile key door locks can integrate with other hotel systems, such as property management systems (PMS), to streamline operations. This integration allows for centralized management of digital keys, access control, and real-time monitoring of room occupancy.
Challenges and Solutions of Electronic Door Locks
While digital door locks that allow guests to use their phones offer numerous benefits, their implementation may come with some challenges. Here are some potential challenges to consider:
Technological Dependence
Mobile key door locks rely on the integration of various technologies, including mobile apps, Bluetooth or NFC connectivity, and back-end systems. Ensuring seamless compatibility and functionality requires ongoing testing, updates, and technical support to address potential issues and ensure a smooth user experience.
Stable Connectivity
Reliable and stable connectivity is crucial for the proper functioning of mobile key door locks. Hotels must have robust and reliable network infrastructure in place to ensure consistent connectivity.
User Adoption
Though a good majority of the population is comfortable using smartphones, not everyone—especially older or less tech-savvy guests—may struggle to use electronic door locks. Give guests the option to use more traditional methods to unlock their doors like keycards.
Education
For those who are tech-savvy, education may still be an important part of user adoption. Provide clear instructions and on-site assistance to make sure guests are comfortable using the technology.
Device Compatibility and Battery Life
Not all smartphones may be compatible with the mobile key technology used by the hotel. Conduct thorough testing and ensure that your electronic door lock technology works across all popular smartphone models. Electronic door locks could also drain your guests’ phone battery life. Offer charging stations throughout the hotel to mitigate this issue.
Guest Support and Troubleshooting
As with any technology, technical issues or user errors may occur. Provide adequate support systems, like on-site assistance or dedicated customer support solve problems promptly and minimize guest frustration.
Hotel Electronic Door Lock Vendors
Canary Technologies works with multiple electronic door lock vendors, including:
Future Trends and Innovations
Electronic door locks are just the start of hotel trends and innovation. With the rise in AI and other technologies, be prepared for fast developments in the hotel technology space. Here are a few emerging hotel trends and innovations:
Digital Cashless Tipping
Guests want to show gratitude to hotel employees, but fewer carry cash than ever and this means fewer tips. In response, digital tipping has become a way for hotels to gain tips even when guests check-in contactlessly.
Place QR codes strategically around your property, like guest rooms or the lobby. These codes act as reminders to guests that tips are appreciated and enable them to pull up a payment screen on their mobile devices quickly and easily.
Canary’s Digital Tipping solution, for example, can increase tips to employees by up to 5X and take-home pay by up to $2-4 per hour.
Download the 2023 State of Tipping in Hotels, presented by Canary Technologies
Biometrics
Biometric technologies, such as Facial recognition technology, fingerprint scanners, or voice recognition, have the potential to revolutionize hotel check-in processes by offering a seamless and secure experience for guests.
But despite its promise, the widespread adoption of facial recognition technology may depend on various factors, including cost, technological advancements, regulatory frameworks, and guest acceptance.
Carefully navigate these factors while ensuring a balance between convenience, security, and privacy to shape the future of facial recognition in hotel check-in.
Upsell Technology
Guest management systems make upselling a whole lot easier for hotels. This technology is becoming more popular by the day due to its ability to generate thousands of dollars of new revenue per week.
“[Digital upselling] is incredible,” says the general manager of Coeur D'Alene Resort. “We have more than $1,000 in room service upsells this week alone. It's all extra revenue that we wouldn't have gotten without Canary.”
Dynamic upselling allows you to intelligently offer upsells to guests throughout their journey. This gives your guests the ability to customize their stay.
Demo Canary Upsells today and generate more revenue for your property
Conclusion
Contactless check-in and electronic door locks are the future of the hotel industry, providing guests with a better experience and hotels with improved operations. For successful implementation, take the time to understand how the technology can help your hotel.
Next up, find out about the latest hospitality software innovations.