While the new trend of hotel brands offering keyless access for guests is capturing the media attention, there is one unplanned challenge happening: integration issues.
According to a recent Hotel News Now article, keyless integration challenges are causing complications for multi-brand, multi-property operators piloting these types of systems. The article discusses how piloting more than one keyless system from more than one brand/vendor may be preferable.
“The dictating of the single solution, if that single solution is a problem, then all of your hotels globally have this lock that’s a problem, and that’s a problem for the central group,” said Robert Cole, Founder and CEO of RockCheetah, in the article. “Do your costs also go up because you’re only using one vendor and there’s not a competitive situation? It’s very complicated.”
In a somewhat tangential story, Hospitality Technology Magazine recently announced the winners of its 2015 Hotel Visionary Awards. The hotel brands that stood out included SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts, which was recognized for its new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project. In addition, both Hilton Worldwide and Fontainebleau Hotel were recognized for their new mobile solutions.
Though one thing was missing from the winners’ list: no keyless implementations were recognized.
In fact, SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts’ new ERP system reinforces that hoteliers should focus on getting the right systems in place – that provide enhanced business benefits – before taking on pilot programs like keyless entry. The new ERP system allows all departments to seamlessly communicate and transfer data to help enhance collaboration and effectiveness.
Piloting keyless entry systems can create great publicity opportunities for hotel brands. However, we would recommend that focusing on the right back-end systems and ironing out any potential integration issues should take priority.