Access Control Entry offers easy-to-deploy, cloud-based solutions for every building, door and user.
How Does Access Control Entry for Hotels Work?
We will briefly cover the basics of hotel access control systems and show how they can work in practice and a little background around some of the most popular methods used in hotels today.
The exact way access control for hotels works varies from technology to technology and even hotel to hotel, but the core concept is the same. Hotel access control is designed to grant digital access to locked doors, check in and check out easily without any hassle.
Guests are given their access control credentials (their equivalent of a key) which is often in the form of a keycard that can be put into your wallet or purse. We will be covering some of the most popular options within this section.
Hotel Access Control Entry – From Installation to Guests in 5 Steps
Let’s look at how a hotel can go from choosing to install an access control system to the guests being able to get into their rooms with hotel access control.
Step 1 Installation – the access control system is installed within the hotel and links all of the guest doors to the management system. Additional doors, lifts and even the room’s power can be controlled by the access control credential.
Step 2 Training – the staff are trained on how to issue the credentials, use the system and ensure that everyone understands the system from front of house to the cleaning staff to security.
Step 3 Management – the next step is managing the system and keeping it running smoothly, although it is a short learning curve there is always a little adjustment period. The system can be managed from the front of house terminals and the main office.
Step 4 Deployment – once the staff are comfortable with the system the guests can be issued with their room keys in whatever form the system depicts (i.e. key fobs, key cards or even passcodes).
Step 5 Access – the final step is the guests getting unbridled access to their rooms and the areas of the hotel such as the lifts, bar, restaurant and gym/pool if they are offered. Some hotels also utilize vehicle access control in the form of barriers or gates stopping unauthorized access.
Types of Hotel Access Control Entry
We will be focusing on quickly highlighting some of the most popular methods used in people access control for hotels, typically most hotels will use either key fob or proximity cards (or a similar credit card technology) so we will be covering those in the most detail.
Proximity Cards
One of the most popular methods of access control for hotels are proximity cards, often referred to as cards for short these access control cards are a type of contactless entry credential that can digitally unlock a door.
As the name suggests, a card is the size and shape of a credit card and has the ability to be scanned without the user having to place it into a card reader.
Proximity cards have become synonymous with hotels in the last decade or so and have seen rapid growth within other industries too; Growth has been experienced because of the simplicity of use, set-up and management of these cards.
Cards are often paired with a form of identification to make a two in one card that serves as a form of access control credential but also as the staff’s ID. We are seeing this trend more and more with companies of all sizes deploying this method.
There are slight variations on access control card systems that can be deployed at a hotel, but for simplicity we are just focusing on cards as they are one of the most frequently used and reliable.
Key Fob Access Control
People often comment on why this was not the natural evolution for all hotel access control due to its similarity with the traditional metal keys and plastic key fobs given out by hotels in the past.
When it comes to a simple and low-cost form of security, hotels will often lean towards the highly effective and easy to manage key fob access control.
Key fobs are exactly what they say on the tin, they are a small, often round form of access control that allows for the user to tap the centennial against the reader for access to their room within microseconds.
The read range on a key fob is often a few centimeters as with a proximity card, so they are very effective and due to the lack of moving parts and sturdiness of their design, they often last a long time without needing to be replaced.
We have seen a lot of industries pick up this form of access control from apartments to gyms, to schools and everything in between.
Passwords or PINs
Although this is a less commonly used form of access control, it can still be a viable solution for different sized hotels. In fact, a lot of Airbnb and private rentals have started to use this form of access control for their property management.
Hotels of all sizes can and do still deploy this form of access control, albeit less frequently seen. It is still a huge step above the traditional lock and key method and the now near extinct method of metal keys.
Guests have no problem using this kind of system and from a management standpoint it is easy to control. Being able to ‘shut off’ access after X time or before X time is great.
Take for example check out is at 11am, the PIN can be defunct as of 11.01am keeping a tighter control on your hotel guests and their check out times.
Vehicle Access Control
Although we are focusing on people access control in this guide, we would be remiss to exclude a form of access control that affects the external of the hotel and that is parking management.
Having better control over who has access to your hotel’s car park has a whole host of benefits from tighter security to guest vehicles being more secure, to less likelihood of crime or break-ins, as some examples.
Having a way to accurately manage your car park and even collect additional revenue gives a great incentive to implement a hotel parking system within your location.
There are a few different methods of managing the car park, from pay and display, pre-booking and even automatic number plate recognition (which does exactly what it does on the tin).
ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) is one of the most popular forms of vehicle access control and gives a lot of control over who can or cannot access the hotel’s car park.
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