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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.
To understand electronic door locks, first, we need to understand contactless check-in. Contactless — or digital — check-in allows guests to check-in without physical contact with hotel staff or shared touchpoints.
This technology has gained popularity due to its convenience, efficiency, and safety considerations. Guests can initiate check-in before their arrival through your hotel’s website, mobile app, or through email communication. Canary Contactless Check-in lets you send guests a secure link so they can provide information like email, phone number, address, and more.
Contactless check-in allows guests to enter their credit card information through a secure, PCI Level 1 compliant solution like Canary Digital Authorizations. Once guests check-in, they can skip the front desk entirely with mobile keys. For hotels without smart locks, guests can grab a physical key in the lobby.
There are numerous benefits of implementing contactless check-in, including:
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.
Electronic door locks benefit hotels and guests alike, creating a better guest experience while improving operational efficiency.
Implementing electronic door locks and contactless check-in requires some careful planning and execution. This will help you hit your goals and justify the expense.
These might include enhancing the guest experience or streamlining operational efficiency, for example. Then, determine the requirements for your system, including compatibility with existing infrastructure, integration with other hotel systems, and scalability.
Conduct thorough research and select a contactless check-in and electronic door lock solution that suits your hotel’s needs. Evaluate these solutions based on functionality, security features, reliability, ease of use, and compatibility with your hotel’s existing technology.
Determine if any hardware upgrades, such as door lock replacements or network enhancements, are necessary. Consider factors such as power supply, network connectivity, and physical installation requirements. Work closely with the vendor to plan and execute the infrastructure upgrades effectively.
Conduct a pilot phase before implementing electronic door locks across your entire property. Use a small selection of rooms to test the technology’s functionality and identify any potential issues. Gather feedback from staff and guests during this phase to fine-tune before the big rollout.
Work closely with the vendor and your IT team to establish proper communication protocols, data synchronization, and user interfaces. Test the integration thoroughly to ensure all systems work together smoothly.
Comprehensive front office training on contactless check-in and electronic door locks is vital. It cannot be overlooked. Make sure your staff understand how to assist guests with the check-in process and troubleshooting. Housekeeping and maintenance staff should also receive training on any specific tasks related to electronic door locks, such as battery replacement or lock maintenance.
Before arrival, provide clear instructions on how to download and use the hotel's mobile app for check-in and mobile key activation. Offer support channels, such as dedicated helplines or on-site assistance, to address any questions or issues guests may encounter.
Once your electronic door lock system has been implemented, monitor its performance regularly, gather guest and staff feedback, and make relevant updates or changes.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Canary Technologies works with multiple electronic door lock vendors, including:
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:
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
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.
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
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.
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