If you frequent hotels for family vacations, business trips or any other purpose, you know how losing room keys is inevitable. There comes a time when you reach into your pockets only to find out that the key to your hotel room is nowhere to be found.
But, like so many other guests, you don't panic, for you know the solution is as easy as pie. You just need to go to the reception to ask for a replacement. The staff will request some form of personal verification and give you a new key; problem solved.
For you, losing a room key might not be more than a harmless uncertainty. But, for the hotel(s) dealing with this on a regular basis, it is a major inconvenience. Lost keys not only pose a threat to the internal security of a hotel, but their replacements are also expensive. In short, lost keys are a menace to hotels.
However, the hotel industry is now changing and adopting a tech known as mobile keys to solve such issues. From offering seamless room locking and unlocking service to the guests to saving costs spent on procuring physical keys and keycards, mobile keys are playing a significant role in modernizing hotels.
In this blog post, we will be looking into some of the revolutions brought by Mobile Keys to the hotel industry. But before that, let’s understand the need to turn to Mobile Keys.
One of the defining aspects of the hotel industry is its readiness to adopt modern technology into its operations. In the late 70s, hotels had the VingCard - a punch-hole based keycard lock - and today the industry has moved onto mobile keys.
This change towards the hotel room unlocking process and turning to mobile keys is an essential step toward Hotel Industry revolutionization. Let’s take a look and understand some of the key advantages of turning to Mobile Keys.
One of the key benefits of mobile keys is that guests don’t have to come in contact with any hotel staff or any other person to possess the keys. All they need to do is request the hotel for a key, and the hotel will deliver the mobile key to their smartphones.
Do you know? In a survey by METOVO, about 86% of guests nodded in confirmation when asked if they would choose one hotel over another if the hotel provides a complete contactless mobile experience. And why wouldn’t anybody choose a contactless hotel experience in this day and age?
Mobile keys work essentially to replace physical keys and keycards for unlocking doors. However, there are some firms such as MyCONECT, that have taken the concept of digital keys a step further. In addition to locking and unlocking doors securely, the MyCONECT mobile key service also offers,
Mobile Key Sharing: It’s a tiring task when guests have some acquaintance coming to their hotel room and they have to go all the way to the front desk to receive them. But with MyCONECT, guests can easily share their authorized mobile keys with other individuals, along with all the information such as room and floor number.
Elevator Access: Apart from accessing their rooms, guests can also access the hotel elevators using their digital keys.
Mobile keys enhance the hotel experience for guests by providing them with optimal privacy and key security.
A major problem that guests using a physical key or RFID card face is losing their keys or worse, someone stealing them. In case the physical keys get into the wrong hands, someone can easily burgle hotel rooms.
However, this isn’t the case with mobile keys. Even if a guest's smartphone gets stolen by someone, they just need to notify the reception and the digital key will be disabled, keeping their belongings safe in the room.
Mobile keys are also quite reliable against hacking attacks as they come with the latest encryption technologies that ensure online privacy.
Let us share with you a quick fact: The average tolerance period for guests in Spain during check-ins is just 15 minutes. And for guests in the USA, it further goes down to just 5 minutes! Well, that’s all the time you have to complete your guests’ check-in procedures. This is when the advanced self-check-in process through mobile keys helps you offer the least check-in time.
A study by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) found that 41% of guests are more likely to choose a hotel that provides them with a seamless advance check-in facility. Mobile keys allow guests to complete their check-in process using their smartphones and skip the long check-in lines at the front desk, adding a big plus 1 to your customer satisfaction score.
Using traditional physical keys as access to the hotel room might be the cheapest option for a hotel business but it surely isn’t the most cost-effective way. Getting to a more expensive room access option, RFID keys are one good way to access rooms. However, RFID cards are still not as cost-effective as compared to mobile keys.
Even though mobile keys are one of the costliest room access options, hotels are still notably opting for mobile keys for room access. The sole reason behind this is the greater return on investment mobile keys offer relative to RFID or physical keys.
Another way in which mobile keys have an upper hand on RFID and physical keys is the eco-friendly aspect. Mobile keys are simply uploaded on the guest’s smart device, completely banishing the plastic waste issue.
Seen for the first time in 2014, mobile keys were created for the sole reason to improve privacy and convenience for guests. Back then, mobile keys just had one function, unlocking the room. However, over time, the technology has evolved and mobile keys now enable guests to perform various functions such as self-check-in and hotel elevator access.
Mobile keys are now a norm for hotel businesses and this is what guests also expect during their stay. Mobile keys are, thus, an important aspect of the future of digital hospitality and guest satisfaction.
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