The keys to safeguarding safety
History demonstrates that security and technology have worked in tandem since ancient times. From physical keys to punch cards, magstripe cards and now contactless, you can really see the evolution of security in hotel room access, but what’s coming next after COVID-19?
As far back as 1862 and up until the late 1960’s / early 70’s, metal keys were the only available option for hotels to be used in guest rooms. They would typically have the room number attached to a key ring, enabling resident guests to either leave the key at reception when going out, or pick it up on their return to the hotel. This also enabled staff to easily verify whether the guests are in or out of their rooms.
The problem with physical keys was that they are easily lost and that can turn out to be expensive - because, when a guest loses a key with the room number, it becomes a security risk and the lock mechanism has to be then replaced. Some hotels interchanged door locks as a cost saving exercise. Other measures included securing the metal room keys to a large key ring – so big that guests could not put them into their pockets when leaving the property.
Hardly any one remembers a punch card. I don’t. These cards signaled a big boost for hotel room security when they came out in the 1970’s.Made from metal or even plastic, they had a series of holes in them (like the punched holes in a telex tape - remember those?), that when inserted into the correct lock, opened a room door. Punch cards had a total 32 holes giving a maximum 4.2 billion combinations, so no keys were the same.
Also in the 1970’s, hotels moved away from punch cards and on to Wiegand cards - the first key cards developed for a key card system, named after their inventor John R. Wiegand. Wiegand cards, although very durable, because they did not contain a microchip or other breakable components could not be erased or reprogrammed by magnetic fields. For that reason, it came as no surprise, when in the 1980’s, magstripe cards replaced them.
Utilizing the same technology found in a credit card, magnetic stripe cards are swiped across a magnetic reader to transfer information. It was a highly secure access key card, (until hackers learned to get in).less expensive than a key, did not indicate any room number, was re-useable after deactivating and re-programming and easy to carry (in the pocket or wallet).
In the 2000s, came the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) keycards. In the context of credentials, the term “smart card” typically means High-Frequency RFID cards that use Near-Field Communication (NFC) to transmit data. These cards contain a small chip and open a lock by contact, and apart from having upgraded the room access activity today, can also serve to facilitate contactless payment , entrance to exclusive spaces reserved for guests (such as workout facilities or private lounges ).
The new frontier is where hotels now remotely send an encrypted key directly to guests’ smart phone’s, prior to arrival, allowing them to skip the front desk check-in process and upon arrival, proceed directly to their room. The new technology is a huge boon to not only tired travelers looking to quickly get to their room, but, also frees both guest and receptionist of the need to spend time in the check-in activity.
Research indicates that 2 in 3 travelers prefer the smartphone option to enter the room, and the time is fast approaching where mobile keyless entry will not merely expected…it would be demanded - especially after COVID-19.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier.
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