NATIONAL REPORT—A few years ago, mobile access technology became the trending topic of the hospitality industry. Lock and software providers displayed new products and systems at HITEC, while brands like Starwood and Hilton declared initiatives to offer keyless entry. Since then, more brands and ownership groups have jumped on the trend. But where, exactly, does adoption of this technology stand?
“From a hotelier adoption perspective, the hype is probably hotter than ever in terms of the request to get BLE,” said Joey Yanire, dormakaba’s assistant VP, mobile access, lodging systems, referring to Bluetooth low energy, the wireless personal area network technology that mobile keys rely on. “However, the integration is really the challenge all of the hoteliers have—how they want this implemented into their ecosystem, what’s the guest experience going to be like. It’s slow but it’s being thought out very carefully.”
TJ Person, CEO and founder, OpenKey, broke it down by numbers. “We added more than 15,000 hotel room doors last year and we already have in the pipeline 50,000 new doors for this year,” he said, pointing out that, at the time Hotel Business spoke with him, it wasn’t yet February. “We’ve seen a huge growth, three-to-four-times growth in terms of hotels wanting the technology. We’re getting calls, we do a lot of outreach, but a lot of hotels are still in education mode. Hotels want to learn as much as they can.”
Person noted that, for many, the roadblock seems to be cost rather than interest. “Because the hotels have to upgrade the locks, it’s a major consideration for them. Mid last year, we started doing the lock upgrade for the hotel so they don’t have to pay for that. Once we started doing that, we saw it really increase from the hotel side. From the hotel side, the interest is really, really high and it’s growing. I’m not seeing any slowdown at all,” he said.
Markus Boberg, VP, business development at Assa Abloy Hospitality, said, “From what we’ve seen over the last couple of years, mobile locks and keyless entry have shown steady growth, with more and more hotels installing these functionalities. Demand for and popularity of these technologies have also increased, so hotels are definitely trying to adopt this technology more. We are still waiting to see this technology reach its critical mass of installations, but if the trend continues the way it has this is something that will happen down the line.”
Yanire predicted the industry could get to a ubiquity point in the next 18-24 months. “In the past 24 months, we have really stabilized. This is new technology. We’ve stabilized our environment, in terms of efficiency, optimization, scalability, and of time. We’re very well positioned. As soon as they’re ready, we’re ready to go,” he said.
“The top three brands have done a really good job of creating awareness in the marketplace, which is great,” added Person. “That’s really helping the [smaller]hotel chains that want parity but they don’t want to invest the millions of dollars the big brands have done. They turn to someone like OpenKey that makes it inexpensive and easy, but also the boutiques are really getting interested because we have a white label app solution, so it’s completely their branding, and they can have it look how they want it to.”
Does your hotel offer mobile key? In terms of access, it’s the future, say industry experts. It’s just another step to improving the guest experience.
“The technology for mobile keys has definitely come far since it first burst onto the scene,” added Boberg. “Initially, the focus was on creating tech that was easy to install—whether for a new install or an upgrade to existing system. Now, the technology has evolved to be more universal, meaning it has better capability with being installed and rolled out at any kind of property no matter what they have, or don’t have, in place already.”
And mobile access is a must for new-build hotels. “Lock companies are doing a great job of communicating forward compatibility,” said Person. “It’s a fairly nominal expense in a new-build to say I’m already doing RFID, let’s do Bluetooth. A lot of hotels are just doing that anyway.”
Of course, whether a new technology becomes a standard depends on two things: whether the hotel has it and whether guests use it. “Surprisingly, the area that needs the most work with this technology is getting the end users (the hotel guests) to fully embrace all of the functionalities of it and use it seamlessly,” said Boberg. “In theory, travelers love this kind of technology and we have the studies and statistics to show that they want this incorporated into their hotel stay, but there still seems to be a bit of disconnect with end user adoption. For us, we place a heavy focus on aiding our customers in helping their guests with a more seamless adoption of the technology.”
Person stressed the importance of aiding guests. “On the guest usage side, I continue to see increases every month, especially when the hotels are communicating this up front to guests,” he said. “We have the ability to send out an email to the guest a couple of days ahead of time. If we do a bit of upfront education, we’re seeing numbers up to 50-60% of guests at a hotel, even major, large resorts, using this as a whole at any one time. That’s way up from a year ago today, for sure.”
“I haven’t seen yet a full-scale deployment to all their clients,” added Yanire. “They’re taking a methodical approach to this. Even at the outset, their mindset is always just for a select few guests first.” He pointed to the fact that even the major brands only offer mobile key to loyalty members. “It’s a shift, a transitional shift that has to happen slowly. I really like the phased-in approach.”
And mobile access, all agreed, is here to stay. “It’s part of the whole mobile app experience, a spoke in the wheel,” said Yanire. “In some of the conversations I’ve had with proximity management organizations, they’re looking how to integrate mobile key into proximity management systems to make the guest experience a lot more enhanced than it is. It’s pushing other ideas and trends. With proximity management, you could have a beacon at a door and your mobile phone could recognize the beacon and send the request to open the door, without having to present your phone to the door lock.”
Person agreed. “Guests will just gravitate toward having their key on their phone and not spending as much time at check-in. The experience of the hotel is changing through mobile. We’re all patient because we know it’s just a matter of time,” he said. “That’s what’s most exciting is the promise of mobile key, that opportunity that I can do all of the business stuff before I get to the hotel. It’s not just how do I make my plastic key on my phone but how do I completely change the experience for the guest. That’s going to take a long time, but that’s really exciting.”
“This technology is clearly the future in terms of access, and not just in the hospitality market,” said Boberg. “Advancing security features are quickly making mobile keys one of the most secure ways to lock and unlock, not only doors, but personal belongings. Users can safely and securely unlock their homes, offices, electronic devices and even unlock and start their cars simply by using this mobile technology.” HB
