Aſter looking into five companies, they narrowed the pool down to two finalists for interviews. “We brought in all the front- desk managers, all directors of security, chief engineers, general managers, and some of the housekeeping staff — those are the people that actually use the key system,” says Karen Faircloth, Hospitality Applica- tion Specialist for Millennium Technology Group (a company owned by Rosen Hotels & Resorts), noting that each department had its own priorities for how the system would work. “Security is much more con- cerned about how secure it is, front desk is concerned about how guests are going to be affected, housekeeping is concerned about housekeepers getting access quickly and engineers are concerned with being able to fix the system.” The Salto Solution Once the votes were in from everyone, Salto Systems was the overwhelming choice. The company has traditionally worked with airports, military bases and universities, but moved into the hospitality sector about eight years ago. The features of the new system, which Rosen Hotels & Resorts began installing in January 2013, are quite sophisticated. Guests still receive a credit card–sized key like before, but this one contains no mag- netic strip (bonus points for the fact that it can’t be deactivated by being too close to a cell phone). Instead, there’s radio-fre- quency identification (RFID) technology inside, so the key just needs to be tapped on the door lock to open it — the front desks include a demonstration of this for those unfamiliar with this type of key. Most staff members carry their key on a key ring, but housekeepers use bracelets so that they don’t have to shiſt what’s in their arms to get out the key ring and open a door. Some members of the senior man- agement team even have the technology inside their watches. WWW.ALOA.ORG “All locks are connected via a wireless system; it can actually tell me what’s going on at every lock within eight seconds of it happening.” “All locks are connected via a wireless system; it can actually tell me what’s going on at every lock within eight seconds of it happening,” Faircloth says. “I can tell when someone got into a door, when someone was declined, when someone put the privacy button on, when a door is ajar, when a door is completely opened and when a door was opened from the inside.” Each key provides access to only the doors that person would need to use, and only at the times they would need to use them. For the occasional times when a staff mem- ber needs to get into an area he normally wouldn’t, some of the higher-up manage- ment team have the ability to open doors via remote access. Meeting planners love it, as it easily gives them access to the areas they need to be in on the right days — they never have to go hunt down the proper keys or find someone to let them into a room. Regulating access for the event planning team and attendees is an asset, too. If a pharmaceutical group were doing a new rollout and didn’t want it released to the public, they could lock down those doors until the presentation was done. The system is helpful in emergencies as well. If, for example, there were a crisis sit- uation and they needed to lock down the building by section, they could lock all the doors in a certain area. If there were a fire, they could unlock all the doors to make it easier for the firefighters to enter rooms. “It’s truly another level of security, not only for our guestroom door locks but for the property as a whole,” Faircloth says. JANUARY 2014 KEYNOTES 29 The list of impressive features contin- ues. The doors can be set to open for an extended time for those who are injured or handicapped. The capability is even there for business travelers to sign up for an ex- pedited check-in that will send them a text message with their room number and a link — click that while standing in front of the door and it will open, no waiting in line at the front desk necessary. Because the Salto Systems design is an enterprise system, as opposed to being handled property-by- property, individuals who need access to doors at any of the seven properties can easily get it. A Safer System Although installing new locks was by no means an inexpensive change to make, Rosen Hotels & Resorts President & COO Harris Rosen didn’t hesitate to do it. “When we discovered the vulnerability of the mag- netic card, we acted quickly and deliber- ately,” he says. “With 6,338 rooms and 7,450 locks, we did a thorough analysis of the new RFID technology and within a relatively short period of time, we made a decision. We then spent what we had to spend, and it was about $4 million to completely retrofit all of our guestroom locks. We did that because we wanted all our guests to be completely safe and secure.” “I must confess that it’s a little surpris- ing that some of our colleagues have not responded quite as quickly as we have,” he adds. “We have wonderful technology, outstanding security, and we think it’s a great combination that others might wish to replicate.” aley Shapley is a freelance riter who covers topics nging from business and avel to health, lifestyle nd retail.
