Access control: the key to better hospitality

Over the past two decades, SALTO Systems has grown into a leading market player in innovative, smart and secure access control solutions. One of the sectors where the company is market leader is hospitality. Both for small and large hotels, SALTO Systems offers the right hardware and software solutions. Eric Beling, Marketing & Business Development Manager, expertly outlines the many possibilities for hospitality customers.

In the hotel sector, digital access control has become an indispensable tool for efficiently managing security and access to hotel rooms and facilities. "Both hotel operators and guests are increasingly discovering the benefits of smart access control solutions," confirms Eric Beling. "The use of physical keys in hotels is giving way to intelligent systems, which successfully combine security, reliability and simplicity. They thus improve the guest experience, reduce operational costs and increase hotel security. In fact, smaller hotels and B&Bs are also making the move to our digital access control systems."

From B&B to five-star hotel

The use of a smart keyless security solution blends seamlessly into the design and style of any hotel, Eric points out. "SALTO Systems offers sophisticated and aesthetically designed solutions that fit into any hotel, from back-of-house organisation to hotel room management. From five-star hotel to cruise ship, and from budget hotel to B&B: the benefits of digital access control are obvious."

"One of the main benefits is greater ease of use and improved hospitality, as guests and staff can check in and out more easily," Eric explains. "As a hotel operator or employee, you can remotely assign and revoke access rights, which gives additional flexibility in managing guest access. For example, when a hotel guest checks out, you can immediately revoke access to his or her room without replacing the physical keys. This saves you time and costs and increases security by preventing unauthorised access."

Trendy design

Another asset is the unique, simple designs - with options that are customisable - that subtly complement the style of hotel accommodation. Eric: "More and more hotels are doing away with traditional keys, which are clunky and easily lost. With our digital access control systems, guests can enter their hotel rooms using mobile applications or electronic key cards. We offer hotels robust and elegant applications, with the highest material quality and the latest technologies, such as extra security and the use of bluetooth."

Maximum safety

A strength of smart access control is its focus on security for both hotel guests and employees. "With advanced encryption technology and secure access protocols, hotel operators can better control and secure access to rooms and sensitive areas," Eric outlines. "Moreover, you receive real-time notifications when a door is opened unauthorised, allowing you to respond immediately to potential security issues. Moreover, this thorough automation and process optimisation saves you countless staff hours per week."

GDPR compliance remains an important issue. Eric explains, "If a company or organisation decides to use fingerprints or facial recognition of staff members for access control, for example, this requires the explicit consent of the employees in question. This is because it involves biometric data that are particularly protected under GDPR regulations. So we also closely monitor this topic from SALTO Systems."

Server- and cloud-based solutions

Offering both standalone and cloud-based access control solutions, SALTO Systems is a trusted partner of many hotels. "With SALTO Space, we provide an intelligent server-based platform developed for a wireless environment," Eric confirms. "As a result, access points in a hotel building don't need to be wired and you don't need to replace existing doors and locks. Do you choose SALTO KS? Then you get cloud-based access control, without the installation of software and with unlimited integration options that you manage remotely. All you need is a SALTO wireless and intelligent door lock, along with an IQ and device with internet connectivity."

In short, SALTO Systems offers a wide range of online, offline and wireless solutions, battery-powered or wired and both server-based and cloud-based. Moreover, Eric points out that the market is rapidly evolving towards  Digital Key-solutions, whether or not combined with new cloud applications for the slightly smaller (private-owned) hotels and hotel groups. Solutions for setting up self-automated hotels are on a solid rise."■