Unlocking the future: Hotels to see new security technology

Your mobile can now literally be the key to your future and open many doors, thanks to a new technology that can have your cellphone talking to your locks.

Frequent travellers can now skip the check-in and check-out process into hotels, collecting keys at reception counters and spending time in lounges paying bills, thanks to Near Field Communication technology that makes mobiles do your work, says Sanjeev Anand, sales and key accounts manager, India, of VingCard Elsafe, supplier of hospitality security solutions worldwide.

Expected to be soon available in India through the mobile platform (with two leading mobile companies working on it) NFC could ensure a more comfortable and hassle-free entry and exit from hotels. It is now being used in around three US hotels.

The technology enables a user with an NFC-enabled mobile and a booking in an NFC-enabled hotel to breeze in and out, sans all hassles. After initial booking on arrival by flight, train or bus, the traveller's mobile is automatically loaded with an electronic wallet and encrypted code and hotel room number.

The mobile has a GPS coordinator that directs him to the hotel. He just has to walk there, go to his room and unlock it without checking in, filling in forms or answering queries.

His entry is automatically recorded on the front desk.

It can also be used to pay bills in his room or at the lobby kiosk without wasting time at the counter or stepping out of a room early to complete all formalities and hurrying to catch a flight or train. "In future, we expect all phones to be NFC-enabled and hotels will have to follow suit to keep abreast," said Sanjeev.