Traditionally, hospitality companies would add an access control system to a property in the same way they would acquire other hardware. The purchasing department would buy an access control platform and the property’s IT staff would maintain it.
After some number of years, they would repeat the process when the old system no longer worked efficiently, couldn’t be upgraded, or was missing new key features that the property needed.
Because two different areas of the business are involved in the acquisition of an access control system (purchasing and IT), there can be hidden costs in access control ownership that are overlooked or underestimated; in particular, the time and labor costs incurred by hotel staff maintaining the system.
Although access control manufacturers may offer technical support to hotel staff post-installation, the support can be limited and inconvenient, especially considering that guest-impacting problems at a hotel or resort are more likely to occur during non-traditional business hours (nights and weekends).
A large, upfront capital expense to purchase the locks and supporting infrastructure is required. Sometimes doors and other equipment also need to be replaced to accommodate the new door locks.
The property’s already overburdened IT staff may need to maintain the access control system, a situation further exacerbated when a property has limited technical staff.
The implementation project for traditional access control is lengthy, several months or more.
A significant amount of training is typically needed for hotel staff to learn how to operate the access control system.
Since the undertaking of upgrading an access control system is so challenging, a hotel or resort will put it off until absolutely necessary, possibly for several years. This means you are missing out on leveraging the newest features available, putting your property at a competitive disadvantage.
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