The first principle when choosing a locking system for your hotel should be safety.
To choose the right locking system, you need to know which types there are.
There are many different types of locking systems available in the market, but you don’t have to know all of them. We list some mainstream types here.
1. Mechanical door lock
Mechanical door lock is the most traditional locks for hotels, you only need a mechanical key to open the right door. But the key is easily being copied, so it’s not that safe and it’s now gradually replaced by advanced locks and keys in below.
The main advantages and disadvantages of mechanical door locks are;
Advantages:
The lowest-cost locking solution;
Easy installation & operation;
Many different types and styles available to fit the hotel’s decoration.
Disadvantages:
Easily be broken;
Key might be lost or copied easily;
Limited customization available;
Hard to manage especially in large hotels.
2. Magnetic-Stripe locking system
Magneitc stripe locking system is using a magnetic-stripe card as the key, it has a software for security and hotel’s operating management. The staff working in the hotel will encode some data inside the magnetic stripe so that it cannot easily be copied, it’s very popular even in nowadays because of it’s low cost and security.
There are loco and hico magnetic stripe systems, hico has a higher security than loco, as a result, the cost is also higher than loco magnetic stripe system.
The main advantages and disadvantages of magnetic-stripe locking systems are;
Advantages:
Lower cost (compared with other advanced locking systems);
Higher flexibility and security (compared with mechanical door locks);
Keys are available for customization;
Friendly for brand building;
Easy for operation and management;
Available for disable lost keys;
Disdvantages:
Higher installation and maintanance cost (compared with mechanical door locks)
3. RFID locking system
RFID locking system is using an RFID card or RFID tag (normally in a keyfob or wristband type) as the key. It runs with a software for encoding and internal management. The security level is higher than magnetic-stripe locking system, and there are non-encrypted version and encrypted version. Cost of encrypted version is normally much higher than non-encrypted version because the security level is much higher.
The main advantages and disadvantages of RFID locking systems are;
Advantages:
High security;
Flexible and easier room management;
Available for disable lost keys;
Easy entry permission;
Keys can be re-programmed for each guest;
Disadvantages:
Higher cost on installation, maintanance and card consuming (compared with magnetic-stripe locking system);
Lock cannot be opened when power failure.
4. Locking system with smartphone control
The technology that allows guests to use their smartphones for accessing is relatively new. It’s using bluetooth technology or Wi-Fi and requires wireless connection.
It is worth mentioning that this technology could be integrated with an existing locking system such as RFID locking system. You just need to add an option for mobile check-in, with this improvement, the guests could save a lot of time on checking-in at the front desk, they can order the room online, and access their rooms with their smartphones directly once arrived at the hotel.
Here are the advantages and disadvantages of smartphone controlling system:
Advantages:
Quickly check-in;
Easily accessing;
Safe and convenient.
Disadvantages:
Request wireless connection;
Not friendly for elderly peole.
The “best” locking system is not always the one same system, because the situation of each hotel is different. After reviewed all the features of the mainstream locking systems as above, we believe you already have a rough idea of which one to choose. If you still not sure, welcome to ask one of our experts, we will give you some suggestions based on your situation and budget.
Nexqo provides various magnetic stripe key card, RFID hotel key card and RFID tags with your custom design and dimension. Contact us to get our professional consulting now!