Searching for security
With crime on the increase, customers are looking for hotels where they and their valuables are safe. A security breach could not only cost you a customer, it could also cost you dearly in terms of bad publicity.
Suppliers to the hotel industry have responded by introducing new and sophisticated security products. You can now equip your hotel with keycards, electronic locks, guest keys, computer software and coded lock safes. But, in addition to protecting guests, security should also extend to hotel staff and computer data.
One of the most vulnerable areas in a hotel is the computer system. With increasing amounts of technology being linked to single computers, the risk of data theft has increased. Corporate espionage no longer belongs only in Hollywood films, it is a real threat to today's hotels.
Think about it. If one of your competitors gained access to, say, your customer database, or your accounts, the potential damage to your business could be huge. Someone could place a virus on your computer that would destroy all your data - these are all real possibilities.
Computer security is essential. So what can you do? First, make sure all computers contain a good piece of virus detection software. These don't cost much and will scan disks that are put into the system for any known viruses. The software will tell you if it finds any viruses, and delete them before they harm your computer.
If possible, allow access to computers containing sensitive data to as few people as possible. Most software packages have password facilities, some can even deal with multiple passwords. It also helps to change the system's password every month or so.
There isn't much you can physically do to stop someone accessing a computer. However, many computers do come with key locks, so only people with the key and the password can gain entry.
Computers connected to the Internet pose a different problem. It is possible to use your virus checking software to monitor electronic mail and the like, but any "on line" computer connected to the Internet can be hacked into. The same applies to any connection between the outside world and your computer.
There are various software packages that claim to stop your system being violated. But these are expensive, and basic precautions such as password protection and virus checkers are usually more than enough.
Having made your computers secure it is time to consider the security of your guests. Keycards, electronic locks and smart cards are some of the products available. The question is: are they effective or are they only expensive add-ons you won't need?
To answer that question you need to understand how they work. Electronic smart cards contain a small, data-holding micro chip. When it is "swiped" through a door lock for, example, it checks to see if it is the right card for that lock. If it is it allows the guest to enter the room.
Do they work? Yes, but they are not cheap and there has been some resistance to them in this country. Large hotel chains such as Forte have installed these systems, but medium and smaller hotels are more cautious. Costs vary according to the size of the hotel. But the cost of installing them in a 10-bedroom hotel would be about £3,000.
Although electronic locks and key cards look complicated, in fact they aren't. An electronic locking system is easier to use than a high street cash dispenser.
Apart from the cost, some hoteliers are not convinced these locks are secure. They are also concerned that staff will find them difficult to use. Some believe they make hotels more like prisons.
Nevertheless, some large chains such as Forte and Hilton have installed security systems like these and are happy with them. Do they work? That is hard to determine accurately, yet there is no doubt that hi-tech security measures act as a deterrent and are effective.
But are they secure? They can be. A totally secure, thief-proof safe or electronic lock has not been invented, and probably won't be for a while. Anyone with access to the master key can get into any room. So it is up to the hotel management to make sure the master keys are only given to one or two people.
The main considerations for most hoteliers are cost, ease of use and being cost-effective to maintain. Most electronic locks need only AA-sized batteries and a card-cleaner to keep them up and running. So what is available?
Starting with hotel room safes, TSI has a hi-tech safe designed for all sizes of hotel. It is a stand-alone system, which is worked by the guest entering a code on a numeric keypad.
It has a master override code if any hotel staff need to open it and, as it can be installed in rooms, staff do not need to be on hand to open it.
It would cost a 10-bedroom hotel, about £3,000 pounds to have the safe delivered, installed and operating.
One hi-tech electronic lock is the System 700 from Ilco Unican. This is a smart-card lock system. It is installed by the company and requires only a cleaning card to keep the reader working efficiently. It runs on AA batteries and indicates when these are running low.
For a 10-bedroom hotel it would cost about £2,800 to install and get operating.
Sargent Systems has two electronic locking systems. The System 45XS has been installed at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London. Simplicity is the basis of the system. Sargent Systems claims that staff who have never been near a computer can quickly learn to use it.
Its latest system was launched at the Hospitality Technology Show in September. It is a dedicated system, a small, portable telephone-sized unit that can issue cards to guests and staff, interrogate locks and be linked to other networks.
Both systems are designed with larger hotels in mind. For a 100-bedroom hotel the cost would be about £15,500 pounds for the System 45SE, and £19,400 for the System 45XS. This includes all locks.
