Hospitality

SALTO Systems and INTEREL, the award-winning hospitality guest room management solution, today announced the integration of SALTO’s BLUEnet technology into INTEREL’s guest room control solutions, using BLE wireless radios to allow hotels to minimize their infrastructure investment, optimize energy consumption, and take advantage of SALTO’s next-generation products.

The new SALTO and INTEREL BLE integration replaces traditional ZigBee with SALTO’s BLUEnet wireless – a future-focused Bluetooth Low Energy technology.

INTEREL is one of the first guest room management solutions to integrate with SALTO’s BLUEnet Wireless Technology. Hotels can now integrate seamlessly with a wide variety of SALTO wireless locks that bring intelligent and dependable automation for guest rooms and operating enhancements that provide the most reliable, cost-effective, and technologically-advanced guest room system. SALTO BLUEnet wireless is designed for doors where real-time control is required and can be installed as an independent system or can complement the SALTO Virtual Network (SVN).

We’re excited to continue to offer technologically-advanced solutions for the hospitality industry with leading guest room management partners like INTEREL. Our newest integration incorporates the most efficient and advanced technology into guest room access control and energy management and is just another example of how SALTO and INTEREL continue to improve product offerings.

The integration provides secure room access control for guests and staff that works in tandem with in-room thermostats and controls to ensure that energy consumption – one of the top expenses for the hospitality industry – is minimized. Guest room management includes features such as controlling the temperature, lighting, curtains, and even requesting hotel services, with the touch of a button.

The integrated solution - which can replace mechanical keys and proximity cards with smartphone-based access control technology - also can alert hotel staff when a room is occupied and can help them to respond quicker to guest requests. Additionally, INTEREL and SALTO deliver these advanced guest features and online access control functionality without additional infrastructure, reducing total cost of ownership for the hotel.

To learn more about INTEREL guest room management solutions, visit www.interelme.com

Incorporating mobile access into your premises without jeopardizing security is crucial to maintain safety. Flexibility is also crucial because users may not be using mobile credentials. Being able to mix and match systems, hardware and credentials is a must and is offer by Salto.

Traditionally, check-in process requires going to the front desk, showing ID and providing a credit card for room charges. Once guests are identified and all of their questions are answered, they’re provided with a plastic keycard and pointed towards the elevators or led to their room.

Salto’s Hospitality Solutions and Guest Experience Enhancement

For the Hospitality market, Salto has developed specific add-ons, which allow hotel clients to control all their access, and guest management easily needs with one wire-free, easy-to-use system. Salto suits all sizes and types of hotels, providing an optimal guest experience and the best utilization of a hotel’s rooms, suites and meeting space infrastructure.

When guests arrive at a hotel, they want to check-in quickly and make the best of their time, either for professional purposes or leisure. That means all the steps of the check-in process need to work flawlessly, from issuing a key to the guest to them being able to access their room, swimming pool, spa or other amenities.

Revolutionizing Access with JustIN Mobile App

The intuitive Salto JustIN Mobile app communicates securely via the Cloud and enables guests to receive a room key online, anytime and anywhere. When guests arrive at your hotel, they can choose to go straight to their room and receive their key on their phone, or they can ask for assistance at reception. It is their choice.

Technologically cutting-edge, Salto JustIN Mobile technology means the end of lost key hassles, expense and waste. Plus, the technology isn’t limited to hotel rooms – it can also be used on main entrance doors, elevators, car park barriers, meeting rooms, etc.

• One device convenience: Leverage the fact that mobile phones become a more and more integral part of our lives.
• Guest experience: Provide your guests with a hotel experience they value and want to repeat by facilitating their check-in without sacrificing their security and comfort.
• Lost credential: Since smartphones have such a great place in daily activities, they are well-taken care off and undoubtedly much more than a crucial temporary card.
• Safe and straightforward: Increase security and prevent fraud by improving control of staff access and management of their access rights. Lost key instant cancellation for staff and guest’s safety and peace of mind. Automatic guest key cancellation after check out for increased security.
• Reduce waste: As more users migrate to smartphone-based credentials, less financial resources will be needed to purchase key cards.
• Staff & security operations: Dynamic staff key management. Automatic key renewal and cancellation. Cancel guest and staff keys, updating the lock’s blacklist through the user’s mobile.
• Mobile Access Credentials: Valuable partnerships with reputable providers of Mobile App services for the hospitality industry. Salto and our partners are driven by the opportunity for our hotel clients to provide a superior guest experience to their clients, whether by offering mobile functionalities or superior management standards.

As SALTO Systems Vice President of Hospitality Sales, Michael Cline guides the continued growth and expansion of SALTO’s Hospitality Sales organization in the United States. He recently discussed key hospitality electronic access control topics including the importance of the mobile key and system security.

What does digital innovation and connected guests and staff mean for hoteliers?

Electronic access control has given hoteliers incredible opportunities in a variety of areas. Management can quickly and easily issue guest room access; the guest can even bypass the front desk and go directly to the room. Management can just as quickly and easily disable a room key if the need arises.

Smart electronic access control with smartphones or contactless cards helps hotels manage guest room access more efficiently, while also providing them with a wealth of information that can improve operations. Knowing when a guest isn’t in their room can give management an opportunity to save on electricity costs by automatically turning off lights and adjusting heating and air conditioning systems when the room isn’t in use. Creating reports on room access for amenities like spas or gyms can help management determine the best scheduling of staff for these areas.

There is a world of opportunity for improvements for guests and staff when it comes to implementing a wireless electronic locking solution and we are discovering more benefits every day.

How important is the mobile key? What should a hotelier look for in a solution?

Every hotel should incorporate mobile keys into their access control solution. The public – business travelers, in particular – now expects it.

Mobile key access provides benefits to both guests and hotel management. It makes travel more convenient for guests while improving operations for hoteliers. It provides guests with a hotel experience they value and want to repeat by facilitating their check-in without sacrificing their security and comfort. When selecting an access control solution for your hotel with mobile key technology, hoteliers must insist on a product that is, above all, secure. It should also provide instant key updates or key cancellations in the event the guest no longer should have room access. Mobile key management should use real-time access rights changes, audit trails, and blacklisting of lost keys. It should also ensure that no information is stored in the cloud and that any information collected or used is used only as a temporary bridge.

A mobile solution for hospitality must also be compatible with the variety of mobile devices and electronic lock products on the market and be able to integrate with existing hotel systems.

What are the key benefits of an electronic locking solution with mobile key technology?

Benefits include increased security and fraud prevention by improving control of staff access and management of their access rights; lost key instant cancellation for staff and guest security and peace of mind; and automatic guest key cancellation after check out for increased security.

Cutting-edge mobile technology, together with electronic wireless locking solutions, means the end of lost key hassles, expense, and waste. Guests open their room door and the app automatically sends confirmation that the door has been opened back to the front desk, even for doors equipped with offline electronic locks.

How do technology partners work together to enhance the guest and staff experience?

Access control is just one part of an overall security solution and management system. SALTO has long understood that to provide the most technologically-advanced electronic access control products we must partner with other Hospitality industry leaders to develop integrations that deliver a comprehensive – and seamless – solution for any hotel property type and size. SALTO has partnered with a number of Hospitality leaders to develop integrations including Inncom, Telkonet, Interel, Lutron, Ariane, Zaplox, OpenKey, Intelity (formerly KeyPR), Digivalet, StayNTouch, Monscierge, and multiple PMS providers.

What are the expected technology trends in electronic access control for the hospitality industry for 2019?

Access control is rapidly becoming about more than just electronic locks and security. It’s an opportunity to provide a better guest experience and improve hotel management. Because access control is a central part of the entire guest experience, it’s a way to increase customer satisfaction – which boosts the bottom line. If the guest can open their hotel room with a smartphone and use that same mobile app to check in, check out and make future reservations, then that positive experience is one that the guest will likely be influenced by when planning their next trip.

Energy usage is one of the highest operating expenses the hotel industry incurs and remains the second-largest cost hotels have to contend with, right behind labor. The cost of electricity has risen drastically in the past few years and will only continue to rise. On average, 90% of wasted electricity usage comes from the guest room, which can be your property’s most unmanaged resource (a guest room Air Conditioning/Heating (HVAC) system can represent 70-90% of that wasted electricity). Conservation is quickly becoming the cheapest and easiest solution to the problem.

The Salto Universal ESD system allows hotels to optimize energy consumption by turning off lighting and adjusting climate control systems when guests are not in the room for long periods of time.

The hotel HVAC and lighting systems receive room status (occupied/unoccupied) from the sensors and, as a result, activate or deactivate the room’s lights, air conditioning or heater while maintaining a comfortable temperature (which is configured and preset by management). The maximum level of efficiency is reached if there is also a door or window sensor to differentiate between the use of air conditioning and lighting, depending on whether the windows are open or closed.

The system components and Salto’s Universal ESD ecosystem uses infrared detectors and advanced wireless technology. Installation and set up is very simple and reliable and can be accomplished in approximately 20 minutes, ensuring your guest rooms remain available for sale.

Reduction in electricity use can be easily evaluated and will vary by hotel depending on the facility size, climate, geographical location and other factors.

How does it works Salto energy saving device?

• Detects whether or not a guest room is occupied through information transmitted to the Universal ESD control module by the passive motion infrared detector and micro door sensor.
• When a guest room is occupied, the system allows the guest to have full control over all temperature settings and lighting.
• If the system detects an unoccupied guestroom, the operation becomes regulated by the control module, which initiates your customized energy-saving settings, i.e., temperature reduction, etc.
• Unoccupied guest room temperatures are pre-determined by hotel management, allowing control over electricity usage while maintaining maximum guest room comfort.
   

When the guest room is occupied

1. Guest enters the room and the door micro switch ‘knows’ the room is occupied.
2. Motion wireless detector detects movement.
3. System is in “occupied” mode, so the guest has full control of heating, cooling and lighting.

When the guest leaves the room unoccupied

1. Guest leaves the room and the door micro switch “knows” someone may have left the room.
2. Motion detector “looks” for movement for the next 60 minutes (or a duration set by property management). If movement is detected, the system remains in “occupied” mode.
3. If no movement is detected, the system goes into “unoccupied” mode, turns off the lights and sets the air conditioner or heater to a temperature preset by property management.

System features and benefits of Salto ESD

• Save 25-40% on air conditioning and heating costs.
• Does not compromise guest comfort.
• Wireless and battery-operated plug-and-play installation, regardless of construction type.
• Avoids unnecessary energy consumption when the guest is out (i.e., costly air conditioning cooling an empty room).
• 2 relay outputs – one for lighting and one for air conditioning.
• DIN rail fitting hardware for easy installation.
• Different configuration cards can configure the motion energy saver factory configuration to custom installation requirements.
   

System Ecosystem & Architecture

1. lush-mounted motion detector/sensor or surface-mounted motion detector/sensor.
2. Universal ESD main control module.
3. Wireless door detector/sensor.
4. Wireless window detector/sensor.
5. Configuration proximity cards.

A hotel datacenter or server room holds important hotel and guest data that, if breached, can result in expensive information compromise or significant down time. You secure your guest rooms and property with electronic access control – it’s time to protect your datacenter using the same technology.

Many hotels deploy access control to secure the grounds, buildings and areas within the property. The server rack remains the final point of data vulnerability in the datacenter, so it makes sense to implement the same level of physical security and access control monitoring already established at every other level of entry in the property. Salto has a solution that protects your datacenter and servers with the same level of security that safeguards your hotel and guests.

The Salto electronic cylinder lock provides a wire-free, stand-alone electronic access control solution to secure access to server racks in increasingly important and sensitive locations. Compact and easy to install, Salto electronic cylinders are designed for the protection of cabinet doors such as IT racks or lockers and fit almost any type of swing handle server rack on the market. Salto’s electronic cylinder lock provides real-time access control to individual cabinet doors in a single-card system, eliminating mechanical master key problems as there is no need to replace cylinders if a key is lost or stolen.

Protect your cabinets and IT racks with your same hotel’s core technology using Salto’s electronic cylinder

There are multiple regulatory and compliance requirements in many countries that mandate additional layers of responsibility for datacenter managers. In many areas, hotels must limit physical access to information systems, equipment and their respective operating environments only to authorized individuals. SALTO’s electronic cylinder provides this protection and more via these main features and benefits.

Main features and benefits of Salto's electronic cylinder

• Simple installation. Designed to install easily on most swing-handle style server racks..
• Simple to integrate because it works with your new or existing access control system and can be installed on virtually all server cabinets available on the market. No wiring or drilling work required.
• Protection against burglary, theft and sabotage. Server cabinet and audit-trail monitoring for regulatory compliance.
• Access monitoring. Full time and profile management (who has access, where and when). Executing policies and security procedures specific to the datacenter.
• Advanced core technologies: Salto SVN, BLUEnet Wireless network and JustIN Mobile* capable (*NFC compatible smartphones only).
• Real-time access control system and user card updating capable (to control exactly who can access the servers, and when).
• Communication between the carrier, the physical network and the electronic cylinder is encrypted and secured.
• Battery-operated. Low battery status information is obtained from users’ keycards (SVN) or wirelessly (BLUEnet). Batteries can be replaced without cylinder removal.

To learn more about Salto electronic cylinder lock solutions

The colour black has a charm that never goes out of style: this is true both in fashion and interior design. Black conveys power and mystery and provides a sharp contrast to any colour. In a hotel room, where natural light may be limited, it’s often wise to keep the use of black to a minimum. Rather than combining black with strong palettes of red or orange, black can set off a monochrome design and create a simple yet stunning ambience in communal areas.

One area where black can be implemented with subtle strength is on a hotel room door. The elegant black finish of the SALTO electronic locking range together with a SALTO designer handle offers a statement-making option for any door that instantly adds dimension and contrast.

The style of any hotel is created by many architectural and decorative elements. An all-black painted door could be effectively used in a modern space as well as a transitional or even traditional space. It is simply a tool for refocusing the emphasis created by a door.

Matched colours for doors and hardware

Many interior designers and architects today seek to coordinate finishes and hardware in monochromatic colours to create a streamlined look in hotel living zones, corridors and throughout the hotel. SALTO is leading this design trend by providing sleek black finish options for handles, readers and door hardware. Part of the SALTO hospitality smart electronic locking collection, our black hardware has lines and form that stand out like an architectural sculpture.

Door hardware and finishes without limits

Every hotel is different and therefore has different design needs. SALTO gives our customers and partners premium electronic locking solutions that can perfectly complement and beautifully accent any hotel room. We’re committed to collaborating with architects and designers to provide the creative community with dynamic, technologically-advanced solutions for contemporary hospitality design and we’re excited to help designers enjoy the timeless style that black doors convey.

Our New Year’s resolution is always the same: to make each year better than the last. Last year was amazing for SALTO Hospitality, culminating with the launch of the new Ælement Fusion electronic lock which revolutionised the Hospitality market. As we’re sure you’ve seen, the sleek and elegant Ælement Fusion provides a minimalistic design that blends in with any hotel décor. For more than a decade, our intention has been to create an invisible electronic hotel lock - and the Ælement Fusion is the realization of that vision. The Ælement Fusion’s small, customizable light ring reader (available in black or white) offers a discreet electronic lock for hotels looking to deploy electronic access control with a stylish, yet technologically-advanced mobile enabled solution.

Mobile access technology quickly became one of the top requests of the hospitality industry in 2018. It has opened a new chapter in hotel management, security and operations. Moving forward, the adoption of mobile access and new credential form factors such as wearables will create new opportunities for innovative use cases beyond opening doors and converged physical security in hotels. Mobile access control simplifies the secure identity management process for facility access - for both guests and staff - improving the guest experience and the security and management of the complete property. Use of SALTO’s Justin Mobile App tripled in 2018 with over 2 million mobile users accessing the platform on their smartphone to unlock doors. Hotels are dedicated to finding new ways to improve the guest experience and make hotel operations more efficient, and mobile technology delivers a strong opportunity for hotels of all types and sizes. SALTO Hospitality premium hotel smart locks and mobile solutions aren’t only for large hotels; even the smallest property can now afford to secure its access points without heavy investment in hardware and software.

In 2018, the MyLock by SALTO door lock configurator tool debuted online and millions of users worldwide have customized doors and interactively explored SALTO’s Hospitality complete smart electronic locking range. SALTO is the first access control brand in the world to offer customers a reality product experience.

So let the thanks begin - and continue! Finally, we’d like to send out a big thank you to our family of customers, who make our work so much fun. Thank you for taking a chance with a new innovative electronic locking technology for your hotel and joining our community - be it following us on our social media channels or reading our blog posts every week at saltohospitality.com!

Here’s to a great 2019!

Team SALTO Hospitality

What is Salto SVN-Flex and how does it works?

Salto’s networked electronic locking SVN-Flex technology brings guest and staff credential updating to the ultimate point in access control: the door! This impressive new feature results in a variety of added benefits for the hospitality sector in particular by enhancing the guest experience, hotel management, security, IT and maintenance.

Based on Salto’s BLUEnet wireless technology and in combination with the Salto Hospitality aesthetic electronic locking product range, SVN-Flex extends and increases the number of updating points directly to any door in the hotel. SVN-Flex functionality can be enabled on any product in the Salto XS4 electronic lock range including guest room doors with the new Salto Ælement Fusion, guest services doors and back-of-house access points.

SVN-Flex is managed via Salto’s ProAccess SPACE front desk management web-based software. It dramatically reduces the cost of installing additional updating points in an access control system yet provides the capability of adding updating points where required. The options for affordable updating points are endless: guest rooms, perimetral doors, emergency exits, hall doors, gates equipped with mechanical cylinders and much more.

Benefits of SVN-Flex

SVN-Flex has specific benefits for the hospitality sector that result in an improved guest experience, enhanced hotel management, increased security and better operations.

SVN-Flex improve guest experience

SVN-Flex provides a better keyless and mobile experience for guests.

• No need for users to go to specific doors to update/revalidate an expired key, for a re-rooming or for an extended stay.
• 24/7 real-time access, monitoring and security.
• Ensures security and accessibility to all property facilities, resulting in no more key delivery costs or time-consuming procedures when keys are lost.

Salto SVN makes it easier for hotel management

SVN-Flex provides a safe and convenient environment for guests, visitors and staff and provides the most up-to-date user access information for virtually all doors.

• Provides advanced access control capabilities that are designed to give end users ultimate freedom of choice regarding system layout, type and number of access points as well as level of security.
• Uses a trusted access control management platform and high-quality hospitality electronic locking solution.
• Allows for guest re-rooming, extended stay and updated access permissions/levels with the click of a button.
• Seamlessly integrates with check-in, PMS, room management and building automation systems.
• Optimizes the use of guest services areas and back-of-house.
• Eliminates hassle of lost keys with the ability to instantly issue guest or staff key cancellation.

SVN provides more security

SVN-Flex enhances security and improves overall access flow in the hotel property.

• Enhances hotel security for any type of door and eliminates guest and staff key management issues. Make user authorization changes in real-time, from any hotel access point.
• Increases security by having a higher number of doors distribute information about guest and staff access privilege changes, lost key cancellations, updated blacklist information, offline networked hotel property audit records and more.
• Communication between devices flows in real-time on wireless online access points and much faster on offline points. This drastically reduces the time gap in collecting critical information.
• In case of a power failure, the system continues to function due to Salto Virtual Network (SVN) backbone technology. SVN ensures guest access cards and locks remain operational without compromising access.
• Thanks to Salto Wireless BLUEnet technology, guest room door status monitoring, lockdowns, emergency openings, remote openings, intrusion alarms – and more – can be performed at the click of a mouse or can be programmed automatically through a ProAccess SPACE trigger alarm.

Salto SVN and IT

SVN Flex combines the reliability, security and scalability of an on-premises access control solution with the flexibility and availability of stand-alone, networked electronic lock technology.

• Uses stand-alone, battery-operated hotel electronic locks (no door hardwire installation).
• Easy to cross-link stand-alone, wireless locks and online access points and integrate into existing hotel IT networks without consuming IT resources.
• Reliable on-premises access control infrastructure that is designed to adapt and grow as needs grow (up to hundreds of doors with thousands of users).
• Works with every popular smart keycard covering the mainstream RFID technologies.
• Web-based ProAccess SPACE software facilitates set-up, routine use and monitoring, as well as any updating and changing of access rights.
• Unmatched levels of data protection with advanced security and the highest standard encryption communications.
• Works with standard system network requirements.

SVN has easy maintenance

SVN-Flex allows you to manage and secure access control for all hotel properties right from the hotel front-desk.

• Check battery status and door status in just a few easy steps.
• Low set-up cost and maintenance, saving money and time.
• Choose from a broad range of design hardware that enhances any décor from guest room to back of house.
• Efficiently uses the natural movements of guests and staff within and across the individual areas of the hotel to update the door network.
• Remotely administer and manage maintenance operations (like low battery warnings and door status messages), which reduces help desk calls

Adding SVN Flex to a hospitality access control solution results in an exponential increase in security, control, effectiveness and convenience for guests and management. The communication between devices flows in real-time on wireless online access points and much faster on offline points resulting in the most up-to-date system available in the hospitality market for access control.

Salto BLUEnet Wireless has been developed to meet the highest demands related to security and ease of use. This access control system is networked through Bluetooth RF and especially designed for doors where real-time control is required. Salto BLUEnet can be installed as an independent system or can complement Salto Virtual Network (SVN) in areas of a Hotel where real-time control is required.

Control and management of all access points can be done remotely and in real-time from one or more administrator front-desk workstations. The Salto BLUEnet Wireless engine allows the operator to monitor live access control events and provides the ability to unlock doors, change opening mode, activate a lockdown, monitor live door status or change physical access rules in the access plan, all wirelessly and in real-time.

Real-time door and guest management

• Control and management of all access points remotely and in real-time from one or more administrator workstations.
• With a single click of the mouse, the network can be configured and changes made in real-time:

- Change the staff and guest's access plan in real-time
- Ability to open doors remotely
- Emergency remote opening / locking
- Change the opening function mode in real-time
- Room status monitoring

• When a guest is not satisfied with their room, there can be a direct room change made in real-time. Salto BLUEnet Wireless real-time includes functionalities such as real-time re-rooming and real-time extended stay.
• Salto´s BLUEnet wireless real-time solution has the ability to cancel the key instantly after notice of loss, increasing staff and guest security and peace of mind. Each key is cancelled directly after every check out.
• Get live updates of room status by sending the information from the door lock to the front desk. The hotel front desk staff has the function of real-time door monitoring, which shows which room door is opened at which time.
• Salto wireless solutions transfer the battery status from the lock to the user card and from the lock to the system administrator as a maintenance notification.

Wireless network architecture

One gateway can communicate with 7 nodes. Each node can operate up to 16 doors, with a maximum distance of 15ft (16m) between the lock and the node. All by using one single IP address.

Features

• Advanced security with standard encryption communications.
• Escutcheons and cylinders receive blacklist information and remove cancelled keys from the system in real-time.
• Receive audit trail information in real-time and view door access without having to visit the door.
• Real-time door control: This includes door alarm, intrusion alarm, single lockdown and remote door opening.
• Real-time battery control enables maintenance to view electronic lock power status in real-time.
• If radio frequency is interrupted or breaks down, the access system will continue to work, as the virtual network of the battery-operated locks remains operative through Salto SVN.

At Salto Hospitality, the goal is to always give customers the products they need to meet the challenges they face. That’s why Salto has developed BLUEnet Wireless, helping hotel properties improve guest accessibility, comfort, manageability and staff security through innovative technology that has led to exceptional customer satisfaction, both for the hotelier and the guest.

SALTO Systems has integrated with another hospitality-industry technology platform to provide more options in delivering comprehensive end-to-end experiences for guests and staff through embedded and mobile devices.

Thanks to the integration with SALTO, the INTELITY app now allows guests to bypass the front desk for check-in via keyless entry from an iOS or Android mobile device. Guests can then come and go to their hotel room as they please without having to have a credential beyond their smartphone. The INTELITY app can be custom-tailored to each property, allowing more freedom for hotel guests and control for higher-security businesses.

INTELITY is a cloud-based guest experience and management platform for hotels, casinos and residential properties. INTELITY delivers a friction-free personalized guest experience while creating new operational efficiencies and driving additional revenue opportunities for property owners. Guests can conveniently access a directory of services – dining, entertainment, third-party content and more – through an in-room tablet or custom mobile application.

SALTO’s electronic access control solutions are working in more than 6,000 luxury and resort hotels worldwide, in addition to other types of guest accommodations, vacation properties and holiday resorts. SALTO adds value to any hotel by providing secure and reliable access control 24/7 that covers the entire property.

SALTO welcomes new partnerships with industry leaders like INTELITY that will ultimately result in improved hospitality management and the guest experience. SALTO also continuously adds integrations with other technology providers so that those in the hospitality industry have a choice when it comes to which platform they use to control SALTO’s robust line of electronic locks and supporting products.