2 Nov 2010
NFC mobile phones replace hotel room keys in Sweden
A world's first pilot is
starting at the Clarion Hotel Stockholm in Sweden. ASSA ABLOY,
Choice Hotels Scandinavia, TeliaSonera, VingCard Elsafe and Venyon,
a fully owned subsidiary of Giesecke & Devrient, have joined
forces to replace hotel room keys with NFC-enabled mobile phones.
The technology makes it possible for hotel guests to check-in and
out using their mobile phones.
The goal of the pilot is to get feedback from
guests and employees using the NFC phones for a variety of
services. Guests will be able to check in to the hotel and receive
the hotel room key directly onto their mobile phones before
arriving at the hotel. Guests can also access other services via
their mobile, and on departure, the check-out process using the
phone promises to be easy and stress-free.
The technology also increases security. If a
mobile phone is lost, the access credentials can be revoked
remotely and then reissued. This makes it impossible for
unauthorized people to use a lost or stolen NFC mobile phone.
The pilot starts this week and will last for four
months. The experience gained from the Clarion Hotel Stockholm
pilot is planned to be enhanced and expanded over time to other
hotels as well as to commercial and residential buildings.
Mobile-contactless services such as payment,
ticketing and loyalty have enjoyed successful pilots and are now
being made available to the commercial market. Following the
success of those pilots there is now a new category of services -
mobile keys that can be added to the mobile-contactless
industry.
The five companies providing this service each
brings its specific expertise to deliver a scalable and secure
end-to-end solution created to improve the guest
experience.
About NFC
NFC, Near Field Communication, is a short-range wireless
communication technology standard that enables the exchange of data
between devices over up to a 10 cm distance. Applications include
contactless transactions such as payment and transit ticketing,
keys, data transfers including electronic business cards, and
access to online digital content.
About the trial at Clarion
Stockholm
The selected hotel guests receive a Samsung mobile phone with NFC
and relevant software. They book hotel rooms the usual way and
receive booking confirmation on the mobile phone. The guests can
check in on the mobile phone already before arrival at the hotel.
When check-in is complete, a digital hotel room key is delivered to
the mobile phone. On arrival at the hotel the guests skip the
check-in line, go directly to their room and open the door by
holding the mobile phone close to the door lock. When leaving the
room, the doors lock automatically, the guests checkout from their
mobile phones and the digital hotel room keys are deactivated.
Pilot Partners
ASSA ABLOY is the
global leader in door-opening solutions dedicated to satisfying
end-user needs for security, safety and convenience. ASSA ABLOY has
developed a scalable secure delivery infrastructure for mobile
keys. This solution ensures end-to-end security and is applicable
for residential, commercial and hotel applications.
"Keys are going mobile. At ASSA ABLOY we totally
support this convergence and are proud to provide the world's first
complete mobile key service utilizing NFC technology. Thanks to our
secure delivery infrastructure and mobile applications it will be
possible to securely open digital door locks using your mobile
phone in hotels and commercial buildings as well as in your home,"
said Daniel Berg, Vice President and General Manager ASSA ABLOY
Mobile Keys.
Choice Hotels
Scandinavia is the Nordic countries' largest hotel chain,
with more than NOK6.2 billion in annual turnover and almost 9 200
employees. Choice Hotels Scandinavia markets 170 hotels in the
Nordic market under the brands Comfort Hotels, Quality Hotels,
Quality Resort Hotels, Clarion Hotels and Clarion Collection Hotels
in addition to profiled stand-alone hotels. "NFC technology allows
us to offer our customers a new better and more comfortable hotel
experience as they can use their mobile phone as a room key. This
is the beginning of a number of areas where we will be able to
offer new added value to our customers, "said Svein Krakk, CIO of
Choice Hotels Scandinavia.
TeliaSonera
provides network access and telecommunication services in the
Nordic and Baltic countries, the emerging markets of Eurasia,
including Russia and Turkey, and in Spain and at the end of
December 2009 the total number of subscriptions was 148 million in
20 countries. TeliaSonera's services help people and companies
communicate in an easy, efficient and environmentally friendly way.
TeliaSonera creates value by focusing on providing world-class
customer experience, securing quality in networks and achieving a
best-in-class cost structure. "At TeliaSonera, we are looking at
many ways of using the mobile phone to make our customers' lives
easier. The NFC technology, along with other inbuilt technologies,
brings a new dimension to the mobile device which opens new growth
opportunities", says Johan Wickman, Head of Research and Innovation
at TeliaSonera Mobility Services.
Venyon, a fully
owned subsidiary of Giesecke & Devrient, offers Trusted Service
Manager (TSM) services in NFC ecosystem by developing and operating
a secure and versatile service platform. Venyon TSM services are
used for the Over-the-Air (OTA) provisioning of the consumer
applications, such as credit cards or hotel key applications as
done in this pilot, to consumers' NFC enabled mobile devices. NFC
enables mobile phones to host a wide range of applications
including physical access control such as hotel or residential
locking applications. These new types of contactless mobile
applications will play a central role in consumers' everyday life
and TSM services are needed to securely perform the application
life-cycle management.
VingCard Elsafe is
the worldwide leader in guestroom security for hotel door locks and
in-room safes in the hospitality industry. VingCard Elsafe has
products installed in more than 39,000 properties worldwide,
securing in-excess of 6.5 million hotel rooms. VingCard Elsafe is
part of the ASSA ABLOY Group.
Watch the film and download
images at: www.assaabloy.com/ASSAABLOYMobileKeys
For more information please
contact:
Daniel Berg, Vice President and General Manager
ASSA ABLOY Mobile Keys,
Phone: +46 (0) 8 506 485 06, E-mail: 
Ulf Södergren, Chief Technology Officer, ASSA
ABLOY
Phone: +46 508 485 10, E-mail: 
Svein Krakk, CIO/Vice President IS/IT Choice Hotel
Scandinavia
Phone: + 47 90 18 79 82, Email: 
Jukka Yliuntinen, Chief Marketing Officer,
Venyon
Phone: +358 40 5620428, E-mail: 
Ivan Aramayo, Director of Marketing and
Communication, VingCard Elsafe
Phone: +34 610 205 296, E-mail: 
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