30 Oct 2006

Check-in one SMS away

VingCard’s newest electronic-locking solution, Signature RFID, means your mobile phone is not just for talking, its also your hotel room key.

Through a joint collaboration with NXP (formerly Philips semiconductors) hotels equipped with VingCard RFID will now be able to offer remote check in. Guests will receive their booking confirmation number, room number and an encrypted room key access code via SMS before arriving at their hotel. Avoiding long lines at check-in they can then go straight to their room and use their NFC mobile phone to enter.

All this is made possible through a new, short-range wireless technology, Near Field Communications (NFC), that combines the functionality of a reader and a card into one device. NFC is being implemented in a new generation of mobile phones this year.

“We’re very pleased with the number of hotel companies and hotel chains calling us to inquire about the release of Signature RFID,” says Pascal Metivier, president of ASSA ABLOY Hospitality EMEA and Latin America.
Part of Signature RFID’s appeal stems from its open-platform architecture. Earlier systems, and those offered by other hospitality security vendors, are not compliant with all the leading RFID standards, secure transaction protocols, or compatible with other RFID devices.

“Hotels won’t invest in RFID if they are limited to one standard,” Pascal says. “We designed Signature RFID to support all the leading standards for maximum flexibility. Now the customer can choose what is best for their application. With Signature RFID, you avoid the risk of making the wrong choice on what RFID standard to follow. It is the same scenario as in the past with the VHS and BETA standards for video tapes.”