Hospitality & Access Control

This case study covers the successful deployment of the Siretta quikCONNECT ZOOM in providing a first rate hospitality experience for visitors to a select number of iconic cities. Read how our client's initial business success brought with it growing pains and additional challenges. How were these overcome using quikCONNECT as part of their solution? How has this resulted in enhancements to their client's experience and operating efficiencies? Innovative use of cellular network Growing business opportunity Ideal application for socket modem Great Customer experience Enhancements to operating efficiencies Case Study – A Solution for the Hospitality Sector This case study shows how Siretta quikCONNECT modems were chosen as a cost effective reliable GPRS connection for an innovative way to provide access control to residential properties within the hospitality sector. Siretta has been working with one of the UK’s great innovators in the hospitality sector, to provide a cellular solution that allows for keyless entry to “vacant” residential properties in iconic cities. The original concept was borne out of the idea of wondering how good it would be to have visitors to one of these cities experience something more than a hotel. Instead, how about occupying a fine property left vacant for days/weeks by the owner, due to the owner’s business or leisure commitments? The idea took hold and gathered pace with a service set up for subscribers who wished to provide their keys to the “hospitality” company whilst the subscriber was away on business or holiday. The service demanded a highly organised company who are able to vet the temporary occupiers and also co-ordinate the handover of keys to them, and then collect them again at the end of their stay. Insurance is covered as part of the service, aswell as maintenance and management. Those vacating their property are financially rewarded whilst at the same time knowing their property is in safe hands. As the business has grown, so has this type of interaction between our client and the visitor occupants(guests). This has resulted in a lot of time being put in for some client employees to perform “meet and greet” of guests and then perform key collection at the end of the stay. With the success of the idea came the growth in logistics, workload on staff and the matter of keeping track of keys which in some cases became mislaid or worse still, lost. New ideas were needed to think of ways to automate the process and increase operational efficiency, which in turn would enhance performance and guest experience. It was then the idea of using the cellular network became a reality. The client contacted Siretta following a visit to our website to discuss a quikCONNECT modem. There were various ideas of how this could be done in terms of making the solution vs. buying it, and whether it should be on the 2G network or 3G network? In the end it was decided that the solution should be bought in as time to market was short. The other choice was to select a 2G socket or embedded modem. The modem selected was from the quikCONNECT ZOOM family. The unit was ideal, in that it was unboxed, and could therefore be easily interfaced with an electrical locking mechanism that would control entry to subscribers’ properties. Very extensive prototyping work took place on a system that would control the unlocking and locking of entrances to properties, through the use of SMS messages sent from mobile phones to the modem within the electrical lock control box. Key challenges were to reduce latency in the time it took to send the SMS to the lock control box and the property door being opened. The client had already tried another 2G modem before Siretta’s involvement, but found the latency was prohibitive. The ZOOM product proved very flexible to work with, particularly whilst prototyping, but also offered an amount of processing power within the modem chip itself, which enabled the time from SMS sent, to door opening, to be minimised. In addition, position and performance of the antenna had to be considered carefully to ensure best chance of receiving a good signal. A Siretta airCONNECT antenna was chosen from the “stubby” or DELTA range. In areas of weaker signal reception an alternative type of antenna was sourced from Siretta. This alternative airCONNECT antenna was chosen from the adhesive mounted or ALPHA range. This had a length of cable which provided flexibility in positioning and a strong adhesion once placed in the best location. Following a successful first phase of attracting subscribers and subsequent deployment, the service has now been expanded and rolled out. The quikCONNECT ZOOM has been at the heart of the connectivity and provided a solid, reliable performance. In addition, the availability of QuikConnect ZOOM met with the client’s desire for a very quick route to market. The whole solution has provided time and cost savings and will continue to enhance operational efficiency and many more user experience’s. Should you wish to know more about quikCONNECT Modems please visit www.siretta.co.uk/quikCONNECT