News and Technology – Mobile-Based Access Management

Access-control solutions in the Hotel and Hospitality industry have undergone several major evolutions throughout the course of history.  Namely, the nature of guests’ access to hotel rooms changed when traditional keys were replaced by the magnetic stripe card.  Multiple key cards were able to be reproduced or cancelled when lost with ease, increasing user comfort and efficiency.  Despite the advance in hotel access-control technology, guests must still deal with the front-desk protocol for check-in, changes to a reservation, and less-often these days, for check-out.

Now, an answer to the longstanding hotel industry wish to create a mobile-based access control solution has finally arrived.  OpenWays, a United States based global solution provider of mobile-based access-management and security solutions will be debuting their revolutionary technology at the 2009 International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in New York City.

The OpenWays technology securely delivers a virtual key over the air to the right cell phone in order to open the right door lock or access control reader. Leveraging the most advanced cryptology standards, OpenWays delivers a safe and sound application that works on all cell phones without any hardware or software add on. It is simple, highly secured and works anywhere in the world.

OpenWays brings numerous benefits to the industry.  First, it is customer-friendly:  It removes the need for a guest to stop at the front desk upon arrival, thus streamlining check-in and eliminating the frustration of waiting in lines; and it is 100% compatible with all cell phone network technologies.  Secondly, OpenWays is economically beneficial to the hotel: it contributes to reducing the number of front desk transactions, allowing for reducing front desk operating expenses; offers significant security and operational improvements by managing master keys in an on-line fashion with real time cancelation in case of a loss, and it eliminates the need for hotels to purchase, issue and dispose of plastic key cards for cell phone users, thus saving time and labor costs.  Also, it interfaces with central-reservation systems, property-management systems and the major electronic-locking systems on the market today so that it can be immediately integrated into existing systems.  Finally, OpenWave is the ultimate “green” solution.  By eliminating the use of plastic key cards and their reproduction when lost, this mobile-based technology reduces a company’s carbon-footprint and significantly helps the environment.

Company Website:  http://www.openways.com/