Access control technology is becoming about much more than safeguarding or tracking how a user moves around a space or building
Whether designing offices, homes or hotels, architects should remember that users don’t just value the security of their personal space and belongings, but they also want the access of their security controls to be as integrated, connected and seamless as they’ve come to expect from other utilities and devices in their life.
As such, there is an increasing challenge for architects to design and create buildings that weave in the operational and technological benefits of market leading access control systems, while specifying solutions which provide a user with a point of difference – for example, a reason to engage more with their environment. Furthermore, it is imperative that all of this is achieved without compromising the building’s look, feel and style.
Functionality
In the hospitality sector specifically, recent research has revealed that hotels that incorporate mobile apps into a guest’s hotel stay have higher customer satisfaction. However, the same figures also suggested that almost two fifths (38 per cent) don’t actually find a reason to use the apps provided during their hotel stay.
The world’s 270 million smartphone or tablet owners are found to be engaging with up to 10 apps a day. We know that people use apps on a daily basis, but rather than just getting an app for the sake of it, this technology needs to have a purpose. For hotels, this means the tech on offer needs to be synonymous with a guest’s stay and provide a user with an absolute core function or tool required when using a hotel for it to be worth the investment and to improve overall results. For example, a guest is likely to use an app more if it gives them access to their room and facilities around the building or control over their interaction with customer service amenities.
Making sure the right technology and connected devices are in place – which can include security and safety – doesn’t only benefit the guest; hotel operators around the world are coming to rely on wireless systems to keep their properties running more efficiently. Marrying up guest management systems for easy check-in and check-out, payments and facility use with an app the guest can navigate as easily as if it were their favourite social media channel, will provide them with an improved experience, making their stay as connected as that they enjoy at home.
Innovative systems, such as Dialock from Häfele, aren’t just providing trendsetting technology in the access control arena. Its newly designed smartphone app, “Hafele Access Hotel” which provides a digital key via Bluetooth® to access bedrooms and hotel facilities, improves convenience for the guest, while creating efficiencies for the hotel operator. Removing the need to cut physical keys, take a guest up to their room or show them how to use a gym locker, the system arms staff with more time to spend on the running of the hotel and enhancing the wider customer service, while a guest comes and goes at their leisure.
Design
Users of any building place great value on two factors – spaces that are fully functional, secure and reliable, but also those which wow in terms of design. One is little use without the other. As such, architects should partner with manufacturers who make it possible to implement customised access control systems which achieve a consistent look and feel with the existing or planned design or interiors of a building.
For example, during a recent project on The Roseate Reading Hotel, Häfele adapted its usual Dialock design to complement the luxurious interior the operators were trying to achieve in a large-scale renovation. With a large section of the building listed, owners wanted to retain as many traditional features as possible while upscaling its access control features.
To achieve this, bespoke, polished nickel wall readers offering access and a ‘Do Not Disturb’ function were integrated outside guest rooms, allowing for the traditional polished nickel door furniture to remain untouched. Meanwhile, more modern, satin stainless steel lever handles with a minimalist design were chosen and partnered with Dialock for the hotel’s newly developed annexe suites.
Security at the core
Whether it’s motion sensor CCTV for our homes or anti-tailgating technology to prevent unwarranted access to the buildings we work in, access control technology is advancing and, equally, becoming more synonymous with smart devices.
It makes sense for the latest connected technology to be integrated into buildings at the initial design stage, so that operators begin to consider how access control can begin to play a bigger part in their overall offering for generations to come.
Doing so need never detract from how a building looks, functions and performs; with the ability to work with manufacturers to create bespoke looking access control tools that suit the overall design and history of a building and space, architects should now begin to consider these systems as part of the furniture.