Max Tatford, Market Development Manager, Traka explains how key management plays a central role in luxury hotel operations.
The successful integration of modern technology into an established workflow can be a tricky endeavour, including in hospitality.
Many hotel operators feel that if something isn’t “broke”, then why should they fix it?
There are understandable apprehensions with adding or replacing solutions that many employees must use, especially if it appears to add unnecessary steps to their routines.
But the most successful security integrations accomplish just the opposite – they simplify workflows while making the facility more secure for everyone involved and portraying a welcoming environment to guests.
This is a concept that can be realised regardless of the size of the hotel, as is demonstrated by the following case study of a boutique hotel in England.
At home in history
Dormy House has been a fixture in the Cotswolds region of south-central England for hundreds of years.
Once a 17th century farmhouse, the property operates as a luxury retreat that prides itself on creating a home-away-from-home experience where guests park their car and never have to get back in it until they leave.
Creating such a cozy atmosphere requires a concerted effort in efficiency and professionalism, including establishing a secure infrastructure where guests and staff feel safe.
The integration of technology helps underscore this ideal, including a solution that’s utilised by the staff daily.
While quaint in comparison to larger chain hotels at 39 guest rooms, Dormy House has many of the same workflows as any hospitality entity.
They have a variety of rooms and areas that staff need varying access to, and many times, that includes using physical keys.
In a previous era, those keys were managed manually – they were housed in a safe and issued daily, while staff were required to sign them in and out on a ledger.
This process, which is still used by some hotels today, is cumbersome and can leave a property vulnerable to risk if the ledger isn’t maintained and managers don’t have full visibility on where all keys are.
If a key goes missing or is stolen, there’s no way to track down who has it, and if it ends up in the wrong person’s hands, that could be a dangerous situation for staff and guests.
Key management reimagined
Fortunately for Dormy House, it has integrated an intelligent key cabinet to modernise how keys are managed.
All key sets are kept in a central cabinet and staff are assigned access to the keys that only they need, which reduces the likelihood of unauthorised access.
This includes key sets from management to various departments, like porters, housekeeping, spa access, etc.
Every transaction is recorded digitally, which helps management see exactly who has which key.
If a key set isn’t returned by a certain time, the manager is sent a notification, which helps track keys and eliminate much of the downtime spent looking for them.
This instils a sense of accountability among the staff, who know that they’re responsible for their keys and all transactions are monitored.
They’re able to access the cabinet through a personal pin code, and if they forget it and need to reset it, they can do so easily with a manager.
That helps streamline the onboarding process with new employees; there’s no extensive training needed for accessing the cabinet.
“It’s easy for employees to get their own login details and check keys out,” commented Chris Hindle, General Manager of Dormy House. “We’ve never had an issue with it.”
The key cabinet has also helped Dormy House maintain only the critical key sets that it actually needs, often with multiple keys on a certain set.
This eliminates the need for unnecessary keys, which consolidates its management with fewer keys to have eyes on.
“We have different types of keys, and there may be a secure key that we only need once or twice a year. But if it’s on a key set that we have visibility on, that’s helpful,” said Hindle.
Ultimately, the intelligent key cabinet that Dormy House uses helps promote operational efficiency.
The hotel has rooms and amenities both inside and out and is part of a diverse estate that includes two additional properties – The Fish and Foxhill Manor.
Any solution that can help staff accomplish their tasks more easily, empower management to have greater monitoring and ensure a safe environment for guests needs to be prioritised and considered, said Hindle.
“Take the risk and the potential for human error out of it. You don’t need to worry about lost or stolen keys because everything is traceable,” said Hindle. “It’s been massive for us.”
Focused on the now – and the future
Physical keys will continue to play a critical role in hospitality, even with the adoption of digitalised credentials like those on a phone.
Physical keys represent a tangible asset that can’t be compromised by system failures or cyber-attacks, and as such, are a valuable component to hospitality operations, both as a primary credential and as a redundant one.
It’s important that hotel operators continue to prioritise efficient management of them through modern resources like intelligent key cabinets.
As Dormy House has demonstrated, cabinets can house keys in a central location that a variety of users can access without the risk of unauthorised usage or keys being lost or left somewhere they shouldn’t be.
For larger hotels, additional key cabinets can be leveraged across the campus or throughout the building to reduce the time needed to retrieve a key.
Moreover, cabinets establish transparency within operations as employees know they’ll be held accountable when they last removed a key, and that managers will be alerted if it’s not returned by a designated time.
It adds up to a more efficient working environment for employees and a safer experience for guests, who may be blissfully unaware of how key management is impacting operations within a variety of hotels around the world.
