OpenWays is a company which provides mobile-based access management solutions for the security and hospitality industries. In November 2009 the “mobile key”

12Fall

HT-344 Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales

Professor Eric Brey.Oct 3rd, 2012

Hospitality Trend Assignment

Team Member: Katie Werner, Pu Zhao, Claire Zelenka

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idea was unveiled at an international hotel/motel and restaurant show. The thought process of the mobile key idea was that when you get to your hotel you would be able skip the standard front desk routine and go right to your hotel room without needing any type of key to open your door. The co-founders of the OpenWays solution include: Pascal Metivier, Paul Zimmerman, Josh Alper, and Mauri Maza. How the OpenWays solution works is first a guest gives the hotel their smartphone number and download the OpenWays app. Then, two or three days before arrival, they’ll receive a text message containing their room number and a unique and encrypted sound code that they’ll use to unlock their hotel-room door. The code will work once and then reset itself.

The scope of people this type of solution is geared towards is hoteliers that like to take control of their travel experience. This has the potential to reach billions of people worldwide as the mobile key app can be downloaded on to all 6.5 billion cell phones globally. Andrew Sanders, the Vice President of OpenWays said, “OpenWays offers a unique solution that has the potential to revolutionize hotel travel in the same way that online airline check-in has changed how travelers fly -- it gives people a better and faster experience when they need it," Sanders said. "The OpenWays solution gives travelers a new choice, and provides hotels with the ability to offer something truly innovative and 'green' to their guests. I was intrigued by OpenWays from the very first moment that I learned a mobile-key solution for front-desk bypass was being introduced to the hospitality industry," he said. "OpenWays is unique, ubiquitous and a cost-effective means for guests to bypass the normal check-in process, while providing hotels with brand differentiation and the ability to spend more one-on-one time with guests who need or demand personal attention. In addition, by dematerializing keys and cards and sending them over the air to cell phones, OpenWays also is making a significant contribution to the environment. There are no key-cards greener than the OpenWays acoustic credentials which are only made of data." This scope reaches to both the hotel guests as well as the environment as he explained that the mobile key is “green” to the guests.

Aside from the view point of the guests and how they are being impacted by this look at it from the environmental view. With OpenWays mobile key app the traditional hotel key card is eliminated allowing room a more environment friendly technology. Pascal Metivier the founder and CEO of this company said, "It also enhances a hotel's sustainability program. Because the OpenWays Mobile Key credential is made only of data and not plastic, hotels are eliminating costs originally spent on toxic plastic key cards that frequently end up in landfills and instead are having a positive impact on the environment. The OpenWays Mobile Key is the greenest way on the planet to access a guestroom. In the end, Mobile Key enables staff to enhance the service they provide while making their jobs more interesting, valuable and satisfying."

In the future OpenWays will continue to operate this application as long as phones are in use (which I don’t see an end to). However, some small modifications are in store for the future as of right now. Apple is not equipped with NFC (Near Field Communication). This could be problematic because it won’t be compatible with OpenWays platforms. Nevertheless, OpenWays announced earlier this year that they would make NFC available that combines on a dual platform with CAC (crypto acoustic credential). By doing this the phones will always be compatible with OpenWays platforms, thus making it “fully future proof”   

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Technology applications provide more and more convenient and intelligent means to the world of commerce. Looking from the customer’s perspective, the most wildly carried platform that allows technology application to function directly to the customer is the mobile phone, smart type of phones to be specific. Smartphone allows the implementation of customer chosen applications. In order to make the customer’s hospitality experience to be more mobile and convenient, the smartphone application has a great potential to take a representative role of future customers.

OpenWays specifically developed its system that links the smartphone application with hotel’s door locks. This project allows the guest to use their smartphone to open the door of their hotel room, thus skip the front desk check-in procedure. This piece of technology application may embody the future technology application trend in general in the hospitality industry. More applications involve technologies application has already been put into use. 

The hospitality industry would address itself to the mobile trend more and more.  According to HotelManagement.net, “Oklahoma hotel offers phone-activated door locks”, “a new Holiday Inn Express Inn & Suites, opening in Duncan, Oklahoma, will be the first in the state to enable guests to bypass the front desk process and unlock their room door with their mobile device.” This news report is posted on Sept 25th of 2012. As the trend spread, we will ought to see more hotels across the country that are willing to adopt this method of check-in. Because it would relatively reduces certain amount of labor burden to the hotel, and certain guests would prefer access his or her hotel room directly without stopping at the front desk.

Another case of this type of technology would be a report in Hospitality Technology.com. “Hotel enhances In-Room Dining Experience with iPad ordering”. In the report, “Intelity’s ICE (Interactive Customer Experience) virtual concierge system makes it simple and convenient to use the complimentary iPads included in every guestroom to review signature dishes. Then, guests at the Morgans Hotel Group property can choose to either place an in-room dining request for select items and enjoy their meal in the privacy of their room or make reservation to eat in the dining room of the restaurant.” In this case, the guest initiates a demand with the hotel directly from his or her mobile device, the iPad; similar in property with the previous case’s smartphone, to communicate directly with the hotel in order to fulfill the demand. Although the two cases appear to be using different technology. However, the trend that the two cases accessed follows the same principle. The principle is that guests now are capable of avoid to communicate with guest service department on the phone, but order menu items in a new form. This application certainly shares the same advantages of reducing hotel labor burden, and guest dissatisfactions, as long as the software are intuitive enough to reach the majority users in the future.

Future business could reference the idea from the two cases above, and most importantly it is the principle of innovation behind it. Which is to let the customer to be part of the process to form his or her own experience, by allowing services to have mobile access. The mobile device becomes the spokesperson or the concierge to the guest.

The margin of having this real world application is that it allows guest to have the choice to access the same party as before, but it adds certain level of convenience to it, to mention the least. Therefore, as this new piece of technology application gaining its

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popularity, I presume there would be a room for improvement on the application itself, as well as the advertisement of this new application.

One disadvantage to the smartphone key access application, as well as the iPad ordering system, is that it might targeted only to a limited group of guests, such as frequent travelers, young age group who are able to utilize modern technologies in daily life. Both of these groups would have the tendency to spent time and energy to go through a process that saves times and brings a new experience. However, guests who enjoy person-to-person interactions or who finds the smartphone key access application is an unnecessary solution to a problem that does not exist in the first place, would be out of reach for this new trend. Thus, in order to avoid the favoritism by guests who prefer the old fashion method, to enhance the advantages to the smartphone key access application would make the marketing of this piece of technology application more attractive, and most importantly, more practical to the all kinds of customers.

Besides the hospitality industry, the world of commerce or generally all businesses and enterprises. Such applications could derive other similar smartphone application using the same engines and principles to eliminate inefficient part of the established procedure. This principle does not confine itself to business to customer relationship. But business to business, as well as customer to customer would have a great potential to borrow. Therefore I personally believe that outside of the hospitality and tourism industry, the technology would find itself useful in many cases.

OpenWays technology is technology for the present and the future. It has the potential to stay ahead in the market for quite a long time. The use of Near Field Communication, or NFC, can have a great impact on how effective this application is, and it can help OpenWays stay ahead of its competitors. The technology can also be used in various other business types, such as airline companies and car rental services.

An innovative technology, such as OpenWays, can potentially impact all businesses, especially hospitality businesses. The needs of customers are changing from a “service” industry to a “self-service” industry. Most customers these days want service fast, and if the service can be done by themselves, all the better. In a news article published recently entitled, “Mobile Services Top Airlines’ Priority Lists; To Meet Travelers’ Expectations, Hotels Need to Invest in the Same”, Andrew Sanders states:

“Because of the convenience and flexibility that mobile devices afford consumers, many -- especially Generation Y (consumers age 18 to 32 who spend approximately $200 billion on travel annually) -- will never be caught without a cell phone. They love instant gratification and are notorious for not being willing to wait in line and hate being delayed or their progress restricted. Just as travelers are eager to board their planes, they are equally as anxious to get into their hotel rooms.” (Sanders).This new generation of customers is changing the way in which people travel,

which also changes the way in which hotel companies need to provide services. The OpenWays application can help hotels offer better service to their customers by giving them the resources to serve themselves. Starting now and into the future, mobile applications for service will be the new way of travel. As Sanders points out, “Mobile transactions too are gaining momentum. Google reports that 70 percent of business travelers will check into their flights/hotel with their mobile device; almost one in four

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hotel queries come from a mobile phone; and more than 50% of travelers are currently using their mobile phone or device for travel-related information.” (Sanders). Companies and, especially, hospitality services that fail to start integrating mobile technology into their service will be left behind as technologically savvy businesses take their customers. OpenWays can help ease the transition into technology for most hotels.

The technology of OpenWays, itself, is far from “behind the times”. OpenWays uses Near Field Communication, or NFC. This technology allows the application to be used on every smartphone brand and company, not just selected phone types. This universality ensures that the application will not have to be updated or changed to allow other users to use it. More specifically, this technology will be the front runner in the business world, because it is the technology used in securely opening the hotel room doors. This secure technology could expand to other areas of travel, including rental car companies. Customers could potentially use this application to open rental car doors or start the engine from their phone. It could also be used in downloading computer data or exchanging information with other phones. This “bump” technology, where NFC devices communicate by just touching each other, can provide endless possibilities in a multitude of business types.

In order for OpenWays to continue to grow and to be successful, it is important for OpenWays to stay ahead of its competitors. In this ever-changing service world, it is not uncommon for companies to see a technology or product and decide to use it in a better or more efficient way. OpenWays must be aware of its competitors, as well as ahead of them. Right now, it is clear that they have the advantage. As RFID blog states, “OpenWays has pioneered front desk bypass solutions, and with the only actual deployments, is the leading solution of its kind, chosen by international and national chains, and leading independent hotels as their standard for enabling guests to skip waiting in line when they arrive at their hotel and head straight to their rooms.” (RFID-Blog). OpenWays is “ahead of the game”, so to speak, but in order for them to stay there, they must ensure that this application is free from glitches and provides all the basic content for customers to use it effectively, but not overwhelm the customers. The application must also have the ability to update information quickly and easily so that the information is relevant to its customers. If the application is too cluttered with information, customers will become frustrated. Getting hotels interested in the product is also another concern for the technology. If implementing this new technology is too expensive or difficult, hotels will be reluctant to add it to their room doors. Most importantly, the application will need to include other uses besides just hotel room doors. By including airline check-in, or car rental technology, the application could become a universal application for traveling, and as long as it is the first application to do so, it will become very successful.

OpenWays is a technology that has the potential to be highly successful and highly useful. Customers appreciate convenience and accessibility, and OpenWays can provide just that. It is important for OpenWays to continue changing in order to satisfy its customers’ needs, as well as stay ahead of its competitors. If OpenWays can insure that they stay in the lead, there is no telling what it could do for the hospitality industry at large. The possibilities of such a technology are endless.

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References:

Worcester, B. (2009, November). 100% of the world cell phones to open. Retrieved from http://www.openways.com/pdf/Openways is HERE 11 03 09.pdf

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Worcester , B. (2010, November). Hotel online . Retrieved from http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2010_4th/Nov10_ASanders.html

New iphone 5 allows hotel guests worldwide to check in and open their room lock . (2012, September). Retrieved from http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4057676.html

Openways announcing: Mobile key dual© with pure nfc™ in cooperation with nordic choice hotels, nokia and nxp. (2012, January). Retrieved from http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4054482.html

Mobile services top airlines' priority lists; to meet travelers' expectations, hotels need to invest in the same. (2012, August). Retrieved from http://www.bluemaumau.org/mobile_services_top

Hotelmanagement.net, Oklahoma hotel offers phone-activated door locks, Sept 25th, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.hotelmanagement.net/technology/oklahoma-hotel-offers-phone-activated-door-locks-17738

Hospitality Technology.com, Hotel Enhances In-Room Dining Experience with iPad ordering. Aug 20th, 2012. Retrieved fromhttp://hospitalitytechnology.edgl.com/news/Hotel-Enhances-In-Room-Dining-Experience-with-iPad-Ordering81755

Openways’ Mobile Key Allows Customers to Open Hotel Rooms with Phones. RFID- Blog. Retrieved from http://www.rfid-blog.com/?p=461.

Sanders, Andrew. (2012 August 8). Mobile Services Top Airlines’ Priority Lists; To Meet Travelers’ Expectations, Hotels Need to Invest in the Same. Hospitality Net. Retrieved from http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4057222.html.

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