Industry Trends Paper on OpenWays. The mobile key application of the present and future.

1. HT 344-Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales
Fall
12
HT-344 Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and
Sales
Professor Eric Brey.
Oct 3rd, 2012
Hospitality Trend Assignment
Team Members: Katie Werner, Pu Zhao, Claire Zelenka
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2. HT 344-Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales
OpenWays is a company which provides mobile-based access management
solutions for the security and hospitality industries. In November 2009 the “mobile key”
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 MauriMaza. 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
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3. HT 344-Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales
credential). By doing this the phones will always be compatible with OpenWays
platforms, thus making it “fully future proof”
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 applicationmay embody the future technology applicationtrend 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 complimentaryiPads 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.
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4. HT 344-Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales
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
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
enjoyperson-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
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5. HT 344-Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales
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
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
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6. HT 344-Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales
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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7. HT 344-Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales
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
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
th
25 , 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 from
http://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.
HospitalityNet.Retrievedfrom http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4057222.html.
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