Sunday, August 10, 2008

Volume 50 - i.2 series of Hotel Entrance Locks

Starting a full-line private labeled architectural door hardware company serving the North and South American commercial construction market is difficult enough without extending the line to include a private labeled Hotel Entrance Door Lock series to compete with the 'established giants' in the Hospitality Industry. Independence2, LLC with our i.2 series of private labeled architectural door hardware has again 'stepped up to the plate' with a full line of Hotel Entrance Door Locks.


One of the interesting things that we've found concerning Hotel Entrance Door locks, aside from it being controlled by only a few manufacturers, is that the United States market is and has been sold on an old process, the Magnetic strip card. For those of you that travel or have stayed in a Hotel room in the last 50 years, this is no surprise. What would be a surprise is if your 'room key' turned out to be an Intelligent Card (chip) or a RFID (proximity) type card. The amazing thing is that everywhere else in the world the Magnetic Card is 'old-school', with poor security and being replaced by either the IC or RFID type card. These newer type cards can store information, have a higher lever of security, and can be used throughout a property for more than simply opening a door.


The main reason that your Hotel Room Door has a lock on it is to make sure that the access control function is used only by you. Simple enough; but unfortunately not only is your room accessed by staff and security, magnetic type cards are easily duplicated; therefore, access control must be a managed process. Aside from the Hotel Industry this new technology can be taken to much higher levels of security such as with Schools or Businesses where graphics and photos plus higher degrees of biometrics can even personalize the card in this managing access process.


With regards to the Hotel industry, the smart card technology enables only approved personnel and or guest to either full or limited access to a facility, at certain times of the day or week or 'stay' during one's hotel visit. The control can also automatically terminated upon a certain length of time; can be used for not only full-time staff but also temporary employees or vendors requiring access to the facility. Even more important, in today's 'Green Environment' with folks finally understanding the importance of saving energy not only for the 'planet's' sake but for sake of the 'bottom-line.' Going 'Green' is not only a positive environmental decision, but one that truly makes 'dollars and sense.'


Energy costs in guestrooms are one of the most expensive capital expenditures a hotel can incur. With the i.2 series of Hotel Entrance Locks, we address this issue, not as an option, but as part of our product offering. All of our Hotel Room Entrance Locks come with an energy saving device. It has been stated that 65% of the time hotel guests are not in their room; so why heat, cool, or light the room when the room is unoccupied? With our Entrance Room Locks, our Smart Cards and RFID Cards turns 'on and off'' the energy within the hotel room as soon as the guests enter or depart the guestroom.


We at i.2-Independence2, LLC now have ready for the market place a full line of private labeled Hotel entrance door access devices including the standard Magnetic strip card, but also the more secure I/C smart card and the RFID card with all the associated card readers, integrated software systems, energy saving device, and even perimeter access controls for side entry with either the Smart Card or the RFID card access control systems. The hardware is exquisite with many designs and finishes along with the added security from a company that understands the needs of the customer.


We are continuing our R & D to the next level which will include higher degrees of Biometric access. For those locations and applications that require higher security, development is taking place with a retinal scan device as well as voice recognition system, understanding that, at this time, these systems are in the much higher price bracket as well as requiring more personal information from the user. Along with this technology is the combination hardware/software systems that will use a RFID proximity card and a video recognition system. This system involves calling up a profile in a video system and a facial recognition test comparing prepared data to a live image. This control/video system and in particular the facial recognition aspect is still an evolving technology but one that is rapidly advancing.

The i.2 series of architectural door hardware - Where Architectural Door Hardware meets Value and Design meets Imagination