Hotel ACS.

Hotel ACS.

Hotel magazines cover the topic of specialized hotel access systems or, as they are still often called, electronic lock systems quite regularly. But publications dedicated specifically to security systems rarely touch on this topic. Today's review will attempt to rectify the situation, since interest in hotel security systems has been constantly growing lately (and we will also talk about the reasons for this growth).

So, what is a hotel ACS? And why should this type of system be considered separately from conventional ACS used in office centers, enterprises, etc. (which we will hereinafter conditionally call office ACS)?
Despite the common name — access control and management systems, hotel systems are seriously different from their office counterparts. This is due to the tasks that a hotel ACS must solve, which are quite different from those in the office sector, as well as to the absolutely specific requirements for them.
First, about the tasks that a hotel ACS must solve.
One of the main tasks that an office ACS must solve is control of passage into a building. That is, such ACS begin with control of turnstile groups at the entrance to the building, to which a certain number of access points installed on the doors of offices and other premises (usually located not so far from the entrance turnstiles) are sometimes added. In practice, even recently, the number of access points in an office system rarely exceeds a dozen or two, and at the beginning of development, 99% of systems began and ended at the turnstile. Hence the peculiarity of the development of such ACS: it came from the turnstile controller, i.e. the architecture of such systems initially implied the use of separate hardware controllers to control the existing actuators (turnstiles). Such architecture, in addition to other features, implied the mandatory presence of cable communication lines between the ACS controllers and the central computer of the system, but in the case of a sufficiently compact concentration of access points, laying these lines did not cause any special problems. In addition, office ACS users are usually company employees who can be taught to use the system once. Over a long period of time, the list of users in office systems undergoes minimal changes, so problems with incorrect user actions do not occur so often.
Unlike office systems, hotel systems are built on a strictly opposite principle: the entrance to the hotel must be open around the clock by definition, but many guest rooms must be controlled without fail. And these rooms, as a rule, are located at fairly large distances. And users in such a system change with kaleidoscopic speed: each new guest who arrives at the hotel is a new user. And you can’t read the instructions for using the system to everyone. Therefore, the development of hotel ACS went in a different direction: not from the controller, but from the lock.
Initially, no one even thought about an access control system in a hotel. At a time when in prosperous Europe and the United States nothing was even heard about the increased level of terrorist threats, only one thing was required from hotel locks: to solve the problem of loss and unauthorized copying of metal keys in order to protect against abuse by staff and fraud by guests. Therefore, the first models of hotel locks (there was no reason to talk about a system at that time) were purely mechanical — with a special perforated plastic card that had 2 parts. One part remained in the lock, and if the inserted guest card (i.e. the second part of the plastic card) matched the one in the lock, it opened. The only advantage of such a system was the simple implementation of the principle «new guest — new key». If a guest took the guest part of the key with him, it was enough to take a new set of 2 cards and replace the counterpart in the lock. Of course, there was no talk of event memory (passages) or master cards for personnel (who continued to use regular metal keys) with such a system.
Quite quickly, this lock evolved into an electronic hotel lock on a magnetic card, and for a long time, this type of system dominated the hotel market. We did not misspeak: despite the word «lock» in the name, this is already a system with certain properties. In addition to the locks themselves, the system had such a mandatory component as a control complex. In the simplest case, this could be a special hardware complex in the form of a device with a keyboard, display and a built-in magnetic card encoder. But in most cases, it was still a set of specialized system management software (with a database), a device for programming magnetic cards (encoder) and a portable (wearable) device for working with locks (programmer). This architecture has one fundamental property for hotels: the system works without wires. That is, no cable lines need to be laid between the lock and the control complex — when installing the system even in a fairly small hotel with 100-200 rooms, the savings on wiring are more than significant.

The wireless operation of the system is explained primarily by the fact that, unlike office ACS, magnetic cards in the hotel system are used not as carriers of the user identifier, by which the ACS controller in its memory should find the associated access rights (this is the data that gets to the controller exclusively by wires), but as a carrier of information about access, i.e. the rights are recorded on the card itself. Thanks to this scheme, the locks are programmed (initialized) only once — at the moment of starting the system, and they do not need to be updated after each newly settled guest. Due to its own real-time clock and information read from the card, the lock can independently decide whether to let the guest into the room, or the paid time of stay has already expired and the guest's access to the room should be prohibited. In addition, it became possible to issue master keys that provide access not to a separate room, but to a range of rooms (or to all rooms at once), which significantly simplifies the work of the maids (and at the same time allows much stricter control over their work).Of course, the electronic lock system is not a full-fledged ACS, since it does not provide for operational management of the system in real time: the state of the locks (open-closed) cannot be tracked from the system software; the system protocol (the history of passages using the card) is stored in the lock's memory, and to read it, you need to approach the lock with a portable programmer, and only then can it be transferred to the system database for analysis; finally, the procedure for changing access rights for users who have already received cards is extremely difficult: since the access rights are recorded on the card itself, they can only be changed by gaining physical access to the card to rewrite it.Electronic magnetic card lock systems are still quite common — for hotels that do not have any special requirements for the organization of the access system, their capabilities are quite sufficient to this day. However, there are not many such hotels left.
This is due to the fact that the level of general security has changed quite seriously in the world recently – and, unfortunately, these changes are far from being for the better. The wave of terrorist attacks that swept across the world, including in large hotel centers, forced hoteliers to radically reconsider their attitude to the level of equipment of modern hotels with security systems in general and access control systems in particular. Today, it is almost impossible to find a more or less large hotel with at least 50-100 rooms that would not be equipped with an access control system for service entrances (the main entrance to the hotel for guests is still not controlled, except perhaps in some very specific cases), service, storage, administrative premises and life support premises. This is all in addition to guest rooms, of course.
Some hotels have chosen to install two completely independent systems operating in parallel, i.e. the electronic lock system is installed in parallel with the office ACS in its classical sense. This option is mainly chosen by hotels that have previously installed a hotel lock system, since most of the previous generation lock systems are simply not designed to organize a full-fledged ACS for non-hotel premises. A complete replacement of previously installed hotel locks with a full-fledged hotel ACS for such hotels often turns out to be an unjustified waste of money, which is why they prefer to install a second, parallel system. As a result, two systems most often mean having two cards (at least for the staff: one for the locks in the rooms, the other for the service part of the building) and exactly twice the costs of administration and management.
Unfortunately, we often encounter the practice of installing two systems in new hotels. Most often, this happens due to the banal ignorance of security system designers of the current state of affairs in the hotel ACS market. Our designers very often sin by creating a hotel system as electronic locks for rooms, which are purchased together with the doors, and an office ACS, designed according to the model of an office center or enterprise. As a result, the customer mostly receives a cumbersome, expensive and at the same time ineffective solution.
A much more correct solution for hotels is a single hotel ACS, which solves all the problems of organizing and controlling access to the entire facility, and not just to its hotel or administrative parts.
But before we move on to a detailed description of the capabilities of such systems, let's dwell on the rather specific requirements for hotel ACS.
By definition, all systems operating in the hotel sector should initially work towards a common goal — to make the guest's stay in the hotel as comfortable as possible. It is not for nothing that the hotel industry is called the «hospitality industry» all over the world. Accordingly, from the point of view of organizing access control at the facility, in a hotel everything is strictly the opposite compared to office facilities — instead of the principle of «close and do not let in», in a hotel the guest should feel that all doors are open to him. Of course, if he has not forgotten to pay for his stay at the hotel and additional services. And the ACS equipment, as well as any other, installed in the guest area of ​​the hotel, must meet very strict requirements for its appearance to match the concept of a «modern hotel».
In addition, there is another very specific requirement for hotel access systems, and it directly affects the hardware implementation of access control. The fact is that, according to current legislation, hotels bear a rather conditional responsibility for guests' belongings (the only exception is valuables deposited by the guest in the hotel safe room for safekeeping) and are fully responsible for the life and health of guests. Therefore, from the point of view of priorities of hotel security systems, the systems and requirements for organizing evacuation from the hotel in case of emergencies always take priority over the ACS. This, among other things, results in the condition of ensuring the free exit of the guest from the room. That is, the guest should not press the exit button anywhere, so often used in office ACS, or even show his card. This same condition, by the way, directly prohibits the use of magnetic locks, so beloved by our installers, for locking rooms, simply based on their operating principle. Moreover, in addition to the requirement for free exit, there are also requirements for «anti-panic opening», according to which the guest must leave the room «with one movement of the lock handle», even if the lock was previously locked from the inside with a deadbolt. It can only be implemented at the level of hardware implementation of access devices. As a rule, office ACS cannot do anything like this.

And one more requirement specific to hotel ACS: any modern facility uses a whole range of computerized control, dispatching and security systems. Naturally, many of these systems must interact with each other (i.e. integrate) and solve joint problems. But even from this point of view, hotel ACS are very different from office ACS. First of all, hotel ACS must be able to work together with hotel management systems and in-hotel sales (the so-called PMS and POS systems). This provides an additional level of comfort for the guest (which is the main task of the hotel). Then come energy saving and presence detection systems in rooms, which ensure increased energy efficiency of the hotel and increase the efficiency of the hotel services (i.e. lead to cost reduction). And only then in the list of priorities come the issues of integration with security systems, video surveillance, etc.
As a result, the main tasks that a hotel ACS should solve, in our opinion, are:
improving the quality of guest service and increasing the hotel's profitability;
increasing physical security to the required modern level;
organizing a system for monitoring staff loyalty and increasing the efficiency of hotel services;
increasing energy efficiency and introducing energy-saving technologies;
organization of a single complex of integrated management systems for optimization of business processes, ensuring the functioning of the automation object.
As you can see, the classic task of increasing security is not the main one for a hotel facility. It is inferior in priority to the task of improving the quality of guest service, which leads to the main goal — increasing the profitability of the hotel business.
If we detail the requirements for hotel ACS, we can compile the following list, on the basis of which the technical specifications for the design should be developed:
The ACS installed at a hotel-type facility must solve the problems of streamlining the procedures for granting access to the territory, certain zones and premises, including guest rooms, common and utility rooms, for personnel, visitors and guests. The ACS is also designed to ensure prompt management of the access rights of the above-mentioned categories of users and control over the state and functioning of the system.
The method of organizing access must be as user-friendly as possible for users who have not undergone any training (hotel guests) and have intuitive rules for using access devices (electronic locks) and electronic keys. All access devices must meet safety requirements for evacuation from the facility in the event of an emergency.
The recommended type of ACS for a hotel-type facility is a combined system that combines autonomous (without the need to lay wires) access devices (electronic locks) for rooms, administrative-office and service premises, and online access devices for: service entrance doors; key perimeter and sectional doors; doors located on evacuation routes; as well as doors of premises for which special requirements are imposed on the organization of access.
Autonomous access devices must ensure uninterrupted operation of the ACS, minimizing the dependence of the ACS equipment on the state of the cable wiring, power outages, or the operability of the computer equipment of the central ACS station.
Online ACS devices must ensure operational control (real-time control) of key doors and zones; if necessary, the ACS is integrated with other security systems in relation to online doors (for example, integration with a fire protection system to ensure automatic unlocking of doors located on escape routes in the event of a fire).
If there are special requirements, in addition to the specified types of electronic locks and readers, online electronic locks can be used at the facility, using wireless technologies to organize communication between the locks and the control complex via a secure radio channel in real time.
To facilitate the procedures of administration, management and maintenance of the ACS, the preferred option is to install a single system throughout the facility without dividing the systems into autonomous electronic locks for rooms and an online office-administrative ACS. At the same time, this version of the integrated system must necessarily have the necessary functionality and meet the standards required for specialized hotel ACS.
An important requirement for hotel ACS is also the compliance of the appearance and design of access devices with modern trends; the ability to select the appearance of the equipment in accordance with the general architectural and design concept of the facility; the absence of special requirements for doors for installing access devices that limit the choice of doors in terms of design and construction.
An additional factor when choosing an ACS is the availability of additional equipment or subsystems used at hotel-type facilities from the ACS supplier or manufacturer. These subsystems may include energy saving systems, room presence detection systems, in-room and deposit safes, etc.
Another mandatory condition when choosing an ACS is the ability to integrate with related systems operating at the hotel facility: a hotel management system (PMS system), a point-of-sale management system (POS system), a working time accounting system, etc.
Of course, this list is far from complete and does not reflect all possible nuances, starting from the issues of choosing a data transfer technology (i.e. the type of electronic keys to the room) and ending with the need to include in the hotel ACS, for example, electronic locks for lockers in the fitness center, which is located in the hotel. But we have probably listed all the basic goals and requirements.
It cannot be said that the market is flooded with systems capable of fully solving the tasks and implementing the specified requirements — the majority of offers on the hotel market are still classic hotel lock systems that do not pretend to do anything else except lock the hotel rooms. And this situation is typical not only for the Russian market. Unlike the same office sector, where the Russian market for access systems is very different from the European or American ones, the hotel sector is much more globalized and the situation is almost identical in any part of the world.
However, there are already proposals for systems capable of fully implementing all of the listed functionality. And most of the leading European manufacturers of hotel electronic locks, of which there are not that many, if not implemented yet, are at least working very seriously on the issue of the evolutionary transition from electronic lock systems to full-fledged hotel ACS. Moreover, the competitive situation on the market does not allow the leaders of this process to relax. Being a fairly new type of system, complex hotel ACS have been developing in leaps and bounds in the last 3-5 years. In the last couple of years alone, these systems have not only learned to fully operate in real time via a radio channel, but are also rapidly changing their appearance: electronic locks are constantly being miniaturized, which makes them less and less distinguishable from a conventional mechanical lock; a new class of devices has appeared — electronic cylinders that are capable of implementing all the functionality of a conventional electronic lock, but look like a regular cylinder that can be installed in any lock in literally a couple of minutes.
Therefore, the choice of the path to take when creating security systems for a hotel facility depends quite heavily on the customer (which is generally correct) and the designer (which happens even more often in Russian realities): to use the option of parallel use of two different systems, which has been tested for decades, but is rapidly becoming obsolete and losing relevance, or to give preference to a modern hotel ACS, which has very serious functionality and very significant prospects for further development.