Speedier check-in at hotels with mobile phone

SINGAPORE: The days of queuing for your room at a hotel may be over. A new system lets guests check-in via their mobile phone.

Upon arrival, they just need to sign, on an iPad, and the room key is theirs.

UbiQ Global Solutions is the provider of the mobile phone check-in system, which Bay Hotel Singapore will be implementing.

The hotel claims to be first in Asia to have this type of check-in for guests.

Bay Hotel's general manager, Philip Raj, said: "For the traditional check-in process, that will take about five to 10 minutes. With this new technology in place, it will reduce the check-in process to almost a minute, and even some cases can be 30 seconds."

A visitor from Vietnam, Truong Thuyvan, said: "Sometime the customer, they (are) busy, you know, so (quick) check-in is good."

Mr Raj also said manpower is optimised.

"We can actually allow staff to be more prepared in the back of the house so that - before the guest arrives, you will actually know when the guest is coming and he's got room readily available for him to move in to. So that allows great productivity for the guest as well as for the staff."

Managing director of UbiQ Global Solutions, Harbans Singh, said: "This is going to evolve even further when hotels start deploying this door-lock systems with Near Field Communication, or NFC, and this allows you, the guest, to even use their phone to open the door. So if you have confirmation, you've to know which room you're in, you go straight to your room, use your phone and open the door."

- CNA/ck

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