Blog 4

Rock, Jerry (2007, March 14). RFID Door Locking Systems - Cool
Technology But Is It Worth the Price?. Retrieved April 14, 2007
from , Web site:
https://mycourses.udel.edu/SCRIPT/HRIM450_050_07S/scripts/student/serve_page.pl/HRIM450_050_07S/assignments/blog_assignment.htm?1156632400+1159553273+OFF+resources.htm+




Summary:

The article “RFID Door Locking Systems - Cool Technology But Is It Worth the Price?” talks about the new electronic locking systems for the hotel industry. Guest don’t usually notice what kind of locks a hotel room has, but to make the décor seem more Cost is the main factor that has caused the RFID locking systems not to be used in U.S. Hotels. Other systems that are offered are Biometric systems the read fingerprints or retinals. Smart card have the same capabilities of RFID but get complicated with storing information . Electronic keys are encoded with a chip and can be very costly and have trouble with other systems. Cell phones will soon be able to open doors to guest rooms. RFID cards are being utilized in resorts and theme parks. OnRFID is up and coming and they are also using RFID for inventory purposes. Once RFID becomes more popular their will be a surge in new technology to RFID systems. Some of the Advantages of RFID include

Low Battery Notification
Maintenance
Key farbs and other devices (marketing potential)
Wristbands for Waterparks
Electronic Wallet/Cashless Purchases
Unmanned Hotels
Cellular Phone Integration
Track Administrative Staff
Ease of Use (No Magnetic Swipe Malfunctions)


Reflection:

I did not feel as they explained the system very well in this article. I understand how RFID works but don’t understand how it can be used in the hotel guest room locking systems. They probably should have done an advantage vs. disadvantage of the systems that are available. I also see that the cell phone technology will work better for business travelers and biometrics will take over if the companies have a database for thumbprint and retinal scans. Although those systems are very expensive I feel that they will become ever important is making hotel rooms more secure. I feel that RFID will help with inventory in the restaurant industry. As far as theme parks are concerned the RFID will work best because theme parks have to deal with so many different things including hotel, restaurants, entrance to parks etc. The magnetic cards are on their way out and will be replaced by any of these systems but it will take time because of the cost involved in the systems and the hotel to look at the benefits and drawbacks of each of the locking systems. I myself like the biometric system the best because everyone has their own finger print.