The HSU BT series online hotel locks are based on the time-tested mechanical part of offline hotel locks, in which many years of operating experience of HSU locks has shown an insignificant, close to zero, failure rate. The electronic part of the lock providing the hotel ACS online function and BLE support has been updated.
The new HTLock software for managing hotel ACS is intended for installation on the local hotel server. Also, it provides fault tolerance of the solution in case of a data exchange failure. For working with the local server a browser is used. Installation of additional software on the staff computers, including hardware drivers, is not required. A simple option of publishing the ACS local server to the Internet makes it easy to manage and totally control the solution from any part of the world. It also does not require installation and configuration of any software on the computers of managers and owners performing remote control and monitoring. A standard browser is enough for working.
Also, we have provided for such an important aspect for the hospitality business as the integration of electronic locks into the hotel PMS. The PMS integration module has been improved to support both systems at the same time (the ILMS offline locking system and the HTLock online locking one), including in a mixed mode, when the hotel can simultaneously use both offline and online locks.
HTLock-based online hotel locks support the following guest authorization types:
- A guest card operating offline.
- A card of a permanent guest operating online.
- An Android or iOS mobile app to open a lock over BLE.
- An offline passcode (for password locks).
- An online passcode (for password locks). In this case, each guest gets a single code valid for all locks on the way.
- Remote lock opening.
There is an absolute advantage: the hotel managers and owners have access to all reports on guests' check-ins and door opening events in real time. It is convenient to compare these reports to the actual transactions conducted in the hotel management system. This option was introduced due to the capability of the HSU integration module to accept commands for issuing cards, including the name of a guest.
To connect the locks to the server, a highly energy-efficient Sub-1G protocol operating at 433 MHz is used, which is provided by the HSU-BTGW gateway with the support of up to 32 locks at the same time. The gateway is connected to the server through an Ethernet network.
The HSU-CT-BT encoder (card programmer) is connected to HTLock software and the PMS integration module also through an Ethernet network. No ports on the staff computers and hardware drivers are required.
To control non-standards passageways, such as doors or gates with electromagnetic or electromechanical locks, turnstiles, and barriers, the HSU-HAC-BT wall controller can be used, the output of which is presented in the form of a COM-NC/NO type of relay.
In addition to electronic locks, HSU offers an online energy-saving switch HSU-FK002-BT that can be used as a lock gateway for each room door. It connects to the server either via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. The wireless connection makes it possible to install switches in operating hotels without a necessity to lay new cables.
In addition to the local gateway for the room lock, the energy-saving switch has one more function to provide online control over the use of the rooms. All events of turning the light on and off are reflected in real time in the corresponding HTLock report with the indication of the card type, inserted into the switch pocket, the name of a guest or a staff member who owns the card, the moment of turning the power supply on and off. A separate security report contains the events of a long stay of the staff card in the pocket. Data from the security reports help to prevent improper use of the rooms by the hotel staff when the manager is absent.