Welcome to smarter guest registration

Welcome to smarter guest registration.

Throughout the hospitality sector, automation is transforming the guest registration process. Automated identity document readers and biometric scanners are already familiar sights in many airports and other busy passenger terminals. Increasingly, these systems are now being adopted by enterprises as diverse as hotels, holiday resorts, entertainment venues, and car, bike and boat rental operations.

First impressions count

The switch to automation is being driven by a number of factors. For most hospitality businesses, accurate registration of guests’ details is essential to support administrative processes and personalisation of their customer offers. Moreover, registration or check-in is almost invariably the first point of contact with arriving guests. Getting it right is therefore critical to delivering an outstanding experience overall. However, in many hospitality settings, slow and inefficient paper-based methods or legacy technologies are still being utilised. Inevitably, these approaches can create frustrating delays and long queues for customers.

The problems do not stop there. Manual systems are inevitably prone to human error, leading to mistakes when capturing personal details. Front of house staff are also having to deal with a growing array of physical, digital, mobile and electronic credentials, including the new wave of QR code-based ID. Across the hospitality industry, manually recording details has therefore become a laborious and unsatisfactory solution that places excessive demands on staff time. Data protection regulations such as GDPR are another issue forcing hospitality businesses to rethink their strategy for registering guests and customers.

Supercharging the guest registration process

In response, the latest generation of document readers and biometric scanners can supercharge the speed of guest registration, optimise accuracy and enable significant improvements in staff productivity. The leading document readers in this market are specifically adapted to the requirements of hospitality, and compatible with a comprehensive range of ID credentials. Users simply place physical documents face down on the scanner and all the necessary details are automatically captured, quickly and accurately. And the best systems can scan digital, electronic and mobile credentials with equal speed and efficiency. Moreover, these readers provide businesses with robust protection against identity fraud by verifying the authenticity of credentials instantly,.

The key to better access control

Alongside document readers, fingerprint scanners are also being embraced by a growing number of hospitality venues. Biometric verification not only supports guest registration, but also offers a secure and seamless access control solution for swimming pools and other leisure facilities, VIP lounges, and employee-only areas, for example.

The hospitality sector is facing an unprecedented mix of opportunities and challenges. In many areas, visitor numbers are growing rapidly. However, competitive pressures are intense and profit margins continually threatened by rising costs. Businesses are therefore seeking fresh solutions for enhancing their customer experience and ensuring best possible use of staff. Significantly, automating guest registration offers an opportunity to realise both ambitions, while simultaneously addressing other key issues such as compliance with an increasingly rigorous regulatory environment. As a result, progressive businesses are leading the shift away from paper-based processes and legacy technologies. Or, to put it another way, smarter guest registration is enjoying an increasingly warm welcome from the hospitality industry.

Thales has published a new positioning paper for hospitality businesses and systems integrators detailing the benefits of the latest document readers and fingerprint scanners, and how they can be integrated quickly and easily with existing IT systems and infrastructures. To download a copy https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/markets/digital-identity-and-security/government/smarter-guest-registration-identity-document-verification