On this Memorial weekend, many people are traveling and spending time in hotels. Here is a Friday fun technology trend to kick off the holiday weekend: Some hotels are now allowing customers to use their cell phones as hotel room keys.
The customers are test marketing the idea in two Holiday Inn locations in Chicago and Houston.
According to reports I’m reading, the system is called OpenWays, which sends a unique and encrypted audio code to a customer’s phone before arrival and check-in. He or she also gets a text message with the room number, allowing that weary traveler to skip the hotel registration desk.
The designers say it is safe as a hotel keycard to use, and will be tested in more hotels in June—just a few days away!
OpenWays is available to users on iPhone, BlackBerry and “Droid” phones, and will soon be usable on other platforms as well. I haven’t downloaded the app yet, but I may have to check this out!