Hotel management has to tread a fine line between maintaining strong security and ensuring privacy protection for every guest.
Every business has to deal with a level of balance between security and privacy, but for hotels, this balance can be much more difficult. As a hotel owner, you want to be able to keep a close eye on guests and visitors in order to maintain strong security and ensure the safety of your business as well as your customers and employees. Unfortunately, there are a few more rules to follow that can limit your security due to the need for privacy protection.
Surveillance Systems
Surveillance systems are caught in a frustrating struggle between commercial properties and the general public. Surveillance systems are absolutely everywhere because they are the foundation of every good security system. With the constant updates rolling out to modern surveillance systems, such as high-resolution streaming and AI-driven data analysis, they’ve become more important than ever for businesses to maintain security. Unfortunately, the general public can experience a lot of stress when it comes to surveillance systems due to the loss of privacy.
For hotels, surveillance systems tread an especially fine line. Hotels are a traveler’s home away from home, and there is an expected level of privacy during their stay. For these systems, the most important thing is to ensure that they are only installed in common areas such as the lobby, hallways, elevators, and the restaurant or bar if present. These systems can never be installed inside guest rooms, which makes security more of a challenge for hotels. Security personnel needs to always be on their toes in order to catch unusual or suspicious behavior happening in common areas where cameras are present because there aren’t any eyes beyond the room doors.
Room Intrusion
Speaking of which, hotels are responsible for keeping uninvited guests out of rooms they don’t belong in. Hotel security needs to ensure that only authorized guests are getting into the rooms at their hotel—this is critical for guest safety.
Most hotels use card readers for access control. These are good systems that make the room feel secure while also being convenient and user-friendly for every guest. However, cards can be spoofed, and that can lead to trouble. Since these access control systems can be side-stepped, hotel security needs to catch problems before they enter the room. Once an uninvited guest has found their way in, it is a breach of privacy.
Thankfully, more hotels have been upgrading from magnetic key cards to RFID key cards, which are more difficult to spoof and are even more convenient than traditional magnetic key cards.
Guest Data
The most difficult security for any business is always cybersecurity. Everyone has their information stored on servers around the globe in relation to the businesses they use, and that means every major data breach can be one that results in stolen identities, banking fraud, and all sorts of serious problems. Hotels, like every other business, need to employ strong cybersecurity measures that are constantly being updated in order to protect any sensitive information about their guests. Over the years, this data will be extensive and significant, making it a tempting target for hackers.
TRUST THE PROFESSIONALS AT ARK SYSTEMS
Located in Columbia, Maryland, ARK Systems provides unsurpassed quality and excellence in the security industry, from system design all the way through to installation. We handle all aspects of security with local and remote locations. With over 30 years in the industry, ARK Systems is an experienced security contractor. Trust ARK to handle your most sensitive data storage, surveillance, and security solutions.
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