Productivity is a marriage of hardware and software

THE next time you check into a hotel in Europe or the US, chances are that you would be able to bypass the traditional stop at the front desk, do a self-check-in at an e-kiosk, and go straight to your room.

The same efficiency that we now associate with automated machines (ATMs) at banks and online check-ins for flights is now reaching the hotel world.

Such automated check-in systems may soon be on offer in Singapore too. In October last year, it was announced that Far East Hospitality's Village Katong Hotel was working with the Singapore Tourism Board to test-bed a self-check-in system. In a typical system, guests check in by computer or phone before they arrive and enter their expected arrival time. A barcode is sent to the traveller to print out or display on his phone. At the hotel, the guest scans the barcode at a kiosk and types in the number of keys needed. The machine assigns a room and spits out the plastic key cards, and the guest can head upstairs.