Gunmen take guests hostage at Rio luxury hotel screamed the headline of a report, another report on a different site lamented the state of the Lebanese hospitality industry, the growth of which is dependent on security in the region infamous for its instability.

Closer to home, nobody foresaw a terrorist attack until suddenly, two prominent Mumbai hotels were left battling and scarred.

The focus of terrorism has seen a shift to much softer targets such as hotels, clubs and tourist destinations – apparent weak spots since governing bodies across the world have upped security across their own properties. When an attack does happen, rarely does one stop to think – what if?

If you are a hotelier, here are a few quick non-intrusive ways to help you pre-empt and prepare for possible security threats, apart from the regular measures such as baggage and employee screening.

Tap Your PMS
Your PMS's guest history allows you to gather guest preferences and dislikes. It also helps you capture a picture of your guest, along with address, company, ‘arriving from' and ‘proceeding to' information, and passport details to serve as future reference.

Vehicle Tracking
A vehicle management system can keep tabs on all vehicles entering and exiting your hotel. Combine this with the Guest History data, so that you can tag vehicles to in-house guests, and also add driver and vehicle number details.

Restricted Entry
Ensure that all your employees are allowed access to only their specific work areas. Biometric access control can be interfaced with your PMS to limit employee movement. Make sure that only authorized supplier staff and vehicles are allowed into the property.

As you can see, simple technology put to effective use, can most often save us from the worst. However, if you want to understand how efficient your security infrastructure is, try a technology audit, which will give you a clear picture of how to put your technology to the best use. More on this in our next blog.

In the meanwhile, how is your hotel coping with the challenge of security?

Established in 1987, IDS Softwares Pvt. Ltd. is Asia's largest dedicated provider of integrated, full-service enterprise property management software for the hospitality and leisure industry. Powered by 24 years of experience and enabled by a vibrant mix of domain experts from the hospitality and technology spheres, IDS designs, develops, markets and maintains a comprehensive range of information management systems for various hospitality businesses including hotels, restaurants, clubs and resorts.

www.idsnext.com