A safe hotel is not just a luxury

By: Patricia Rivera
Therefore, a hotel always seeks the best solution and the best programs to protect itself from existing threats that prevent it from providing as it should be everything that brings together in this sense the word service.

The tranquility and peace of mind of the guests, the reduction of risks for visitors and employees, the most attractive insurance premiums and a fixed asset investment with greater surplus value are some of the benefits of a protection program in a hotel, which in addition to the security theme includes the automation of all its operating areas.

To analyze this topic we invite to our article Jorge Sosa, representative of Schneider Electric Mexico, a company in charge of developing integration systems and that has had the experience of installing its products in the hotel industry.

Sosa spoke to us from the tour of the company he represents, made a deep current analysis of this market, listed some of the systems they have integrated, their operation and how they are composed. Precisely with this last point we will begin to break down this issue.

Technological and personnel protection
In addition to the guest, the technology factor and the staff are two of the most important points in a hotel and that also complement each other to offer the best of services. The executive explained that a protection system for a hotel has these two components to "achieve comprehensive and effective protection."

The technological system is composed of a Closed Circuit TV, an access control, an intrusion system, fire detection, IT security, continuity of the electricity supply, among others.

"All systems have as a common objective to safeguard human life, material goods and information, through equipment and technology systems that allow timely detection of any incident that leads to a risk, in order to communicate it effectively, mitigate it appropriately in case it occurs, and finally take the necessary measures to control it in extreme cases", Sosa said.

On the subject of personal protection, he explained that "it includes all the procedures, human personnel and organizations that intervene to reduce incidents and control them directly."

Competitive advantages
After this brief reminder about protection systems, it is time to touch on the topic of the competitive advantages that a hotel has when using this kind of technology.

For the Schneider Electric representative, a hotel with a trained staff, with good operating procedures in security, and cutting-edge technology offers the following advantages:

a) Peace of mind to the guests, since they do not worry about the forgotten bag, the safety of the little ones, or suffering an assault.
b) Minimized ant theft risks, which represents an increase in the profitability of the business.
c) Calm and productive employees, as they know that their belongings cannot be lost.
d) Comfort of being in a place where they feel protected in case of an accident, since they know that there is a fire detection system watching over them.
e) Financial stability of the business by paying reduced insurance premiums.

"The investment in security represents an area that has grown in those hotels of luxury categories, since it represents an asset for their guests and gives added value to their services. These hotels are the ones that prefer to make investments with a long-term vision and attract more customers of a higher economic level".

A different situation occurs in other categories, in which the investment is less or none: "Mid-range hotels have reduced their investment in this area and prefer to reuse their existing systems, through expansions or additions, achieving a middle ground of functionality and benefit," Sosa explained, adding that "economic ones prefer cheap solutions that do not guarantee a minimum security of value for guests."

Another issue that cannot go unnoticed is the economic crisis, which also affects in this sense and continues to limit investments.

Jorge Sosa reinforced the previous statement, assuring that the current crisis "has been a great impact, since many works were stopped, many projects have been postponed and investors do not consider it appropriate to carry out negotiations without an obvious return on investment."

Management Systems
Schneider has an energy management system, better known as Building Automation or Building Management, which integrates all devices to allow greater control and better response at the time of an emergency.

"The Management system or Building Automation or Building Management system is one that allows the investor or manager of a hotel to achieve an effective operational management, with significant reductions in energy consumption and maintenance work through more successful activities. Likewise, the system provides behavioral and trend graphs in specific seasons, achieving better planning and a very fast response time to any contingency," explained Jorge Sosa.

The Building Automation or Building Management system covers the following items in an integral way: Environmental sensors, valves and actuators, building control and administration in comfort, energy saving and maintenance, motor control for ventilation systems and pumping equipment, smart starters, monitoring of the consumption and demand of electrical energy, lighting control, efficient lighting through appropriate luminaires, motor control for elevators and escalators, Security/safety, cabinets and cabinets for electronic equipment.

The vast majority of these can be adapted by a hotelier according to their needs, however, according to Jorge Sosa, and as we had commented in previous lines, only luxury hotels give the importance it deserves to this class of integrated systems, since they consider that this investment can be reflected in "the frequency of visits of their guests and in the recommendation that they make of the hotel".

"Hotels generally invest more in the safety and aesthetics of the business than in automation, that is variable and depends on the category and location of the business.
Hotels in beach and luxury areas usually consider automation as a safe and profitable investment, so they allocate part of their budget to systems of this technology."

Schneider Electric bases its success stories on the facilities they have developed for the Palace hotel chain.

a) Room automation: Lighting control through stages, control of air conditioning according to the comfort temperature, remote monitoring of the behavior of the room, indicator light of occupancy / toilet of the room, personalized access control.

b)HVAC automation: Start and stop control of chiller units, speed control of exhaust fans, air control units, cooling towers, ice water pumping system, flow and pressure control in pipes, monitoring of temperatures by zone, humidity control in enclosed areas, control thermostats for fancoil, monitoring of the consumption of each of the components.

c) Lighting control in common areas: Control of each of the lighting panels by schedules, occupancy sensors and photocells.

d)CCTV: Capture of images in all accesses, critical areas and parking lots, recording of events as evidence, continuous monitoring of visitors and guests, supervision of hotel security

e) Access control: Use of access readers to restrict or limit access to critical areas, restriction of access to parking lots, control of entry / exit to warehouses, limitation of use of hotel services such as the gym, business center, etc.

f) Intrusion: Perimeter surveillance system, intrusion sensors in restricted areas, zoned and hourly monitoring.

g) Admon Building Management System: Centralized building manager system that provides on-line reports of the behavior of the building in terms of consumption, expenses, equipment wear, financial planning, accuracy in maintenance, effective visualization of all equipment, energy saving routines, advanced control strategies, interaction between lighting systems, HVAC and security for comprehensive protection.