Ben s Group RFID Unit Group Paper 03 02 07 Who We Are We represent a multi million dollar hospitality company with resorts worldwide We believe guests are the lifeblood of our business and our business is making our guests feel not just comfortable but spoiled in every way We have properties in various tropical locations most with extensive beaches and beachfront entertainment and restaurants We pride ourselves on the privacy and safety our guests feel throughout their stay Our RFID Project RFID has given us the ability to cater to our guests in a completely new way while also allowing us to improve their safety privacy and convenience at every turn In a traditional resort you might be given a room keycard after checking in with your credit card At many locations throughout the resort such as restaurants or spas you would present this card to have your services billed directly to your room This approach has presented many problems in the past 1 Room keycards work well in many hotel environments because they easily fit in a wallet At our resort guests frequently do not carry a wallet As a result the cards are often forgotten lost or damaged due to being exposed to harsh environments like beach sand 2 Room keycards do not allow a guest to be identified easily since they do not have a guest s name or picture Presenting this card in order to sign charges to your room is a significant fraud risk 3 Room keycards are inherently disposable thus leading to wasteful behavior The cards are disposed of frequently and cards are often lost or misplaced Besides being an expensive and inconvenient solution it is also not particularly friendly to the environment To eliminate these issues we have chosen to implement a wristband which contains an RFID tag This tag can only be read over an extremely short distance a few inches and only contains a unique identifier for each guest No personally identifiable information is stored on the tag itself Using our existing network infrastructure we have been able to deploy point of sale systems which allow these tags to be read and which then display a picture of the guest taken digitally during check in on the display This allows our staff to verify that the tagholder is indeed the right guest In an additional security measure the antenna of the tag is designed to run the full length of the wristband This precaution means the tag must be intact to function if it breaks is stolen or falls off it automatically deactivates This wristband RFID tag solution solves all of the problems with the prior keycard solution Since the tags have no battery they are wearable small and unobtrusive They can be taken into the water or sauna or left exposed to the sun for hours A guest is now able to use this tag to pay for any items without needing to sign or carry any cash or credit cards and the transaction is accomplished in a far more secure manner Finally the safety and security of the guest is enhanced since there is no way to lose or leave your room key to fall into a criminal s hands and transactions are much better secured since the wristband is permanently in your possession Finally those traveling with children gain particular benefits since we have implemented kiosks throughout the resort which allow your child to touch his or her wrist to the reader and have the parents paged to that location QUESTIONS THE MEDIA WILL ASK The use of RFID tags in any situation has proved to be controversial over the past few years As a resort that depends on high customer satisfaction and a positive reputation our RFID system is designed to prevent controversy and fully protect our customers interests while providing the greatest benefit and efficiency Tough questions will be presented about how our guests privacy is maintained since so much bad publicity about RFIDs have focused on the negative aspects of its tracking ability Negative press about RFID equipped credit cards will likely motivate tough questions about the possibility for fraud Finally as a resort that focuses on our customers wellbeing many of our guests will be considered about their health and so an investigative journalist will want to know how we are protecting our guests health Below are some of the tough questions you ll be asked and how you might want to respond Since the ability of RFID to track products and people have been the most publicized part of RFID the toughest questions will come in that area However we ve crafted our policies to ensure there will be nothing in our plan for the media cast in a negative light Privacy Concerns Why are you tracking the whereabouts and activities of all of your customers As a resort our number one objective is to ensure our guests have the most pleasant and memorable experience possible Indeed we very much hope they will choose us again in the future As a result we constantly seek new ways of exceeding our customers expectations The introduction of RFID wristbands has been a phenomenal success in this regard No longer do our guests need worry about carrying a room key charge cards cash or ids to enjoy our facilities Regarding the idea of tracking our guests we of course keep a running tab of expenses incurred by the guest While some may call this tracking purchases it is actually no different than using your credit card Your credit card company keeps track of how much money you spend and where and when the transaction occurs so that your bill is accurate We do the exact same thing in order to ensure that you don t have to pay any spurious charges while enjoying the great added convenience of wireless payment Keeping track of when RFID wristbands access a room helps to make sure your family and your family alone can access your room This is no different than the slashcards already in use at nearly every hotel and resort in the world You can track significant information about customers from what they purchase to when they enter and leave their rooms What do you do with this data Who has access to it We take our guests privacy very seriously Any information we gather is held strictly confidential and we go to great lengths to collect only the information absolutely necessary to make your stay as relaxing and pleasant as possible In our efforts to continuously meet and exceed our guests expectations we at times try to learn patterns and trends of how our guests user our facilities For example we recently learned that around 23pm the lines for Jet Skis can become very long