RFID Access Control.

Is your resort ready to migrate from bar coded tickets to RFID media? Let us guide you through your choices, and explain how SKIDATA RFID and RTP|ONE lead to ‘hands-free’ freedom for you and your Guests.

Bar code tickets are to the ski industry what CDs are to the music business: still in use, but moving past its prime.  CDs aren’t the long-term media of choice for consumers, and soon, bar code tickets could become a thing-of-the-past for riders and skiers.

Enter RFID (or Radio Frequency Identification), powered by SKIDATA. As technology goes, it has a wide appeal, and is already used in many different industries. Highway toll roads use it. Retail stores use it to identify merchandise as well.  Even major sporting events are using it for tickets and stadium entrance control.  European skiers have long enjoyed RFID or ‘hands-free’ access to many of their favorite ski areas, too.  Let RTP show you how we can make this a reality for your resort’s operations to improve the Guest Experience.

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The technology itself is relatively simple:

• Guests purchase an RFID card at a ticket window.
• Entering the access point - typically a turnstile gate is equipped with an RFID antenna or ‘reader’ (Handheld RFID readers are also available, depending on your needs)
• RF signal is ‘picked up’ - the reader detects an RF signal from the RFID card.
• Guest information is accessed instantly – 
  • From a tiny microchip embedded in the card, a gate reader picks up the RFID media’s unique serial number when the ticket or pass is presented; 
  • a guest profile, photograph, and ticket or season pass info is associated to the serial number through the integrated RTP|ONE software 
• Validated or denied – if the RFID card is validated with proper access privileges, the gate opens; if it’s not, access is denied, and the gate remains closed; scanning errors are virtually eliminated. 
• Fraud mitigation - a Gate Monitor at each access point allows employees to visually compare a ticket or pass holder ‘s face to image stored on the media card
• “Hands-free” convenience  - since the RF signal can be read through clothing, the RFID ticket or card can remain inside a skier or rider’s jacket; Lines move quicker since Guests no longer have to fumble around trying to find their ticket or card.

To North American skiers, where bar code tickets have been the standard, RFID Access Control holds the promise of a new ‘hands-free’ ticketing future for resorts. The best part? The technology is already proven, it streamlines access to your terrain and provides plenty of other benefits—like helping to reduce fraud at your resort—which ultimately is good for your operation’s bottom line.

Please read this article originally published in the Aspen Times about Aspen Skiing Company’s (Aspen, CO) implementation of RTP’s RFID technology to see how it’s already impacting their resort.