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If you are an owner of a vacation rental property in the Mountain Region, you know there is a lot to appreciate about this highly profitable accommodation model. This business, like any other, requires strict attention to both protecting your investment and creating a positive guest experience. Fortunately, access control and security technologies provide the control and security you want without becoming a “helicopter host”.
Access Control
Physical keys pose one of the most significant security risks to rental properties. Some of the problems with them include the possibilities of being lost, stolen, or purposefully duplicated. If you lose a key, you lose control and jeopardize the safety of future guests and your investment.
To solve the problem, use smart locks for access control. In addition to removing the possibility of lost or stolen keys, access control also lets you strictly control arrival and departure times, prevent “squatting”, and avoids the problems and delays involved with getting keys returned.
Video Surveillance
Used in accordance with your platform guidelines, video surveillance can provide guests with an added feeling of security in their temporary and unfamiliar environment. Video surveillance systems and video doorbells also deter crime and help you keep an eye on your property when it is unoccupied. Another advantage to having a video doorbell or video surveillance system is that it helps you ensure guests are abiding by your rules, such as number of guests or upholding a no-pet policy.
Motion Sensors
As a vacation rental owner, you may want to restrict access to certain arrears of your property, such as an outdoor shed, garage, basement, or workshop. Using motion sensors can help keep guests from wandering around agreed-upon restricted areas. When using motion sensors, be sure they do not violate any platform policies, which may include that sensors do not activate a video surveillance camera that can record and transmit audio, video, or still photographs.
Automation Technologies
Using automation technologies is another excellent way to boost guest comfort while attaining greater efficiencies. With a smart thermostat, for example, you can acclimate the home to comfortable temperatures for guest arrivals, so they do not have to arrive at a home that is too warm or cold. It also allows you to set temperature ranges that cannot be exceeded to keep utilities costs within expected ranges. Smart lighting technologies can allow you to make the home appear to be occupied when it is not for an added layer of effective security.
Don’t Forget Fire and Life Safety Devices
Installing the latest fire and life safety technologies is another way to improve guest experience. The presence of robust smoke, fire, and Co2 systems allows guests to rest easy and demonstrate your level of care.
Understand the Policies of Your Platform
If you are using Airbnb or other rental platforms, it is important to understand the restrictions of how you use technologies such as video surveillance and other smart devices so that you do not violate their policies.
Airbnb reads as follows:
“Our Standards & Expectations require that all members of the Airbnb community respect each other’s privacy. More specifically, we require hosts to disclose all security cameras and other recording devices in their listings, and we prohibit any security cameras and other recording devices that are in or that observe the interior of certain private spaces (such as bedrooms and bathrooms), regardless of whether they’ve been disclosed.”
Most of them are quite similar, but it is important to check the rules for the specific platform you use.
InterMountain Systems Meets Residential Security Needs
No matter the potential hazards you face or challenges you want to solve, InterMountain Systems can tailor a residential security system to meet your needs. For more information about our solutions, call us today! (970) 827-9120
