Visitors headed for the Clarion Hotel in Stockholm are set to take part in a world-first trial, with guests offered a chance to check-in with a mobile phone.

In partnership with Nordic telecom giant TeliaSonera, the hotel will even allow visitors to receive their hotel room key directly to their mobile phones before arriving at the hotel.

The pilot employs near field communication (NFC) technology to allow guests to access other services via their mobile, and on departure, the check-out process using their phone.

The goal of the pilot is to get feedback from guests and employees using the NFC phones for a variety of services.

“At TeliaSonera, we are looking at many ways of using the mobile phone to make our customers’ lives easier,” Johan Wickman, who heads up the Nordic telecom giant’s research and innovation division, said in a statement.

Pictured: Guests arriving at the Clarion Hotel

“The NFC technology, along with other inbuilt technologies, brings a new dimension to the mobile device which opens new growth opportunities,” he added.

Security

The technology also increases security.

If a mobile phone is lost, the access credentials can be revoked remotely and then reissued. This makes it impossible for unauthorised people to use a lost or stolen NFC mobile phone.

The pilot starts this week and will last for four months.

The experience gained from the Clarion Hotel Stockholm pilot is planned to be enhanced and expanded over time to other hotels as well as to commercial and residential buildings.

Mobile-contactless services such as payment, ticketing and loyalty have enjoyed successful pilots and are now being made available to the commercial market.

Following the success of those pilots there is now a new category of services - mobile keys that can be added to the mobile-contactless industry.

World Mobi

Also in Europe today, World Mobi launched its new city guide to Stockholm. 

World Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the World Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, London.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Stockholm.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.