A guide by industry, in three layers: door, locker and reception
Unstaffed operation is made of three layers: the door, storage and handover of items, and reception (booking, membership, check-in and payment).
Which layers you need, and where to start, depends on the industry. You can start with the door and connect reception or lockers later.
KEYVOX covers the three layers with smart locks (QR1 LE / QR1 FLAT / QH1 / BX1), smart lockers, and UnlockOS and Web Check-in. Locks and lockers work with the same QR code or PIN and the same API.
Even unstaffed, cleaning, emergency response and device checks still need people. This page covers those as well.
Three Layers
Unstaffed operation is made of three layers
Following the guest's path: reception decides who may enter and when, the door carries that out, and where a facility needs it, lockers take over the handover of items.
Guest flow
Reception (booking, membership, check-in, payment)Book, pay, check in
The doorUnlock at the door
Storage and handoverPick up luggage, keys or rentals
1. The door
Carries out, at the door, a key (QR code or PIN) that lets that person in only for their time, based on their booking or membership. No internet connection is needed at the moment of unlocking (patented offline QR code, Japanese Patent No. 7717372).
Someone has to hand over keys. Issuing and changing PINs by hand for every booking remains, and late-night and early-morning reception becomes the bottleneck.
2. Storage and handover
Handles luggage storage, handing over keys and equipment, and lending and returning rental items without meeting in person. Lockers open with the same QR code or PIN as the smart lock, so guests need no separate key.
Staff stay at the front desk or counter to store luggage and hand items over. When the building lock and the locker use different keys, guests get into the building but cannot open the locker.
Takes bookings, sign-ups and same-day visits with payment and ID checks, and automatically issues a key to those who meet the conditions. If you already use a PMS or booking system, connect it by API; if not, UnlockOS can be your reception.
A person has to confirm whether a key may be issued (booking, payment, ID) and send it by hand. Automating only the key does not make you unstaffed if reception is still manual.
By Industry
At a glance by industry — what to use for each layer
A summary combining the setups described on each industry page and on the product pages (QR1 FLAT, QH1, Smart Locker and others). Use the industry name to open its page, and the right-hand column for the guide article.
— means neither the industry page nor the product pages describe that layer for this industry (not that it is never needed). For electric locks and automatic doors, QR1 LE is combined with BR1 (Bluetooth) or WD1 (wired LAN / PoE).
Case Studies
What facilities report after going unstaffed
Across industries: which layers each facility combined and what changed. The first two combine the door, lockers and reception.
HostelDoorLockerReception
UNPLAN Fukuoka
Introduced smart lockers and smart locks together and built its own linked check-in. After checkout, guests can still take suitcases in and out with the same PIN for the rest of the day.
These linked features significantly reduced front desk work and raised guest satisfaction.
Even with the door, lockers and reception automated, some work does not go away. Decide who handles it, and how, before you start.
Cleaning and turnover
You can build cleaning time (a cleaning buffer) into the booking slots and issue temporary QR codes to cleaning staff. The cleaning itself is still done by people.
Emergencies, and when a door will not open
Decide who guests contact when a door will not open or they are locked in, and who goes on site. If the PiACKII on the deadbolt runs out of battery, it can only be unlocked with the physical key, so be sure to plan how physical keys are handled in an emergency.
QR1 LE runs about 6 months on four AA batteries and sends an alert to the dashboard when the battery is low. A person replaces them. Wi-Fi is used for key sync, history and remote management, so the network also needs checking.
Facility problems and enquiries
Problems with equipment other than locks (air conditioning, lighting, plumbing) and enquiries about booking changes or refunds remain after going unstaffed. Tell guests where to reach you and when.
Industry-specific procedures
For accommodation, design the operation including how ID checks and guest registers are handled. The hotel and vacation-rental guides set out the approach.
The monthly fee is the base fee plus a fee per lock. A pack is added only if you use the KEYVOX business app. Devices are purchased separately.
Base fee
¥2,500/mo (tax incl.). Charged once per account, regardless of how many locks you connect
Per lock (connected services, API Plan)
¥1,650/lock/mo (tax incl.), when connecting the services you use: third-party PMS, booking systems, UnlockOS and more
Per lock (KEYVOX business app)
¥2,500/lock/mo (tax incl.), combined with the Office Pack at ¥3,000/mo (tax incl.) or the Hotel Pack at ¥5,000/mo (tax incl.)
UnlockOS
No monthly fee; UnlockOS sets its own other pricing. To use KEYVOX smart locks with it you need the Connected Services plan (API Plan)UnlockOS pricing (unlockos.io)
Example
Connected services with 3 locks: base fee ¥2,500 + ¥1,650 × 3 locks = ¥7,450/mo (tax incl.)
Try it free
Every plan has a 30-day free trial, and free demo device lending is available
What has no monthly fee
Only visitor management has no monthly fee (keys are valid until the end of the following month at most, and API or PMS automation is not available, among other limits). Everything else carries the monthly fees aboveFree visitor management
Devices
There is no initial fee; you pay for the devices themselves. We quote according to the number of locks and the door setup (devices are also sold on the official shop)
Prices are as listed on the pricing page as of November 2026. Fees for connected services (third-party PMS, UnlockOS, etc.) are billed separately by each service. Payment is by credit card.
Where to start depends on the industry, but most facilities have fewer do-overs going in this order: check the doors, decide when a key is issued, the door, reception, then lockers if needed.
1
Count the doors and check their type
Deadbolts, electric locks, automatic doors, hotel locks and outdoor gates need different models and installation. Send the door type, the lock model name and photos and we will suggest the matching setup.
Start with one lock on one door, and use the 30-day free trial or free demo device lending to check how many keys you actually issue and how the operation runs.
4
Connect reception
If you use a PMS or booking system, connect it by API (API Plan); if not, run booking, membership and check-in on UnlockOS.
Facilities that hand over luggage, keys or rentals add smart lockers. They are custom-built from a single unit with a 3-month lead time. They share the lock's API, so the same QR code opens them.
No. The layers you need differ by industry, and some facilities start with the door alone. Lockers work with the same QR code or PIN and the same API as the smart lock, so adding them later does not require guests to install another app.
Can I keep using my current booking system or PMS?+
Yes. KEYVOX publishes a REST API, and connecting third-party PMS and booking systems uses the API Plan (¥1,650/lock/mo, tax incl.). Supported PMS and booking sites are listed on the integration partners page.
No. They unlock with a QR code or PIN, and QR codes can be added to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Web Check-in also runs entirely in the browser on the guest's smartphone.
Will doors stop opening if the internet goes down?+
Unlocking does not stop. QR codes use a patented offline method (Japanese Patent No. 7717372), so no connection is needed at the moment of unlocking. What pauses while offline is the cloud side: key sync, history and remote management. Outdoors, water drops on the QR reader can stop it reading a code, so fit a canopy or choose the spot with care.
Can it go on outdoor doors and gates?+
QR1 LE is water resistant to JIS C0920 protection class 5 (equivalent to IPX5) and can be installed outdoors, for example on gates. QR1 FLAT is only splash resistant and is not recommended outdoors. BR1 and WD1, which control electric locks, are not waterproof, so outdoors they are installed inside a waterproof box.
QR1 LE notifies the dashboard when its battery runs low, so you replace the batteries then (about 6 months on four AA batteries). If they do run out, connecting a mobile battery to the USB Type-C port lets you unlock. The one to watch is the PiACKII on the deadbolt: when it runs out, only the physical key opens the door, so decide who keeps the physical key and where.
How much of the pricing is public?+
Monthly fees are published on the pricing page (a base fee of ¥2,500/mo, tax incl., plus a fee per lock). Devices are quoted by the number of locks and door setup. Every plan has a 30-day free trial, and free demo device lending is available.
Yes. Smart lockers can be built into your own service through the public API, and sizes can be designed from a single unit. At Nagasaki Stadium City, booking, payment and unlocking are all completed in the official app.
Tell us your door types and how you operate (booking, membership, same-day visits), and we will suggest a setup and a cost estimate. Free demo device lending is available.
