PIP and mobile-key cycles
Brand property-improvement plans and mobile-key expectations put access control on a deadline. We ship pre-configured to your program so the upgrade lands on time.
Brand mobile-key deadlines, aging keycard hardware, and tight occupancy windows in Chicago.
Salto access control for Chicago hotels.
RevKey is a Certified Salto Partner and veteran-owned business that plans and installs Salto in Chicago, migrating off Onity, Saflok, and VingCard and meeting your brand's mobile-key standard, floor by floor, without pulling rooms out of inventory.
Certified Salto PartnerVeteran-ownedFour-business-hour reply
260,000+Locks installed
1,900+Hotels served
9 daysAvg 240-key cutover
4 hrsResponse window
Why Chicago properties move now
Aging Onity, Saflok, VingCard
Older keycard fleets are winding down, with security notices active across the incumbents. Migrating now beats scrambling when parts and service dry up.
Phased, not shut down
We cut over floor by floor on overnight shifts, so Chicago rooms stay in inventory through the project.
What we plan for in Chicago
The local conditions that actually change how a Chicago access-control project is scoped and sequenced.
Cold-Weather Battery Derating
Chicago winters run well below freezing for extended stretches, and early-generation keycard locks already show shortened battery life in the cold; exterior and unheated corridor doors are most affected. RevKey specifies Salto hardware with cold-rated battery handling and sets a maintenance baseline so winter does not surprise the property with simultaneous low-battery alerts. We sequence exterior and amenity-entry doors first so the most exposed openings are commissioned and tested under realistic conditions.
Union Labor On Install Crews
Union labor is mandatory on most Chicago install crews, and that governs who touches doors, lifts, and low-voltage runs on site. RevKey deploys a dedicated crew to the property and coordinates with the required trades up front so scopes, jurisdiction, and sequencing are agreed before mobilization. This keeps the schedule predictable and avoids stoppages during occupied-floor work.
Convention Calendar Cutover Windows
The McCormick Place and Loop convention calendar drives near-full occupancy in peak weeks, which compresses the windows available for floor-by-floor cutover. RevKey schedules migration around the property's booking pace and works the building in phases so no floor is taken fully offline. We target lower-demand weeks for the heaviest cutover blocks and keep guest-facing doors operational throughout.
Multi-Tower Phasing Complexity
Chicago hospitality runs heavy on multi-tower urban properties in the 300 to 700 key range, where stacked towers, shared cores, and convention-adjacent function space make phasing as involved as it is in Las Vegas. RevKey maps each tower, elevator bank, and amenity zone into an ordered migration plan so wiring, access groups, and guest flow stay coherent across the property. We commission tower by tower so each block is fully live and verified before the next begins.
Common migrations in Chicago
Saflok MT and older keycard hardware dominate. Older urban properties have VingCard installed in the early 2000s.
Each migration page covers your options, timeline ranges, and scoping considerations.
How a Chicago project runs
The same disciplined sequence on every property, scaled to your door count.
Site assessment and door-by-door survey
We walk the property (or review your survey worksheet), confirm door prep and brand requirements, and identify what each opening needs. No guesswork before the quote.
Scope and migration plan
A real scoped quote: hardware, credential plan, PMS integration, and a phased schedule built around your occupancy, not a placeholder estimate.
Phased install
Floor-by-floor cutover on overnight shifts coordinated with housekeeping, so rooms stay sellable. No property-wide shutdown.
PMS and mobile-key validation
PMS integration and brand mobile keys configured and tested before guests touch them, so the front desk is live on day one.
Train and support
Front-desk training and a fixed post-install support window so the team is confident before we hand off.
Salto product lines we install in Chicago
We spec the right line per door type. Open any for full specs and use cases.
Common questions about Chicago installs
How long does a Salto migration take for a large Chicago convention hotel?
For a multi-tower property in the 300 to 700 key band, plan on a phased rollout measured in weeks rather than days, with the exact range driven by tower count, door conditions, and the convention calendar. We work floor by floor and tower by tower so no floor is ever fully closed, and we time the heaviest cutover blocks for lower-occupancy weeks. You get a firm phase schedule before mobilization.
We are still on Saflok MT and some older VingCard. Can RevKey migrate us off those?
Yes. Saflok MT and early-2000s VingCard hardware are exactly the legacy systems we migrate in this market, and our scoping accounts for the older urban door prep those installs left behind. We assess each opening, replace hardware, and bring doors onto Salto with access groups rebuilt to match how your property actually operates. Onity, dormakaba, and other keycard generations follow the same migration approach.
Will Salto support mobile keys for our brand program?
Salto supports mobile credentials alongside physical cards, and we configure the deployment to align with your brand's mobile-key requirements and app integration. During migration we keep cards working so the transition to mobile is additive rather than a hard switch. We confirm the specific brand compliance details as part of scoping before any hardware goes in.
How does RevKey handle union requirements and winter conditions here?
We deploy a dedicated crew to your Chicago property and coordinate with the required union trades before mobilization so jurisdiction and sequencing are settled in advance. For winter, we specify cold-rated Salto hardware and commission exposed exterior and corridor doors first so they are proven under real conditions. Both factors are built into the phase plan rather than handled after the fact.
Next step: scope your Chicago project
Tell us about your property. We respond within four business hours with a real scope tailored to Chicago operational windows.