Vacation Rental (Airbnb): SMS as a Door Key

The host rents out four vacation apartments through Airbnb. For every arrival, she had to be on site in person to hand over the key. Delayed flights or traffic jams often meant waiting until late at night, and a lost key meant the locks had to be changed.

All apartments now have a smart lock with a numeric keypad. For each booking, the system generates a new PIN code for the stay. The SMS API sends it on a schedule on the day of arrival to the guest's mobile number, together with the address and information about the apartment.