Access control

 

Forgetting about technical and management reasons, first and foremost your clients will be looking at where the site is located, what price you are charging and what SECURITY measures you have in place?


So possibly the biggest reason to invest in the best security you can afford is to prevent another operator simply moving in next door and being able to claim they are better as they will hold your clients goods in a more secure environment.


Access Control Systems not only offer your clients peace of mind that their goods are secure but are an essential tool of managing your self storage facility. The job of the access control system is to only allow entry to your building if the client is authorized to do so. This can range from simply controlling the perimeter, ( gates and main entrance doors) to also monitoring each of the clients individual units. This becomes increasingly more important should you decide to allow your clients access out of manned hours.

 
Self Storage Security - Digitech Access Control System
Self Storage Security - Global Electronic Access Control System
Self Storage Security access control digitech keypad

A conventional access control system

.....would consist of main entrance and exit keypads or swipe systems, whereby a door or sliding gate would allow or deny entry.

Although this system is adequate for basic access control, it does have some disadvantages when compared with a bespoke self storage access control system.


These are :

  • They often will not interface with the self storage management systems and when they do they don’t have all the features
  • They will not allow you to issue multiple PIN codes for a single unit – very useful if not essential for commercial tenants
  • They will not allow you to issue a single PIN code for multiple units – far more convenient than having to remember lots of PIN codes.

Also an industry specific system could be installed with individual door alarms to each unit. This would act in a similar manner
to the clients home alarm system, i.e. when the client keys in at the perimeter, the system would not only allow access but also un-alarm their specific alarm on their storage unit.

 

Why do you need door alarming ?Self Storage Security access control global electronic keypad

It's simple, despite installing basic access control, tail gating is impossible to eradicate unless you have created an “ airlock system” or you have a physical barrier such as a turnstile that only allows one entrant at a time. Therefore its clear to see that if anyone can get into the facility undetected, if the clients padlock is the only form of “ unit protection”, there is a considerable risk that their unit could be targeted by a thief.

 

How does the thief know which unit to target?

 

Again, simply put, they don’t, unless they have been canvassing the site for a period of time, ( this can often be established if the manager is diligent about looking at CCTV footage in connection with the access logs as part of general management of the site.

 

Essentially, Self storage facilities are not generally ram raided however it is more likely that the tenant who has not paid their bill would remove their possessions in the middle of the night( after tailgating). Or the client would have removed the contents of other peoples units into their own over a period of time and then (not so ) innocently empty it under the watchful eye of your manager and CCTV.