Over the past couple of years the self-storage industry has been leaning heavily into technology to keep pace with growing demands. Self-storage software solutions are helping to automate facility operations and management, helping operators save time, money, and energy, to run their businesses efficiently. 73% of operators flagged automation as essential for streamlining operations and staying competitive, Storeganise 2024 Industry Report.
By investing in smart self-storage management software, operators can increase their occupancy rates while reducing operational costs of their facilities. Operators can digitize storage unit bookings, membership payments, and more, all from a centralized platform streamlining management. Dashboards can also help to maximize revenue through detailed insights surrounding storage space use analytics.
Tenants have the convenience of simply downloading a mobile app where they browse availability, rent a unit, and manage their accounts entirely from their smartphones. But what about access? For most facilities tenants still need to pick up physical credentials or receive a pin code to access the facility and their unit. What if they could access the unit they booked with a mobile credential stored in the same app they booked it through? This is the piece of the puzzle that many software providers that are helping to automate the self-storage industry are missing.
Advancements in open standard mobile access software is providing self-storage management software providers with the opportunity to add value to their mobile apps features with mobile credentials that can be stored and used within the same app. By integrating secure mobile credentials directly into the same app used to book and manage a unit, software providers can help operators deliver a truly frictionless customer experience. Mobile credential access permissions can be synchronized with booking time and dates, meaning once a storage unit booking time has expired the mobile credential will be instantly deactivated.
Tenants can simply use their smartphones to open gates, doors, elevators, and even individual storage units with NFC tap-to-unlock technology, QR code scan and even through iOS and Android widgets, eliminating the need for physical keys, access cards, or memorized PINs.
For software companies serving the self-storage industry, mobile access represents more than a convenience feature. It is becoming a critical component of the connected, automated storage ecosystem operators expect.
The competitive shift in self-storage software
Today’s self-storage management platforms already include a wide range of operational tools, including:
- Digital storage unit bookings
- Automated payment processing
- CRM and tenant communication tools
- Remote facility monitoring
- Facility usage analytics and business intelligence
However, those that want to stand out and gain a competitive advantage need to look at additional features that could add value while enhancing the existing user experience.
This is where mobile access as a complementary feature comes in. Software developers now have the opportunity to embed mobile access as a feature without having to worry about the access control hardware complexities. One integration can provide mobile access integrations with multiple access control systems.
This means rather than relying on a disconnected access control platform, operators can benefit from an integrated experience where bookings, billing, account management, and mobile access permissions work together seamlessly and can be controlled under a single platform.
Adding mobile access without hardware complexity
Historically, integrating mobile access into self-storage software has been costly and difficult. Developers often had to work directly with proprietary hardware systems, manage separate integrations for different access control vendors, and support complicated deployment environments.
For many software providers, the complexity outweighed the opportunity.
However, newer open-standard mobile credential solutions are changing that cumbersome process entirely.
Solutions like Sentry Interactive’s readerless mobile credential software provide self-storage software developers with a mobile credential feature that doesn’t rely on reader hardware and can already integrate with multiple different access control system providers.
This dramatically simplifies the process for software providers.
Instead of building and maintaining separate integrations for multiple hardware manufacturers, developers can integrate once and immediately enable mobile credential functionality across a broad ecosystem of supported access control systems.
Mobile credentials that don’t rely on reader hardware
Unlike traditional mobile access solutions, Sentry Interactive’s mobile credential software for app developers does not require installation of mobile compatible reader hardware. All that’s required is a Sentry Smart Access Tile that can be applied without any cabling, no batteries, and no power to a wall next to a door, it is simply a credential for the door. The smartphone does all the work, acting as the active reader and communicating with the access control system via cloud services.
What does all this mean for self-storage operators?
This means they can apply a Sentry Smart Access Tile to any gate, elevator, storage unit or door with an electronic lock connected to the access control system, and it can be set up in a matter of minutes to be compatible and unlocked using the secure mobile credentials stored in the mobile app.
It’s a fast track route to NFC mobile access that doesn’t affect the access control system and credentials that are already in use.
With integrated mobile credentials, operators can:
- Automatically issue credentials after rental agreement/signing
- Instantly revoke access for delinquent accounts
- Manage multiple facilities remotely
- Reduce staff workload
- Eliminate physical key and card management
- Improve audit trails and access visibility
- Deliver fully digital customer journeys
Operators are under pressure to reduce labor costs while improving customer convenience and extending access hours. At the same time, tenants expect a more modern digital experience that aligns with other industries like hospitality, multi family housing, and coworking spaces.
Self-storage software providers now have the ability to provide a complete digital journey to end users via their mobile app and with the rise in unmanned and remotely managed storage facilities this is becoming increasingly essential.
A strategic opportunity for self-storage software providers
For self-storage software companies, mobile access represents far more than an add-on feature. It creates an opportunity to become the central operational platform that connects tenant management, payments, analytics, automation, and physical access into a single ecosystem.
As operators continue investing in automation and remote management capabilities, software providers that can offer integrated mobile credential functionality will be in a stronger position to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market.
The ability to integrate solutions like Sentry Interactive allows developers to accelerate that transition without the burden of building separate access control integrations from scratch.
The self-storage industry is rapidly moving toward fully connected, app-driven facility experiences. Software providers that embrace mobile access as a feature now will be better positioned to lead the next phase of self-storage technology innovation.
If you would like to add value to your self storage management platform learn more on how to become a partner HERE
