Ease of access to your self storage facility can have a huge impact on your customer’s experience. Design considerations such as spacing between units, whether tenants have drive up access to storage units or not, and the gate entry process can all contribute to or detract from the customer’s ease of access.
While unit spacing and drive-up access require some careful consideration and design planning, gate entry should never be arduous for your customers—especially if you want your facility to be handicap-friendly.
Drive-up gate controls should be easy to access from the driver’s seat of a vehicle. However, the different ride heights of many vehicles can make convenient access via keypad difficult.
This is where mobile gate access can make a huge difference.
Why Use Mobile Gate Access?
Say a driver comes up to your self storage facility in a sports car, and can’t quite reach the keypad. To enter the facility, they’ll have to put their car in park, get out, punch in their code, get back in the car, and drive through before the gate shuts itself.
For the average person, this is inconvenient, but manageable. However, for some, this task list is nearly impossible.
What if the driver has a disabling condition that requires crutches or a wheelchair? Unless they have a second person with them, they won’t be able to get out of their vehicle, punch in their code, and get back in very quickly.
If access to your facility is too difficult, tenants will go elsewhere for their storage needs.
Mobile gate access via applications such as EasyCode go a long way towards alleviating facility access issues for many tenants.
How Mobile Gate Access Improves the Self Storage Customer Experience
Different mobile gate access systems may have different functions and requirements. For example, mobile gate access with EasyCode requires:
- – A gate access keypad & controller that’s integrated with PTI’s StorLogix 5.0 or higher self storage facility management software.
- – A working internet connection to communicate between the mobile app and the controller.
- – A working Android or iOS device capable of running the EasyCode app and connecting with the internet (most smartphones meet this requirement).
With the EasyCode app, all a tenant driving up to your facility has to do is turn on the app, tap a few buttons, and the gate will open up for them—all without having to so much as roll down their windows. Once inside, the gate will close behind their vehicles—minimizing the risk of tailgaters breaking in without permission.
By using the EasyCode app’s geofencing feature, you can make sure that gates don’t get opened unless the customer is on or near the premises. This can prevent accidental gate activations when the customer is at home.
In fact, the EasyCode app has many other features that improve the self storage facility experience for your tenants, including:
- – Access and Alarm Notifications. If your facility has PTI-compatible individual door alarms, custom alerts can be generated for customers if their door alarms are set off.
- – Electronic Lock Compatibility. Facilities with SecurGuard™ electronic locks from Janus International Group™ can allow tenants to unlock their unit doors with ease through the app. Tenants can even monitor door status remotely to see if their door is closed or open at a moment’s notice.
- – Activity History Logs. Logs of when units have been accessed can help tenants spot illicit access to their storage units.
- – Codeless Entry. Rather than having to remember a code–let’s face it we all forget our codes and passwords–tenants can just hit a button on their phone’s EasyCode app. So, no more lost password resets.
Combined, these features can make it much easier for your tenants to get in the storage facility, access their unit, and get back to their daily lives. This, in turn, can help drive tenant loyalty to your self storage facility and serve as a key differentiator between you and the competition.
Learn more about how you can set your self storage facility apart with EasyCode today!
