The Future of Storage Security

The basics still reign, though technology increases options

By Steve Cooper

As the hovercraft slowly descends, the signal from its LittleBlack Box ID transmitter triggers an acknowledgement and authorization to enter.The bay door slides open. The vehicle settles silently on the docking pad. Assoon as the drivers lift door opens, the facial recognition scanner instantlycompares the drivers face to those in its database of stored images. Thespeaker announces softly, Welcome to Center City Personal Closet.

As the visitor presses the call button, thefingerprint-sensitive device confirms his identity. The Security Master Software quickly and automatically matcheshis vehicle ID, facial scan and button input. He is told, Supplies andrefreshments are in the self-service room through the doorway to your left,should you need them.

This 20-story tower, a 22nd-Century marvel of pneumatics andhydraulics, features four multistory, conveyor-like lifts. The announcementsounds: Your personal closet will be available momentarily. Thecolumn-four lift whirs into action, revealing the key convenience feature of theworlds newest model self-storage store. Back in the home office of GlobalStorage, the monitor shows the activity as the lift delivers Bin # 4357 to theloading level. The door opens automatically.

Who knows what the future might bring to the self-storageindustry? You have the opportunity to dream up your ideal storage solution.Whatever the vision, it will contain aspects of security.

As we move toward that future, security technology advances tomeet the need. Already, biometric ID devices of one type or another arebeginning to appear more frequently in high-security areas of upscale storagestores. Centralized management and monitoring across broadband connections isopening the way to efficient customer service in what is called a hub andspoke operation, with several stores operated from a single office.Regardless of how your future storage store looks or operates, following aresome security principles you will need to consider. Some operators need torethink them in the present.

Facility Design

Start with the design of your store. Consult your architect orengineer, or search the Internet on the keywords crime prevention throughenvironmental design. Youll find design principles that allow you tocreate a safer facility and help your business fit more seamlessly into yourneighborhood. Among other things, you will understand the need for sight lines,which allow you to see activities from inside and outside a facility.

David Michael Davenport is a Florida based architect with manyyears of experience in designing self-storage, especially in East Coast urbanareas. With the cost of land continuing to climb, were finding smallerpieces of property that can be developed with multistory buildings to be thetrend, he says. One of the ways we maximize the use of the property is toreduce the amount of paving by moving all the units to the interior. Not only do we optimize the footprint, but it provides muchgreater security, especially in some of the urban neighborhoods. He cites asan example several developments with all parking underneath, on the first level,and 90 percent of the storage above grade.

Competition is getting fierce in some areas, Davenportsays, so we design for a place that looks nice inside and out, and make aplace for a prominent security display in the office as a prime selling feature.And, in many neighborhoods, we continue to include an on-site apartment formanagers. Tenants know theres a criminal element out there. Theyre concerned about it; and having someone on site 24hours a day makes them more comfortable.

Harden the Target

Security experts talk about hardening the target, simplyby making crime not pay. This is accomplished by increasing the difficulty ofcriminal activity and increasing the likelihood it will be noticed immediately.Theres no question that when a store has strong deterrents, anyoneplanning a theft will just move on to the next target, the competition down thestreet, says Tom Litton of California based Litton Property Management Inc., aveteran self-storage management consultant.

Anne Ballard, one of Littons counterparts and a partner inAtlanta-based Universal Management Co., suggests, In todays environment,you really must know who your customers are. Absolute and proper identification,addresses and active telephone numbers are a minimum. The better service you provide in getting to know customers and prospects, themore secure your operation will be.

The fundamentals will always apply, but the exciting newtechnology, designed to keep pace with development trends in the industry, makesit easier than ever to employ security tools. Theres no questioning thefact that security is one of the primary selling features in a self-storagestore, says Davenport. In urban, suburban and even many rural areas, iftheres competition, the store with the security features will have anadvantage.

One trend for the future includes segmenting the marketing mixwith a high security area for specialized storage. Minor Scotts LodoSelf Storage in Denver features a room so well controlled it qualifies to storemuseum-quality paintings. George McCords Plantation Self Storage in SouthCarolina features wine storage with its additional security features.

In [high security] situations, we have biometric deviceslike fingerprint readers that add a sophisticated layer of security, saysRick Stumpf, West-Coast sales representative for Digitech International, aself-storage security supplier. Coupled with wireless alarm transmitters foreach unit door, these can help owners achieve a very high level of security,which absolutely makes the right impression on prospects and gives tenants thewarm, fuzzy feeling their particular property is better protected.

Wireless devices have been used in the industry for severalyears. New application of discrete technology has improved the efficiency andconvenience of their use in the self-storage environment. Its amazing, exclaims Alan Floren, president of High Security Alarm SystemsInc. in Orlando, Fla. We just had a crew install wireless transmitters for morethan 700 individual unit doors in less than three days. Compared to theinstallation cycle for hard-wired door alarms, were way ahead; and this ownerwill be renting spaces a whole lot faster.

Hub and Spoke

New technology that leverages the power of the Internet ishelping some owners consider a trend toward the hub and spoke arrangement of stores. A central office, connected throughbroad-band data devices on the web, can effectively manage a collection ofsmaller stores scattered throughout a market area.

We can easily make connections to give the central officecomplete control of gates and other access-control devices, lights, and more,says Mike Mead of Dallas Automatic Gates, an experienced security-systeminstaller. With digital video recorders and the right kind of cameras in theright places, the central office can be monitoring activity on a real-time,full-time basis. We can also easily integrate intercom call stations to thetelephone so tenants who need to communicate with managers have a way to dothat, even from remote sites. We havent seen a situation yet where we haventbeen able to match new technology to give the level of security and controlowners need.

Being able to have cameras feeding over the web and havingremote integrated systems should open up some of the more marginal markets tolarger companies, says Paul Darden of Dallas-based Darden Properties. Adding a few tools, like remotely controlled pan-tilt-zoomcameras, will help operators maintain tight control over their properties.

Moving Forward

Improvements in technology help us do a better job; but thetruth is, the basics stay the same, says Jon Loftin, Digitechs vicepresident and systems engineer. You want to make sure you have absoluteaccess control, alarms to signal exceptions, video surveillance to keep a recordof activities, contact with your customers via intercoms, and good soundsystems.

Helping to develop new ways for store owners to protecttheir property and make operations more efficient keeps us right where we want to beon the leading edge, says Jim DelSordo,president of Automated Security Corp., which serves eastern Pennsylvania andparts of New Jersey and New York. Keeping up with new technology is the funpart of our business, and it helps us partner with owners to make each storebetter.

Self-storage design and methodology will continue to evolve tomeet what is rapidly becoming a more mainstream customer demand in our globalsociety. Security tools now in the brainstorming stage of development will beavailable to support the needs owners have for property protection, insurabilityand risk management. Wherever your hovercraft and imagination take you in thecreative development of your storage business, the security providers in theindustry will be there to help.

Steve Cooper is part of the marketing team at DigitechInternational, the provider of World Class Security Solutions. He can be reachedat 800.523.9504 or via e-mail at [email protected]. For moreinformation, visit www.digitech-intl.com.

Security Pointers From SpaceAge Storage

SpaceAge Storage in Marietta, Ga., usesthe latest in industry technology to serve customers, including a selfservicerental device that works much like a typical ATM machine. This new tool,intended to increase customer convenience, features connections to managementsoftware for rentals, credit-card processing for payments, a voice line forreal-time communication, and video connections for visual monitoring.

But while conveniences are a nice addition to the facilitysofferings, it still employs basic security measures at the forefront of customerservice: