Bluetooth Smart Access

Some key features and benefits include:

Smartphone App

Download the National Storage Smart Entry app and touch the intuitive icons to open gates, unlock doors, access floors and unlock your unit all in one convenient location. You can also share digital keys, set up fobs, view activity, modify settings, make payments and reach out for assistance.

Mobile Phone Access

Use the app to unlock the external roller doors without the need for a gate code. Simply, locate your unit, follow the arrows, and open your new unit with ease. You can also keep track of who has accessed your storage unit, and when. 

Digital Key Sharing

Instantly share, revoke, track and manage your digital key, enabling access for anyone, anywhere, anytime.

No Gate Code or Key

With mobile phone access, there’s no need for a gate code or key.

Automated Move-Ins

Utilise our contact-free move-in process and book online, select your unit, pay online, receive our move-in email and text message, download the app, receive your digital key and complete the entire on-boarding process in minutes. It’s never been easier!

Hear from our General Manager – Development, Nick Crang:

Q: How did you discover the Bluetooth Smart Access technology?

A: “We discovered the technology at a trade show, but it was driven by the company’s directive to try to evolve our technology offering in this space. Marcus (GM – IT) and I examined what technology was already in market, looked at what had been implemented, looked at what hadn’t been implemented, what was working, and what wasn’t. At the trade show, there was a lot of education pieces about customer experience and improving efficiency from an operational perspective, and how they tied together, and Bluetooth Smart Access was a logical choice. It had been tested, the partners we needed to get it off the ground seemed to resonate with what we were looking for, and that’s the long and short of how we found it.”

Q: Is National Storage the only Australian self-storage company with completely remote access?

A: “That I’m aware of, yes. We looked to market to see if there was any evidence of the technology here in Australia and there wasn’t, so that was part of our research and due diligence before we decided to implement it.”

Q: What inspired you to integrate Bluetooth Smart Access into our new development at Robina?

A: “The technology matched the product offering that we had. We’ve had a lot of new innovations at Robina, not just Smart Access. So, our customer experience there, the building type, even the design language of that building is very leading edge for the sector, so it made sense to integrate the new technologies within that which is considered one of our flagship construction projects. It tied in nicely and the timing was right for us to do so there as well. So, the intent was to do so there and also to test it for the capacity to retrospectively fit it off to our existing centres so we did that within Robina as well, so we’ve got capacity to roll it out backwards retrospectively now as well if desired.”

Q: Is that on the horizon for us or not confirmed yet?

A: “Once we’ve got enough data from the implementation and we’ve got enough feedback from that, we’ll do an assessment and a cost benefit analysis, we’ll go to our customers and survey them and make sure that it’s worth the capital outlay (which I believe it will be) and then it can easily be rolled out to any centres and all where appropriate.”

Q: How do our IT and development teams work hand in hand on projects like this?

A: “It’s critical. Marcus and I both went overseas to investigate the technology side of things, and to this day not just on Smart Access but on all tech integration, because we’re really only scratching the surface with this access. There’s a long pipeline of other initiatives that we’ve got on the list and projects that will trickle into our product over time, but all of them ultimately interface with the customer in a digital format which means that it has to appear seamless to our customers, and in that process there’s a lot of overlap with IT and operations to get it working coherently for our customers.”

Q: What does successful implementation mean to you personally and professionally?

A: “Robina is definitely an indication of the direction that we’re headed in, it’s an indication of my ethos towards design and development. It’s an indication of the company’s willingness to innovate and reinvent itself. It’s an indication that we have the confidence to be market leaders in more respects than just one, and to test the norms and the old constructs – namely that this industry has been traditionally very slow to adopt new technologies. I’m happy to have been given the opportunity to deliver that, and to receive the support to be able to deliver it. Realistically it’s one of our first projects as a National Storage Development team (and my first as far as land acquisition to delivery) – and the first of many to come that will be in a similar vein, so it is quite pivotal in that respect.”

Marcus Barron (GM – IT) and Nick Crang (GM – Development)

Hear from our General Manager – IT, Marcus Barron:

Q: How did you discover the Bluetooth Smart Access technology?

A: “We discovered the technology at the ISS World Self Storage Expo in Las Vegas“.

Q: What inspired you to integrate it into our new development?

A: “We wanted to create a customer experience unmatched in our market and be the game changers in the Australian self-storage industry.”

Q: How do our IT and development teams work hand in hand on projects like this?

A: “Throughout the process the IT and Development teams were constantly working together to ensure we delivered the final product without any inconvenience to customers.”

Q: What feedback have you received from peers, contractors and customers to date?

A: “Industry peers have expressed disbelief at not only the solution and how easy it is to use, but also the lack of teething issues we have experienced.”

Q: What sets NS apart from our competitors in this respect?

A: “National Storage being first to market in Australia and New Zealand to implement this technology is yet another example of how we lead innovation in the Australia self-storage industry and defy our size by being able to change course and execute with small business-style agility.”

Q: What does successful implementation mean to you personally and professionally?

A: “I wear the successful implementation of the first fully automated self-storage centre in Australia as a badge of honour and an achievement to be very proud of.”