The Storage Works state of the art facility in Wigan

SPECIALIST SELF STORAGE MONITORING - FROM FRUSTRATION TO PEACE OF MIND

BACKGROUND - Self Storage Monitoring is a specialist challenge!

The self-storage industry may appear straightforward - rows of secure units, gated access, and cameras on site - but delivering effective remote monitoring is anything but simple. Facilities often span large areas with hundreds of individually alarmed rooms, extended customer access hours (frequently 7am–10pm or 24/7), legitimate out-of-hours entry and complex integrations between access control, intrusion analytics, and operator response protocols. It requires close cooperation between the installer, the monitoring centre (ARC), and the facility operator to ensure the monitoring approach reflects how the site actually operates.

To explore these challenges, we sat down with Sam Ames, owner of The Storage Works, a multi-site self-storage operator who previously tried both in-house monitoring and a specialist external provider before switching to MYNET. His experience highlights the operational realities of monitoring self-storage environments - and the difference a tailored, partnership-driven approach can make.

Q: What security challenges did you face prior to speaking MYNET ?

Before MYNET, our main challenges were (1) The operational burden of monitoring everything ourselves, and (2) a lack of confidence in a previous outsourced provider. Years ago, we monitored sites completely in-house because I was concerned an external monitoring company wouldn’t do “as good a job as ourselves in house.” That meant alerts and emails coming through 24/7, and during heavy rain or windy nights we could receive multiple false activations. We then moved to a monitoring firm that specialised mainly in self storage, but during the first two months we ran several tests (around 3–4) to see how effectively they would spot us “breaking into” our own facility. They failed every test, each time with a different explanation. Their onboarding also felt extremely rushed, and I didn’t feel they asked enough questions about how we operate to ensure the service would match our needs, which left us uncertain about relying on them when it really mattered.

Owner of The Storage Works, Sam Ames

Q: Did the security challenges you experienced have a negative impact on your business and operations? If so, how?

Yes, as our operations grew, monitoring everything ourselves became pretty much impossible and extremely tiring. Having alerts coming through 24/7 (including false activations in bad weather) created distraction and “noise,” and it wasn’t sustainable alongside running the business day-to-day. Our sites are relatively large with a large number of customers with access from 7am to 10pm, so keeping tabs on everything is sometimes difficult. Using a company that wasn’t up to standard also impacted us - mainly in wasted time and a lack of confidence. However, it did help us clarify exactly what we needed from a monitoring service and what was crucial for it to succeed. We also felt it was important that a monitoring provider could work with our access control approach, because in self storage customers do legitimately attend out of hours. We wanted the process to be seamless from the customer’s point of view, without customers having to phone a monitoring centre to gain access, while still keeping security robust. MYNET has helped us manage this without it becoming overwhelming internally.

Q: Has MYNET delivered a monitoring solution that meets both your security and operational needs ?

Yes - MYNET provided a solution that met our security needs and addressed the concerns we had from past experiences. Our goals were to keep customer access seamless, reduce false activations reaching the monitoring centre, and ensure a consistent, reliable response to genuine risk. From the first conversations, MYNET focused on understanding how we wanted monitoring to work in practice, rather than forcing a generic approach! The onboarding process was a clear improvement from our previous provider - it was thorough, and it felt like MYNET were genuinely building the service around our operations (while we understandably can’t share specific security details). The biggest benefit has been the ability to fine-tune the service. MYNET tailored the operator processes and instructions so responses are clear and consistent, and when we raised issues in the early days (for example, an operator calling when they didn’t need to), MYNET were receptive and used that feedback to tweak the system until it worked the way we needed it to. Most importantly, when MYNET have actually been required in a real-life situation, I can confirm they did perform. We also ran the same tests as with our previous proveder which MYNET passed!

From the first conversations, MYNET focused on understanding how we wanted monitoring to work in practice, rather than forcing a generic approach.

The biggest impact has been peace of mind and reduced operational burden, which has allowed us to focus on running the business instead of worrying about monitoring issues.

Sam Ames, Owner of The Storage Works

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Q: Did you feel our team listened to your needs and tailored a solution specific to your facilities ?

Yes. From the start, MYNET took the time to understand how we operate and how we wanted monitoring handled, rather than pushing a generic “no one should be on site between these hours” model. We’ve found MYNET particularly strong at tailoring operator actions to our preferences and then refining them based on feedback. Every request we’ve raised has been welcomed and used to improve how the system presents information and instructions to operators, which is exactly what we wanted.

Q: How did the MYNET onboarding process compare to your previous experience ?

Yes - the onboarding was a clear improvement compared to our previous provider. It felt thorough, structured, and focused on understanding how our business actually works, so the monitoring aligned with our real-world operation (within the limits of what we can share publicly). It was also “night and day” in terms of communication and willingness to adjust things until they were right.

Q: Overall, has the move to MYNET impacted The Storage Works operationally ?

Yes - the biggest impact has been peace of mind and reduced operational burden, which has allowed us to focus on running the business instead of worrying about monitoring issues. We’ve also seen improved efficiency through the way MYNET can fine-tune responses. For example, we introduced handling changes during office hours so we can investigate certain activations before an operator call is triggered, which reduces unnecessary interruptions while still maintaining escalation when needed. The scheduled “patrol” checks have also added value by spotting issues that we might not have picked up as quickly ourselves. We still handle certain customer-driven false alarms internally due to our PTI setup with individually alarmed rooms, but MYNET’s support has strengthened our overall security operation. We’ve also found that having MYNET has encouraged a higher standard of testing and ongoing optimization on our side. It’s reinforced that setting cameras up properly is crucial - because when cameras, analytics and lighting aren’t tuned correctly, you either get nuisance activations or missed detection. By keeping detection properly configured (and regularly tested day and night), the monitoring response becomes faster, more accurate, and overall far more effective. There’s also been a positive customer-service impact. Sometimes customers won’t follow the correct process when using our site — for example, missing using a keypad when they should have. Many are actually very impressed when they receive the call from us ensuring it is them on site, because it reinforces that the site is actively managed and secure. Finally, the partnership approach has improved reliability - we regularly test signals and workflows so both sides are confident everything is working as intended.

A photo from the amazing facility at The Storage Works, Great Harwood

MYNET provided a solution that met our security needs and addressed the concerns we had from past experiences. Our goals were to keep customer access seamless, reduce false activations reaching the monitoring centre, and ensure a consistent, reliable response to genuine risk.

Sam Ames, Owner of The Storage Works

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Q: What parts of working with MYNET have impressed you most?

Tailoring and fine-tuning: the service was adjusted to match our facilities and how we want incidents handled, rather than forcing us into a generic model.
Responsiveness: when we raise feedback or request changes, MYNET engages with it and implement these changes quickly.
Clear operator response: concise operator instructions and consistent decision-making from competent operators makes a huge difference.
Operational value-add: patrol checks and structured monitoring that catches things beyond basic alarm handling.
Performance when it matters: in real-life situations, the response has been effective.
Two-way partnership mindset: MYNET work with us and our installer to ensure the system is reliable and delivering when we need it most.

Q: Where can we improve and what features can we work on ?

It’s very rare that I say this, but not really. Pretty much everything we’ve asked for, MYNET have tried to come up with a solution for, and where something hasn’t been possible it’s usually been down to limitations in software platforms, rather than a lack of willingness to help. If I had one “recommendation” rather than an improvement, it would be to continue building on what we’ve worked through together for the self storage sector. I hope our feedback and the way we’ve fine-tuned the service has helped MYNET gain further insight into UK self storage, and hopefully helps with the blueprint they can follow when onboarding other customers with similar requirements - particularly around balancing strong security with a seamless customer experience.

A peak inside these top class facilities

The Storage Works, Great Harwood

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