which self storage management software version is right for you?

A quick overview of the product

Don't you just hate sitting there for 30 minutes every day, doing nothing but punching credit card numbers and expiry dates into an EFTPOS machine, just to take payments? And then the phone rings or a customer walks in - and you come back to finish the job but forgot where you were up to? All of those problems are gone when you add credit card processing to StorMan.

Just sign-up for a merchant account through one of our providers, enter their special login details into StorMan & you can begin processing credit card transactions using the internet. The best thing is that it's integrated into StorMan - so you won't need to re-enter credit card details into Customer accounts or anything like that.

Our credit-card processing system lets you process credit card transactions both automatically (every time a customer is due for rent the system will process the card for you and receipt it in StorMan - it processes about 1 credit card every 3 seconds) and one-off (when a customer comes in and just wants to buy some boxes using their credit card).

Still on that whole integration thing, StorMan has built-in Direct Debit processing, which allows the system to grab the correct funds from a customer's bank account when they are due to pay their next lot of rent. All the customer needs to do is sign a form (that's integrated too) and provide you with their bank account information and once you've got the info in StorMan, it will process the Direct Debits automatically when due - very similar to our Credit Card processing system.

Direct Debits will work with any of our other integrated services, including Credit Card processing - so you won't need to install anything else - you'll just need a merchant account (through one of our providers) and the rest, as they say, is history!

StorMan is able to communicate with most popular gate system programs... meaning that when a customer hasn't paid their bill, the gate system software can automatically be setup to deny them entry! (you'd be amazed at how this speeds up your arrears-gathering processes).

Gates can also be opened and closed from within the StorMan program, and gate entries and exits (even door opens & closes, if supported) are logged against customer accounts - so you'll always know what's happening in your facility - any time of the day or night.

To find our what access control systems we support, please check our knowledgebase article.

Email is free, so why not make use of it? StorMan has integrated email invoicing - which means your invoices can be in your customer's virtual mailboxes seconds after you generate them, as a PDF file attachment.

Invoices can be either generated & sent automatically on the fly during what we call "Daily Processing", or on an one-off / per-customer basis if you need to. Email invoicing only requires an email address and an internet connection at the facility... the rest is built right into StorMan and doesn't cost anything extra to implement.

In StorMan, it's the Billing Plan that defines how often a customer gets billed, whether they get a discount, whether the discount gets removed upon early termination of a longer billing plan (e.g.: a 12-month stay) and so on.

Our Billing Plans are very flexible - you can have as many as you like, they can do weekly & monthly rates, provide discounts based on a percentage or a fixed-rate, remove discounts if the customer breaks a contract, and automatically revert back to another plan at the end. Clever huh?

Why spend hours increasing rent prices based on occupancy levels when StorMan can do it for you? Using our Dynamic Rent Control function, you can automatically increase or decrease the rental price based on your occupancy levels. As levels are analysed daily, you can always be assured of accurate figures and thus, accurate adjustments.

Using our Rent Increase Wizard, you can also increase or decrease rent rates across the board based on a custom formula system... for example, apply the raise to all storers with 2 or more units, that are not Government customers. Or apply the raise to add customers who have been with you for more than 3 months. Rent increases (or decreases) can be both fixed dollar values or percentages. Or both. Or all of what you've just read, for that matter. See how flexible StorMan is?

When we release new versions of our software, your copy will be get automatically upgraded to the newest version when you next connect to the internet. This ensures that you always have access to the latest & greatest new features, bug fixes and so forth.

This option is only available to customers on a valid StorMan Support & Upgrades Plan. The automatic updates system can be deactivated if required.

All actions performed in StorMan - regardless of whether they're were performed by a human operator or the program, is logged in our detailed, searchable Event Log, which is perfect for site managers or owners who need to audit security, or perform deep database investigation if required.

Events are logged against the user that performed them, and as all users of the StorMan program can have their own individual login & password, it's easy for facility managers and owners to ensure staff are using the program correctly, and not under-selling storage to your customers, or ripping off your business.

StorMan is built for busy facilities and multi-tasking has been integrated into all of our software. For example - if you're in the middle of a move-in & someone pops by to purchase a box, you can leave the move-in open where it is, sell the box & put it through the system, then come back to finish the move-in.

It's the same deal if someone calls to pay a bill while you're inputting a reservation. We know for a fact that at least one of our major competing software programs can't do that! Multi-tasking in StorMan allows you to have up to 9 things running (open) at once.

Not only does StorMan record customer actions (gate open / close, unit-door open / close etc) on the main Dashboard (if we support your gate system) - we also individually itemise a customer's own gate transactions on their agreement.

This allows site operators to view any gate actions on a per-customer basis, which is great for security auditing & logging. This history is then retained against that customer's agreement forever.

StorMan features an automated idle timeout system which will log-out the current StorMan user if / when the machine has not been used for a predetermined amount of time. This is handy, should a member of staff member be called out into the facility to assist a customer, or show a new / potential customer around the facility. The idle timeout can be adjusted to suit the needs of the facility.

StorMan's integrated photo module allows you to store images of storers, their units or goods / vehicle and scans of their license details. Should a customer's 'late-cycle' come to an end and their goods go for auction, photos of the unit and its contents can also be stored in the StorMan database forever, for archival purposes.

The built-in compression system allows you to set the quality of photos on a system-wide level - ensuring your database doesn't get too inflated with large photos.

Rather than have to manually copy & paste customer email addresses & then manually attach the correct invoice, StorMan includes a built-in email client. The client has been designed to automatically attach any email invoices, insert customer names & balance-owing details, and then send them to the relevant customers when due to do so.

The StorMan email system can also be setup to receive email if required. Alternatively, you can continue to use your existing email program and just use StorMan to send it's own email - such as reminder letters, invoices and so forth. The choice is yours!

Not sure what a button does, or what a particular text box is for? Click the 'Learn more' link on that screen and you'll be taken directly to an online knowledgebase article about that particular screen and it's features + functions. You'll also be pleased to know that our knowledgebase is choc-full of movies, how-to guides, screenshots and step-by-step instructions.

Just like our email-merge system, StorMan also has an integrated mail-merge function, which allows you to easily build custom merge data sets from the customer data within StorMan.

The mail-merge system also allows for custom data searching beforehand - so you can design all kinds of data sets to target: only current customers, only corporate customers, only customers with less than 5 units - or all / any of the above... + anything you like, really! It's seriously customisable; just the way you like it!

In StorMan, you can setup all kinds of marketing information & categories. Then, when new customers move in, ask them how they found you, what they're storing and so forth.

This type of marketing data can also be reported on with thanks to our range of reports - allowing you to accurately tell which advertising means are working best for you, what type of customers you are attracting, how long they stay, and why they're moving out.

Upload your own logos and images for inclusion in letters, and on report headers / footers, etc.

If you have large corporate customers that require a number of different staff members to access their unit, why not give each staff member their own access code? It's a great selling tool to be able to provide your client with accurate audit logging. With StorMan, it's possible!

If you sell stock items such as boxes, locks, packaging tape and so on, why not use StorMan's built-in inventory management system? By using the feature that's built-in to the program, you can automatically be reminded when stock of a particular item gets low (the quantity for warning can be set on a per-item basis too!).

If you enter your supplier buy price for items, StorMan can be used to calculate profit margins and the program will even prohibit items from being sold under a certain price, if setup to do so.

StorMan includes built-in tools to design & print your own envelopes and / or labels both on an one-off basis when required, and also automatically after Daily Processing (our Automated Customer Billing System) - making it easy for you to fold, pack and send your invoices and reminder letters just moments after they are processed & printed.

Pretty-much the first thing you'll see when you launch our Pro (or higher) versions of StorMan, is the centralised Dashboard which provides quick access to common program functions - such as the calendar & diary / notes section, gate log (if a gate system is enabled), email history, customer & search data and a snapshot of key facility data.

The Dashboard also gives you access to your customer management process - including your Sales Enquiries, Reservations, new Move-Ins and so on.

The StorMan system is driven by a core Customer Process system, which is: Sales Enquiry » Reservation » Move In » Move Out. Because these elements follow a systematic process, you can convert one to the other without having to re-enter any customer data. Complete customer history and financial data is retained throughout the entire process - saving you stacks of time and energy.

Email is virtually free... so why bother spending at least 50-cents per customer telling them you have a special on boxes for the month. Take advantage of our integrated email-merging tools and email existing or past customers with ease.

The email-merge system also allows for custom data searching beforehand - so you can design all kinds of data sets to target: only current customers, only corporate customers, only customers with less than 5 units - or all / any of the above... + anything you like, really! It's seriously customisable; just the way you like it!

StorMan includes a fully-functional accounts ledger (GL) system where you can add or modify your chart of accounts. This ensures that any exports from StorMan match-up when financial data is exported to a supported 3rd party accounting packages.

Our main central Dashboard features a Boolean, real-time search function which allows you to quickly search for all or part-of any active Unit Number, Customer Name, Unit Status, Agreement Number, Paid-to-Date and so on. The search window updates in real time - constantly refining itself as you add more data to the search.

Designed for busy facilities in mind, our MultiUser product allows multiple computer workstations to access the same StorMan database at the same time. While one staff member is selling merchandise, another could be running reports while a third might be performing a move-out.

Only the products indicated will work in a MultiView environment.

Our top-of-the-line MultiView product synchronises data between your sites and head office in real time - meaning both ends of the chain have the most up-to-date information at all times. Should the internet go down, both ends can continue to use the program as normal; any synchronisation data will simply queue and wait for the internet to become active again.

By using a replication system that works both ways, larger companies may wish to employ a centralised call centre to take reservations and enquiries - call centre staff can even take payments for any facility, thanks to the MultiView replication & synchronisation product. Other features include the ability to take payments for other facilities within the group, check unit availability at other facilities, run consolidated reports, and operate satellite sites... just to name a few!

StorMan also provides a hosted version of the MultiView solution, which may be more cost effective for companies who do not which to purchase their own high-end server equipment. The hosted solution allows companies to 'rent' a MultiView environment from us.