An automated storage facility is a self storage site built so that the whole customer journey runs electronically: you book online, get in and open your own unit with a phone, fob or code, and the site's alarms, cameras and entry records do the watching. No member of staff has to be there to let you in. The term describes how the site runs, not how many people work there or when it is open.
How our sites fit it
Our Bromsgrove site opened in 2022 as the town's "first ever fully automated self storage facility". A 2023 post lists the features of that Bromsgrove site: "Bluetooth access control", "Motion-tracking sensors", "Alarmed units" and "An electronic locking system that eliminates the need to buy padlocks". That list describes Bromsgrove; ask us which features your own site has.
Most of our other sites follow the same pattern through smart entry; Chipping Norton uses a PIN and your own padlock instead. Whether anyone is there when you arrive is covered under unstaffed site.
Automated doesn't mean open all night. Our terms give you access "during Access Hours as posted by Us" (clause 12): 6am to 10pm, except at Cheltenham, whose published hours conflict. Access outside those hours exists only where we've agreed it, and then runs "between the hours indicated on the Cover Sheet, subject to You paying any relevant additional charges" (clause 13).
Related terms: Unstaffed site · Smart entry · Access log · Unit access hours
Related questions: What if smart entry won't open the gate, or my phone dies? · Can I get to my storage unit 24 hours a day?