Table of Contents
- The systems involved
- The after-hours arrival, step by step
- How access disarms the alarm (Paxton to Texecom)
- How billing drives access (storage software to TetherX)
- Granting and revoking access yourself
- One audit timeline for the whole site
- What a self-storage site needs
- Common questions
- Related articles
TetherX for Self Storage
Self storage is the one vertical where every TetherX system works as a single machine. A customer pulls up after hours, ANPR reads the plate and opens the gate, their swipe at the unit disarms only that zone, the owner gets a snapshot of who went in, and it all lands on one audit timeline. No staff on site, no keypad dance, no false alarm.
This article explains how the pieces talk to each other: Cameras, ANPR, Paxton access control, Texecom alarms and your storage management software. For setting up any one system on its own, follow its own article. This one is about how they interact.
The systems involved
| System | Role on a storage site |
|---|---|
| Cameras | Verify every gate, corridor and unit door with video. The evidence layer behind every event. |
| Setting Up ANPR Cameras | Read number plates at the site entrance. A whitelisted plate opens the gate; an unknown one is logged. |
| Paxton Net2 Integration | Per-door and per-unit access control. The customer's token or PIN is what proves who entered. |
| Texecom Integration | The intruder alarm. Each unit maps to a Texecom zone so a unit can be armed or bypassed on its own. |
| Storage management software | Your billing and contracts system (for example SpaceManager). It owns who is a paying customer and which unit they rent. |
The TetherBox on site is the bridge that joins them. It holds the live link to Paxton over the network, to Texecom over serial, and to your cameras, and it carries out the automation locally so the site keeps running even if the internet drops.
The after-hours arrival, step by step
This is the signature self-storage workflow. Every step is automatic.
- ANPR reads the plate at the gate. If the plate is on the whitelist, the TetherBox fires a relay that opens the gate (see ANPR Whitelist with IP Relay). An unknown plate is recorded against the entrance camera instead, so you can see who turned up even if they never get in.
- The customer swipes at their unit. Paxton reports the access event ("ACU In") to the TetherBox in real time.
- Only that unit's zone disarms. The TetherBox looks up which Texecom zone the customer's unit maps to and bypasses just that zone. The rest of the site stays fully armed. No master code, no disarming the whole building for one tenant.
- The owner is notified with an image. The access event is paired with the linked camera, so the push or email alert carries a snapshot of who actually went in, not just a card number.
- The zone re-arms by itself. When the customer leaves (a Paxton "ACU Out" event), or after a configurable delay, the zone is automatically un-bypassed and the unit is protected again.
Tip: The re-arm delay is set per access control system as the auto unbypass delay. It is the safety net that stops a zone being left open if someone forgets to swipe out.
How access disarms the alarm (Paxton to Texecom)
This is the integration that makes unmanned sites possible. Each storage unit is linked to two things: a Paxton access point and a Texecom alarm zone. That link is what lets one swipe affect one unit and nothing else.
- On entry, the TetherBox reads the Texecom zone number from the unit's linked alarm zone and bypasses that single zone. The customer opens their unit without setting off the alarm; every other unit stays armed.
- On exit, the same zone is un-bypassed and re-armed. If no exit swipe is seen, a scheduled job re-arms it after the auto-unbypass delay anyway.
Because the bypass is scoped to one zone, a tenant can never accidentally disarm the building, and an intruder forcing a different unit still trips the alarm normally.
Warning: For this to work, each unit must be linked to both its Access Control system and its Alarm Zone. A unit with no alarm zone simply has no automatic arm/disarm; access still works and is still logged.
See Paxton Net2 Integration and Texecom Integration for wiring and configuring each side.
How billing drives access (storage software to TetherX)
You do not manage tenants twice. Your storage management software (for example SpaceManager) is the single source of truth for who is a paying customer, and TetherX takes its lead from it. The software sends TetherX a regular sync of units and customers, and TetherX keeps access and alarms in line automatically.
For each unit in the sync, TetherX:
- creates or updates the matching storage unit (number, rental dates),
- maps it to the right access point and alarm zone,
- marks it suspended if the software flags it as locked out.
For each customer in the sync, TetherX:
- creates or updates the user with their name, email and mobile,
- provisions their Paxton credentials (access token, PIN and access level) straight into the Paxton system,
- links them to the unit or units they rent.
What this means in practice:
- New customer pays and signs. Their access works on first arrival, with no one re-keying details into the access system.
- Customer falls behind on payment. The software flags the unit as locked out, TetherX marks it suspended and access is withheld. No staff visit, no manual lockout.
- Customer moves out. They drop out of the sync, their access is removed, and the unit is free for the next tenant.
Tip: If a customer's Paxton credentials fail to provision during a sync (for example a bad token), TetherX raises an error notification rather than failing silently, so the gap is visible and fixable.
Granting and revoking access yourself
The billing sync handles tenants, but you keep manual control on top of it for the cases the software does not cover, all from your phone or browser:
- Grant a guest or contractor access to a unit for a job, then revoke it when they are done.
- Open a door or gate remotely when someone needs help and cannot get in.
- Bypass a faulty zone from TetherX without disarming the whole site, while an engineer attends.
Every one of these actions is itself logged and, where a camera is linked, paired with video.
One audit timeline for the whole site
Every access event, gate read, alarm activation and remote action lands on the same timeline, tied to the camera that saw it. That is what turns a pile of separate logs into something you can actually investigate.
- Search by customer name across the whole site, or across every facility you run, from one login.
- Spot tailgating by seeing the footage of a swipe, not just the card number, so you can tell if two people entered on one credential.
- Settle disputes with evidence. "Who was in unit 14 last Tuesday" is a name, a time and a clip, not a guess.
- Run many sites from one place. Multi-site oversight is the default, not an add-on.
Tip: Link a camera to each access point and each alarm zone. The integrations work without cameras, but the video pairing is what makes an unmanned site defensible after the fact. The camera does not have to be in the same zone, just pick the one with the best view of the door.
What a self-storage site needs
To get the full self-running workflow:
- A TetherBox on site.
- Cameras on the entrance, corridors and ideally each unit door.
- ANPR on the site entrance, with a whitelist and a relay-controlled gate, for plate-driven entry.
- A Paxton Net2 system for per-unit access.
- A Texecom panel with each unit mapped to its own zone, for per-unit arming.
- Storage units configured in TetherX, each linked to its access control and alarm zone.
- Optionally, a feed from your storage management software so billing drives access automatically.
You do not need every piece to start. ANPR plus access, or access plus per-zone alarming, each stand on their own. Adding the billing sync is what removes the last of the manual work.
Common questions
Does a customer disarm the whole alarm when they enter? No. Only the single Texecom zone mapped to their unit is bypassed. Every other unit stays armed.
What happens if someone forgets to swipe out? The zone re-arms automatically after the auto-unbypass delay, so a unit is never left unprotected.
Can I stop access the moment a customer stops paying? Yes. When your storage software flags the unit as locked out, TetherX marks it suspended and withholds access on the next sync, with no site visit.
Does the site keep working if the internet drops? The access-to-alarm automation runs locally on the TetherBox, so swipes still disarm the right zone. Events sync up to the cloud once the connection returns.
What if I don't use SpaceManager? You can manage units and customers directly in TetherX, or talk to us about connecting a different storage management system.
Related articles
- Paxton Net2 Integration - setting up access control
- Texecom Integration - connecting the alarm panel over serial
- Setting Up ANPR Cameras - number plate recognition
- ANPR Whitelist with IP Relay - opening a gate for known plates
- Notifications - alerts with images on access and alarm events
- Events - the audit timeline and video verification