50% Faster Onboarding and 10% Fewer Support Tickets: OpenTech’s Automation Win
with Canopy remote monitoring and management for connected products
Self-storage facilities rely on a wide array of access control systems, cameras, kiosks, and other connected products. These products are referred to as property technology or “PropTech,” and they support customers by meeting service needs while protecting property with minimal on-site staff. OpenTech Alliance is a leading PropTech provider for self-storage facilities, helping operators simplify the management of their properties by standardizing service and automating processes through advanced remote technology solutions.
As OpenTech’s customer base grew across North America, so did the complexity of managing thousands of remote devices spread across geographically dispersed sites. Maintaining uptime, delivering consistent service, and managing updates across the expansive network became increasingly difficult.
To address these challenges, OpenTech implemented remote monitoring and management (RMM) by Canopy. The move allowed the company to automate critical functions, reduce downtime, and improve customer satisfaction without expanding their support team.
OpenTech Alliance has been helping self-storage operators run more efficient properties for over two decades.
Its technology solutions cover nearly every aspect of property management, offering access control systems, electronic locks, interactive kiosks, security monitoring, and call center services. With a footprint that spans the United States, Canada, Europe and the UK, OpenTech’s customers depend heavily on its connected products to offer tenants a seamless, often self-service experience. As the company looks ahead to further European and ANZ expansion, the importance of reliable 24/7 device performance and centralized management has only grown.
Operating self-storage facilities with minimal staff means the technology needs to work flawlessly and autonomously. OpenTech faced increasing complexity as they scaled, with thousands of devices in the field requiring monitoring, updates, and occasional intervention.
One of the biggest pain points was device issues going undiscovered until a customer filed a support ticket. This reactive approach led to delayed resolutions and potential loss of business. OpenTech’s previous RMM system compounded the problem with unreliable automation tools and clunky user interfaces that made more problems than it solved. When devices shipped with outdated software, updates had to be performed manually, wasting time and increasing the burden on support teams.
As OpenTech’s device network grew, these inefficiencies became unsustainable. The company needed a scalable, automated platform that could help it maintain high service levels without putting additional strain on support teams.
"You had one person running commands and waiting, and it was very cumbersome to troubleshoot ... Manual updates mean human error.”
OpenTech chose Canopy as its partner for automating remote device management. With Canopy, the company was able to automate core workflows and centralize device fleet management.
Canopy’s low-code automation capabilities allow OpenTech to schedule device reboots, implement remote USB control, receive instant alerts for power and internet outages, and run QA tests during manufacturing and software deployment. These automations reduce manual intervention and help ensure consistent uptime.
That foundation also enables OpenTech to build and act on custom KPIs through Canopy’s configurable monitoring tools. By tracking metrics like device reboot frequency and peripheral hardware performance, the team can trigger targeted automations based on live operating conditions. This alignment between monitoring and response ensures that actions are context-aware, preventing issues before they escalate and tailoring interventions to what’s actually happening in the field.
Customer onboarding is also streamlined with Canopy. New kiosks are provisioned quickly through CRM-triggered workflows, allowing them to be up and running in under an hour when new records are added to the customer relationship management system. This automated setup process replaced a process that used to take several hours.
With real-time device health monitoring, OpenTech’s team gains continuous fleet visibility into the performance and status of every deployed unit. This enables the support team to detect and resolve issues proactively, instead of waiting for customer complaints.
These enhancements empowered OpenTech to scale its operations while maintaining high standards of service and reliability.
"We can set up that kiosk for the customer, get it shipped out on time or even earlier, and have it ready to go in their hands ... Canopy allowed us to do that without spending a lot of money on labor.”
Operational Impact:
- 50% reduction in onboarding time, saving 2-3 hours per kiosk; setup now averages under 1 hour.
- 10% decrease in customer support tickets; with issues resolved automatically
- Improved facility management, with faster resolution and recovery
- Greater scalability, enabling OpenTech to manage a growing device fleet without increasing headcount
Customer experience:
- Pre-configured, fully functional kiosks reduce installation time and friction
- Real-time device dashboards give OpenTech’s customers visibility into their own systems, empowering them to manage equipment independently
- Remote device access has enabled OpenTech’s customers to scale service on-demand and power their remote operations strategies by fielding two-way video calls directly. This service-on-demand model improves efficiency, cuts costs and keeps customers happy. In 2024 alone, 300,000+ customer calls were placed through INSOMNIAC® kiosks, connecting to either OpenTech’s contact center or the operator’s centralized support team, all powered by Canopy.
Looking ahead, OpenTech plans to automate additional stages of the device lifecycle. This includes expanding provisioning workflows, improving decommissioning processes, and connecting more systems to support growth into new markets.
By modernizing their remote device management strategy with Canopy, OpenTech Alliance has built a foundation for sustainable growth and operational excellence as a leader in PropTech in the self-storage industry.
Canopy has helped us really have a better understanding of the health of that kiosk and all the devices within it.
Imagine your remote product fleet, managed automatically
Product and technical support teams use Canopy to automate remote device management for self-checkout kiosks, POS systems, cameras, smart lockers, and hundreds of other connected products.
See and solve problems automatically, with Canopy.
