Abstract: A central facility automatically receives status information regarding at least three different kinds of system elements and processes that status information to provide a corresponding status report. These teachings will readily accommodate a wide variety of system elements including, but not limited to, area lights, security cameras, overlooks, movable barrier status detectors, point-of-entry elements, sensors of various kinds, data communication paths, and so forth.

Abstract: Upon detecting a secondary influence of interest one automatically controls one or more overlooks for one or more of the self-storage units as comprise a part of a self-storage facility. The secondary influence can comprise, for example, a weather condition (such as a sleeting weather condition) that is capable of causing the overlock to persist a given lock state (such as a presently-locked state). The automatic action can comprise, for example, automatically removing the overlock condition for some or all of the presently overlooked self-storage units regardless of the present contractual propriety of maintaining an overlooked state.

Abstract: Each of a plurality of disparate facility components can be provided with a communications interface. That interface, in turn, can serve to facilitate communicating operational data between individual ones of such facility components and, for example, a central self-storage facility controller. This interface can comprise a wireless or a non-wireless interface as desired. These teachings will also accommodate the use of one or more wireless repeaters to support such an approach.

Abstract: Upon automatically detecting a predetermined event (such as, but not limited to, detecting a particular end user of the self-storage facility, public-safety personnel, or other authorized person), these teachings provide for responsively automatically identifying a particular one of the self-storage units and then automatically controlling lighting at the self-storage facility to uniquely denote a particular path, from amongst a plurality of candidate paths, to thereby direct the person to the identified self-storage unit.

Abstract: A self-storage facility having a variety of differing facility components (that utilize electricity) can couple those components to an electric mains to provide operating power. Upon sensing a lack of electrical power to that electric mains, however, these teachings can provide for actuating a back-up generator to provide back-up electrical power for some or all of those components. These teachings will also accommodate, if desired, using a renewable electrical source to provide the aforementioned electrical power to a disparate grouping of facility components. These teachings will also further accommodate, as desired, providing a source of direct current electrical power (such as a 48 volt direct current electrical power source) and then coupling that source to this disparate grouping of facility components to provide their required electrical power.

Abstract: Dim lighting can be provided in a given area that is monitored by a camera. Though such lighting is not bright enough to ensure capturing an image that can in turn be used with assurance to, for example, recognize the visage of a person in this given area, this dim lighting is nevertheless sufficient to permit using the camera's captured images for motion detection purposes. Accordingly, images from this camera are processed to detect motion in the given area. In response to detecting such motion, these teachings then provide for automatically providing an increased level of lighting in the given area that is sufficient to permit capturing a clear and distinct image in the given area with this camera.

Abstract: A system (10) has a pipeline (12) comprised of a multi-channel bi-directional video bus (14), multi-channel bi-directional audio bus (16), and a digital interprocessor communications bus (18). The pipeline (12) is equipped with a number of ports (20) where media controller (microprocessor) printed circuit cards (22) can be connected, thus providing a convenient method for connecting media devices (24) to the pipeline (12). In this manner, a media device's video input and output can be optionally connected to any of the video pipes (26) of the video bus (14). Similarly, the media device (24) audio inputs and outputs can be optionally connected to any of the audio bus (16) pipes (26). The switching is accomplished through a pair of analog multiplexers (28) whose connection options have been commanded by local microprocessor (30) resident on the media device microprocessor control board (22).