It may come as a surprise to many customers, yet drop safes and deposit safes are some of the most purchased safes in the industry, going head to head with S1 rated gun cabinets. Why are drop safes such a popular choice? The answer is quite simple – few people know how many institutions need a drop-in safe. What is it and what is it used for? You will find out in this article.
How do drop safes work?
Slot safes or deposit safes and cash safes allow you to deposit items (usually cash or important documents) conveniently and securely without having to open the entire safe. In a nutshell, the principle you know very well from letterboxes works here.
A drop safe has specially prepared, simple drop openings: this can be a hinged flap or a drawer on telescopes, designed for inserting the deposit inside, which then drops into the deposit section of the safe. Access to the compartment is on the other hand protected by the main door of the safe.
Instead, a key lock (less common) or an electronic lock, for which a specific person is authorised, is used to open the safe and extract deposits.
Who needs a drop safe?
Drop safes are present in a wide range of businesses, but the common denominator is the use for the secured storage of cash. The most common recipients of slot safes are therefore places where there is a cash cycle and money appears continuously. Such places are:
• retail outlets and cash registers – despite the progressive change towards cashless settlement, all the time every shop accepts a minimum of several tens of zlotys per day at a single cash register. There are special cash-drop safes, additionally equipped with drawers with compartments for coins and notes.
• petrol stations – safes designed for the safe storage of cash in circulation,
• bars, restaurants – the catering industry is affected by the same problem, very many of us still prefer to pay in cash,
• hotels – according to regulations, every hotel from 3 stars upwards should have a safe in the reception area, and a drop safe is most useful for hotels. The functionality of drop safes in the hotel industry allows not only cash but also valuables left on deposit.
The main functionality of drop safes, which determines their usefulness in day-to-day work, is the security of the contents in the event of a high staff turnover during the day. The main door can be accessed by the person authorised to take deposits, while any member of staff can insert documents or cash. With drop safes, the opportunity for thieves is eliminated.
What types of drop safes are there?
Slot safes are an insanely wide range of devices. You will find a multitude of drop safes, differing from one another depending on what expectations they are designed to meet. Thus, offered are:
• slot safes with a drop lid – the simplest and most commonly purchased drop safes, whose compact size allows them to be installed almost anywhere: in furniture, under the countertop of a reception desk or on a shop counter,
• dropboxes – these are specific products, almost tiny boxes locked with a key lock, inside which a nylon bag is placed into which cash is placed. At the end of a working day, the door is opened and the bag containing the money is taken out.
• deposit safes – sold for securing deposits (such as documents) left behind by customers/visitors to an institution rather than cash. Deposit safes are primarily used in the hotel industry, but also occur in medical facilities and even prisons.
• safety deposit boxes – familiar from hotels, these modules consist of lockers fitted with key bank locks. Two keys are required to open the locker: one is held by the customer and the other by a member of staff. Sometimes safe deposit boxes are integrated into a larger safe.
• locks – this is more a part of the building than a single product, and is used for the secure transfer of deposits from one room to another. Locks are installed in banks, sometimes in pawnshops – where really large sums of money need to be secure and, at the same time, break-in is the factor that is genuinely considered.
Which security classes should I choose?
Drop safes follow the same rules as other types of safe. Thus, depending on the value of the items deposited, the burglary resistance class should increase, from classless drop safes, which cannot even physically hold more than a dozen thousand zlotys, to huge deposit safes, in which you can easily hold several hundred thousand or even a million zlotys.
Light deposit safes or cashier's safes in classes S1 or S2 according to the standard PN-EN 14450 are intended rather for retail outlets, where money is taken daily, or for hotels, where they allow cash to be deposited comfortably, but also other items to be kept in them.
On the other hand, a heavy safe with a high burglary resistance class, I, II or higher according to EN 1143-1, will be more suitable for protecting large monetary values, securities etc..
Summary
A drop safe is a practical solution and at the same time a concept so broad that it sometimes requires a moment of consideration. There is plenty to choose from and if you have any doubts, our Sales Department is waiting for your call.
