Any security system is based on trade-offs: Harder to crack passwords are harder to remember; locking your doors means keeping track of your keys. Bullet proof security is no exception. Bullet proof manufacturers and their clients must make compromises as they design a system that will provide adequate security, not impede worker-client interactions, and stay within budget. When your business can be streamlined down to talking through an intercom and passing slips of paper through transaction drawers, this is relatively easy. When a transaction drawer is not enough and clerks and customers need to pass bulky items through package passers, things get trickier.
PACKAGE PASSERS VS. TRANSACTION DRAWERS
All things being equal, most businesses who think they have even the slimmest chance of needing to accept a bulky package will opt for a large package passer. But these are frequently impractical. Not only are they expensive, but owing to their size and swinging doors, they eat up a lot of space on both the secure-side and public-side of the bullet proof barrier. This can be a deal-breaker in the retail situations that need these passers most: late-night fast-food eateries and 24-hour mini-mart gas stations.
TRANSACTION DRAWER ADVANTAGES
In terms of size, ballistic transaction drawers are largely comparable to many mid-sized package passers at a fraction of the cost. More importantly, these drawers can easily be mounted beneath existing counters or through the wall next to a transaction window, meaning no precious counter space is wasted. The only downside is in customization: package passers are made on-site by Total Security Solutions in their Fowlerville, MI, facility, and can be made to any size (even large 7-foot-tall dual-entry pass-through ballistic lockers for shipping offices). Drawers, on the other hand, are mechanically complicated and come in a few pre-determined sizes.
Because of their slightly greater mechanical complexity, Total Security Solutions largely sells drawers made by Shure, a company that specializes in ballistic drawers. These complex, high-quality, multi-purpose models are an excellent value, and Total Security Solutions vice president Jim Richards is pleased that Total Security Solutions is a certified Shure distributor. But Shure’s ballistic steal transaction drawers aren’t for everyone. In response to customer demand, Total Security Solutions looked at what they could do with their existing skills and tools, and designed this transaction drawer, which they can manufacturer entirely on-site:
Bullet resistant transaction drawer
Ideal for the cost-conscious builder outfitting a facility for a lower threat-level, Jim characterizes this as “a good, economical drawer”; by cutting out the middleman, Total Security Solutions offers their customers a quality drawer well suited to light-duty interior or exterior use.