For most businesses, a bullet proof system needs to balance fortification and accessibility. It’s no good if you stop all possible attacks at the cost of stopping all possible business. Subsequently, in most retail operations, the package passer is central to the system design.
Broadly speaking there are three styles of bullet resistant package passers: countertop interlock passers, thru-wall passers, and rotary passers. Each can be customized in a variety of ways–although most customization will revolve around either size, or adding features to make it more convenient to pass business-specific items (such as large sodas, rolled coins, or fragile packages).
COUNTERTOP INTERLOCK PACKAGE PASSERS
All-acrylic countertop interlock passers were first developed for the banking industry–hence the high-visibility design.
Although they can be made arbitrarily large, it’s uncommon to see on all-acrylic countertop model larger than three-feet on a side, since this is unwieldy for countertop use. For the largest items, material costs tend to make it more practical to build a fiberglass and steel locker alongside the counter, or use a thru-wall package passer.
THRU-WALL PACKAGE PASSERS
Thru-wall package passers rely on the same security interlock mechanism seen in countertop passers, but free up counter space by mounting beneath or alongside the transaction area. They are easily adapted to passing unwieldy items, or for specialized uses. Large pawn shops, police evidence rooms, shipping and postal offices–and even some hospitals–rely on large, customized thru-wall units for day-to-day shipping and receiving.
INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR ROTARY PACKAGE PASSERS
For interior uses–such as in 24-hour convenience stores and late-night quick-serve restaurants–there are all-acrylic “lazy susan”-style rotary package passers. These are built around a rotating base, and can quickly and smoothly pass items without exposing workers to outside threats. They’re especially well-suited to high-traffic applications, allowing workers to quickly hand-off sacks of burgers without dumping the sodas or creating long lines.
For exterior applications, there are drum-style rotary package passer (also often called “rotary susans”). These weather-sealed units are built of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene and stainless steel.
“We’ve always been structured to handle the custom work,” explains Total Security Solutions vice president Jim Richards, “so size is kind of irrelevant with all of these. When someone contacts us, if they can describe their space and their application, we can build a package passer to fit.”
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