What You Should Know About Commercial Safes
A home safe and a commercial safe are similar because they both keep important things safe. It doesn’t matter is your business is big or small, having a safe will offer you peace-of-mind and make things less stressful while operating your business. Not every safe is the same, they all have different uses and benefits. There are just as many commercial safes on the market as there are residential safes. This is why choosing one can be as much of a task as anything else. As a business owner, you likely have no clue as to where to begin. You could begin by contacting us at JC Locksmith in Vernon Hills, Illinois to assist you in finding the right safe or you can pursue it on your own with this helpful information.
Choosing a Good Safe
Not every type of safe is going to be suitable for everyone’s business, this is why it is a good idea to check around and learn as much as possible about the various types of locks that are offered for commercial businesses. You’ll need to consider what you want to store in your safe and how much you’ll be accessing it. The more valuable your content will be, the more security you will likely require from your safe. Commercial safes fall under several categories: time tested, area tested, torch resistance, tool resistance.
Commercial safes are put through a serious of pretty intense tests before they are categorized. Every category has different classification levels. They may consist of one or several categories. The more categories they fall under the more security the safe will provide to you. The type of safe you purchase also affects your insurance coverage. The better your security is the more they will likely pay out. They consider the security measures you were willing to take in securing your valuables. Other things are taken into consideration, as we are not aware of all of them, you may want to consult with an agent prior to purchasing your safe if you are concerned about insurance premiums and payouts.
Types of Commercial Safes
When you have figured out the category and class of safe that you want to purchase, you will then need to determine which size will suit your needs the best. Here are some of the most commonly used commercial safes on the market today:
- Deposit and Drop Safes
This type of safe is often used in a retail environment or in a dining establishment. They hold keys, money and important documents. They offer easy access. There is an area at the top that makes it easy for you to drop things inside without completely opening the safe. Other than this access point, you have a main door, which requires a key or code. In some cases, it may even require both in order to open the safe.
- Office Safe
An office safe can be bolted to the floor or can be a simple free standing safe. They are also found in many retail businesses. They offer high fire ratings, which many business owners find especially appealing. This insures them that in case of a fire, the contents of what is inside the safe will still be safe and sound. They are also drop safe which means that if someone to open it, dropping it will not enable them to get the content of what is inside, out.
- In-Floor Safes
An in-floor safe is just that, it is place underneath your floor, out of the sight of a thief. Since thieves want easy access to your safe, if they have to waste time looking for it, it is a good bet that having it installed in the floor will keep them from gaining access to it.
- High Security Safes
If you want the top of the line safe to protect your interest then we would suggest you look into a high-security safe. They are generally more expensive than all of the other safes we have mentioned, but they really do add the level of security that is superior. They offer additional barriers, high fire rating, and drill protection. These are just some of them most appealing features, there are other benefits associated with this type of safe
- Fire-resistant Commercial Safe
It has been reported that more than 80% of businesses have to file bankruptcy after a fire. In addition to structural damages, businesses also incur data and document losses. These are often more valuable than the structural damages caused. This is why it is so important to make sure you have a good fire-resistant safe to store your most important paperwork inside. These types of safes are specifically designed to resist fires. There are different ratings for each type of fire safe. The ones with the highest rating will undoubtedly cost more.
- Electronic safe
This has long been considered the most efficient type of commercial safe. You are able to store everything from money to documents and data knowing that no one can simply duplicate a key to gain access inside. They can’t even pick the lock if you have an electronic safe. This type of safe is far more difficult for anyone to break into because there is no key and due to its design. They often have advanced security features to prevent access. Make sure you know what the features are before making this type of purchase.
- Data Safe
These are specially designed and made to secure and protect CD’s, memory cards, flash drives and other storage devices and important documents. There are certain things like your insurance papers, tax documents, sales receipts, client records that you simply cannot afford to have stolen. This is a safe that many financial institutions invest in so that client information is not stolen. This would be a serious breach of security and could be the absolute end of your business.
Take notice of the various commercial safes available to you and perform a thorough research of each type to ensure you find the one best for your needs.