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Unique solution for retail cash office security

It is a known fact that the staff – often senior employees – who manage this crucial area of the business are extremely vulnerable against attack. They are, more often than not, ‘sitting ducks’ and soft targets in the cash processing chain by nature of their custodianship and control over this highly sought-after commodity.

This is the view of Malcolm Thomas of Transaction Control Technologies who believes that the management of retail stores can rid themselves of a serious headache by talking to his company about the protection of cash offices.

Common feedback received from victims of an armed robbery in these circumstances involves the 'surprise element'. The thugs are often well dressed, and initially, well behaved operatives who bluff their way in under the guise of potential customers, service personnel, suppliers etc. The fact is that once they are in, one faces a serious problem. Notices that keys to safes are kept off premises and other conventional concealment tactics appear to be of little value as staff members become the target of attack in the process of extricating the 'goods'.

One of the biggest culprits giving rise to this relatively easy access by criminals is the actual security door leading to the area. Once a door is opened, there is no second chance for the unsuspecting host to prevent access.

The Selector door is the first line of defence that TCT offers in its holistic approach to the protection of critical areas of the business. Selector door is a unique anti-hostage, secure, single person entry door, for which patents have been filed internationally. This unique product, with its small footprint, makes it easy to retrofit into existing areas without a space penalty. Furthermore, its integral, controlled, free passage mode makes it possible to allow for wheel chairs or bulk goods to be brought through the door under controlled circumstances.

"Given the constraints that management face in the cash office scenario, there is no better solution available in the world market today than Selector door. Not only does it provide protection for the staff; it looks after the goods as well," explains Thomas.

The second unique line of defence on offer from TCT is SmokeCloak, a product designed to essentially buy time between an alarm activation and an armed response.

Figure a. 1 second after activation

It rapidly (within 30 s) floods an area under attack with a dense, white, harmless vapour, and in so doing reduces visibility to approximately 30 cm, making it impossible for the intruder to steal or attack anything. The density of the discharge in the protected area is maintained by a patented smoke sensor which retriggers the unit to maintain optimum protection until such time as help arrives.

Figure b. 10 seconds after activation

Furthermore, there is no contamination, hence no clean-up required. Even computers are perfectly safe as they are protected by SmokeCloak.

Not only does SmokeCloak protect the premises after hours, but in the South African scenario it has proved equally valuable during business hours.

Figure c. 20 seconds after activation

SmokeCloak is capable of, for example, putting a stop to an almost daily occurrence of unsuspecting business people arriving at their premises somewhere in South Africa only to find that burglars had penetrated their building through the roof, disconnected all the alarm wiring in the ceiling, and spent the night cutting open their safes with angle grinders, leaving them with nothing but a gigantic mess. Because it can function autonomously, SmokeCloak will operate in these extreme conditions even if the alarm system has been compromised.

According to Malcolm Thomas, the South African crime situation has put SmokeCloak to the test in another arena, that of protection of people under attack. In one incident, 10 AK47-wielding gunmen were put to flight when they tried to rob a post office in Soweto. The SmokeCloak system was triggered when the custodian to the vault keys unlocked the vault. The system triggered automatically and flooded the office area rapidly, causing the thugs to flee.

"TCT takes pride in the fact that the solutions they bring not only address the problem of crime but also bring about operational benefits in the business which contribute to the bottom line, hence our slogan 'More than a security solution'," concludes Thomas.

For further details contact Malcolm Thomas, Transaction Control Technologies can be contacted at (011) 888 1210, e-mail: solutions@tct.co.za

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