Safe Talk

We’re back with another great video from Dye the Safe Guy! (and yes, that’s his real name!). This time, he’s talking about floor safes. Even been curious? Check it out!

Here are a couple of helpful hints to think about when assessing your likelihood of being robbed in your home or business. For full manual, please download the PDF from Safe and Vault Store.com

THE NEIGHBORHOOD ENVIRONMENT:
Focus on the “big picture” and some of the deterrence measures that can be taken based on the neighborhood surroundings.
Enlist cooperation and support from your community. Become sensitive to your community’s attitudes. Contact representatives from city departments such as:
• ? Parks
• ? Streets
• ? Police
• ? Lighting
• ? Youth group organizers
Working with your community and increasing your awareness of robbery deterrence procedures will help make your stores safer and improve industry image.

PEDESTRIAN ACTIVITY
In general, high activity areas are less prone to robberies. Assess the quantity and type of traffic, times of high and low activity and the potential for increasing traffic and activity.
Pedestrians, as well as cruising patrol cars, should have clear visibility into the store both during the day and especially at night.
It would be to the store’s advantage to have a pay telephone nearby for pedestrian use should someone notice trouble within the store. The phone should also be situated so a potential robber would not be able to monitor the activities of the employee on duty while using the phone.

VISIBILITY AND LIGHTING
It is important to provide as much visibility as possible into your store from the street and to provide visibility from the inside of the store to the outside. The important point is that there should be visibility from the register area to the street. This involves an assessment of your lighting and the visibility it provides both during the day and at night.
For instance, shrubs or trees sometimes obstruct the path of a floodlight. Sometimes trees cast shadows over your lot at different times of the year. Look for such obstacles in your lot.

BUILDING AND PARKING LOT SECURITY
Some retail store operators use some security measures which could slow a robberi?s escape. Such measures could deter a robbery as well.
For instance, some stores fence their premises on three sides to slow a robber escaping around the side of the store. Some stores allow parking only directly in front of their stores, so an escape vehicle would have to be parked directly in front of the store. Some stores have just one exit out of the parking lot, and some have speed bumps in the parking lot.

ROBBERY DETERRENCE SIGNAGE Robbery deterrence signage, stickers, decals, etc. are available to let customers and potential robbers know what a store is doing to deter robbery. For instance, placing a height measure by an exit door helps witnesses determine the height of a fleeing robber. Also, to publicize a low cash policy, cards that reads “no 20s” or “no 50s” can be placed in the cash register drawer. These cards also remind the employee that large amounts of cash go directly into the safe.
But remember, whatever signage you have in place, make sure it is telling a true story. Do not post signage which is not true.
More details on robbery deterrence signage are in the additional resources section of this manual.

We’ve talked a lot about installing safes and for many people this is too difficult a job to accomplish alone. Well, we stumbled across this great video from the guys at Sentry Safe that is really a step-by-step guide to wall safe installation. Even if you are feeling nervous about undertaking the task alone, rest assured you can do it! (and if you can’t, always remember that we can help coordinate safe installation and in-home delivery for you).

I, along with 24 million other Zappos customers, got an email yesterday noting that my personal information may have been compromised by hackers. These large-scale online data security breaches seem to be increasingly common. These breaches underscore the fact that we all need to be vigilant and pro-active when it comes to what information we are willing to share in the online space, who we share our personal information with, and what security measures we trust. This breach has really caused me to reflect on just how much of my personal information is out there on the internet—there’s Zappos, Amazon, Target, and different Etsy sellers I’ve bought stuff from. All my banks hold my information online as do some of my doctor’s offices who keep online records. In this increasingly connected world, are we making ourselves vulnerable to data hacks?

So much of our time is focused on offline security (we are a safe and vault store afterall), but it’s important to remember that there are certain precautions that we must take online as well. I’ve compiled a few helpful, if commonsense, hints to help make sure you aren’t the victim of an online attack.

1) Remember who you’ve shared your information with – and be selective about sharing.
2) Don’t store your credit card information online, even with online sellers that you trust.
3) Don’t put more information out there than required. Keep your Social Security Number to yourself, consider using only one credit card for online purchases
4) Make sure you only make purchases with sellers who take security measures – VeriSign is one of these online security companies that many sellers use.
5) Use your head—if a situation feels uncomfortable, go with your gut.

Did you know that not only are we one of the best online safe and vault sellers, but we actually have a used and outlet store section where you can score a great deal without compromising on the quality or protection of your safe. Talk about a winning combo. Given the current state of the economy and pressures that we all face every day (new homes, new babies, new jobs, and not enough money for any of it!), we are all looking for a good deal. We may go to second hand websites like eBay or Craigslist but tell me, what do these sellers know about safety and security? Well…very little.

We are a reputable, family company who, for over 50 years, have been selling the highest qualities safes and vaults to the public. When we say “we ensure the quality of all used safes we sell” you better believe we mean it! Now you can rest assured that you are purchasing from a company with positive values, integrity, and a promise of excellence while still getting that great deal. And no longer do you need to compromise on the security and safety of your home or business.

I welcome you to browse our used and outlet safes listings and see for yourself. And if the type of safe you are interested in isn’t available, feel free to give us a call and talk to one of our representatives about our incoming inventory. You never know, maybe we have just what you need in the warehouse and it just hasn’t made it on to the web yet.

Well, it’s officially 2012! Did you know that January is a great time to reassess your security needs? To help you out, I thought I’d throw together a brief overview of our very comprehensive website!

Biometric Safes: biometric safes are controlled by your own unique biometric features, such as your fingerprints, voice pitch, or iris. These safes are great for keeping items that you need to access frequently in your home or office.

Burglar Fire Safes: There are fire safes and there are burglar safes and then there are burglar fire safes. The best of both worlds, these safes are not only fire resistant (make sure to check the fire rating before purchase) but are also make to the specifications required of burglar safes.

Cash Boxes: Do you work in a high cash business such as a retail shop or restaurant? Well…cash boxes and Cash Dispensing Safes are essential items for your business. There is no reason to keep yourself vulnerable to theft if there are such simple and easy solutions.

Custom Safes: Not only do we sell the very best safes available anywhere, but we are safe professionals through and through. Contact us to ask about custom safes if your needs exceed what is available online. We can build safes to just about any specifications that you can think up – and we’ll even help organize delivery and installation!

Data Media Safes: As our business and home habits change, so do our safe needs. Today more and more sensitive material is being held and stored digitally. Is your digital data secured properly? Did you know that CDs and other data devices cannot be stored in a normal fire safe?

Fireproof Safes: Did you know that most burglar safes are NOT fireproof? Fireproof safes are great for safeguarding home deeds, marriage certificates, birth certificates and other precious mementos. Make sure to check the fire-rating on any safe you consider. Ratings range from 1-4 hours generally.

Laptop Safes: life in college can be tons of fun until something gets stolen. Advise your college-bound kids to invest in a laptop safe to make sure to minimize the potential for dorm theft.

Jay Hunt, our wonderful President here at SafeandVaultStore.com has a message for you! Seeing this little talk from him really puts a face on the business. As he notes in the video, it’s sometimes a little tricky when you are shopping online to understand exactly what you’re buying and who you are buying it from. Well…this is a great video for you!

Take care and enjoy the video!

Maybe its because the holidays have just come and gone in a flash…but all of a sudden I’m thinking about all my friends and relatives who have just had babies recently (it seems like a never-ending stream of brand-new faces on facebook!). I’m so excited for each and everyone of them, but it also got me thinking about home safety and babies.

1. Do you have a working smoke alarm on each level of your home?
2. Is your water heater set to 120 degrees or below?
3. Do you have a working carbon monoxide detector in your home?
4. Do you have window guards on all your upstairs windows?
5. Do you have child safety gates at the top and bottom of all staircases?
6. Are all medicines, cleaning products, cosmetics, pesticides and alcohol locked safety out of baby’s reach?
7. Have you removed all strangulation hazards (ribbons, necklaces, strings) out of baby’s reach?

Of course this list is not exhaustive but is meant to inspire you to properly baby-proof your home before you bring your newest addition home. In addition to baby-proofing your home to make sure the newest addition to your family is safe and sound, you’ll also want to consider how you’re keeping all those precious documents safe from harm.

Now that you have someone who is utterly dependent on you (and, who at least for the first 8 weeks of their life…can’t see beyond 8 inches in front of their face), you’ll need to make sure that all your belongings are in a safe place as well. A media storage safe or a fire safe are your best bets for this. We have a whole selection of great safes available for you on our website…and if you’re still feeling confused (or could that be the lack of sleep?!), feel free to give us a call and we’ll help make sure you have exactly what you need to keep all those birth documents, home deeds, and wills as safe as possible.

So you’ve decided that you need to buy a fire proof safe for your home but you don’t know where to start? Today safes are more complex (and sophisticated and protected) than ever but we’re here to help you understand the buying process when it comes to fire proof safes.

Let’s start at the beginning as we try to understand what exactly a fire proof safe is – these sorts of safes are designed to release moisture during a fire. That means that as the outside of the safe gets hotter and hotter, the inside can maintain a mild temperature so that papers and other valuables are less likely to catch fire. This moisture inside the safe is released and ensures that the temperature inside the safe won’t raise to a level at which these precious objects would ignite. Most safes are rated by how long your papers and valuables will be protected. For example, small safes may have a half hour rating but most carry a rating of between 1 and 3 hours total. Typically these sorts of safes will protect any documents that you as a home or small business owner require. If you work at a large scale company that protects official records you might require a four hour safe. In addition to these sort of ratings, safes may also be tested by any one of the following testing organizations:
• Private Laboratory Testing
• K.I.S. (Korean Industrial Standard) Fire Test
• U.L. (Underwriters Laboratory) Class of Fire Protection
The most thorough and widely recognized of these is the UL Classes. These ratings mean that the safe has been sanctioned by an independent organization and not just the manufacturer and have a different (but complementary) set of ratings. For example, a UL Class C safe is proven to protect papers to a temperature of 1700F for one hour. This is equivalent to a One Hour Rating.

If you want more information on the types of tests that are done during fire testing, take a look at these links
1. Fire Endurance Test
2. Explosion Hazard Test
3. Fire Impact Test

If you are aiming to protect more than just your papers, you might also want to consider a media safe. Now more and more people are storing their precious valuable documents electronically – often by CD or DVD. Electronic media is more sensitive to heat than is paper, these special media safes are better protected and more heavily insulated. As a media safe has to maintain a lower internal temperature than a safe designed for paper goods, it is safe to store your paper in a media safe but not safe to store your electronic media in a paper safe.

Understanding this complex set of safe rankings will help equip you with the tools to chose the best safe for your needs and the needs of your family.

A special word of warning though: if you buy a fire safe, don’t expect it to protect against burglars unless the safe says it is BOTH fire and burglar protected!

With the high price of childcare today, many men and woman are opting to stay home and take care of their children instead of going to work. This means that there is an increased number of part-time, small business owners as these moms and dads struggle to support their families. So, the question is, does a Stay at Home Mom or Dad need a home safe? Yes! An astounding yes!

There are so many important documents that come with taking care of a home and your children. These documents (not to mention things of sentimental value) need to be protected from the threat of fire or theft. For example, where do you keep the deed to your home? Where do you keep your children’s birth certificates? What about your own marriage certificate? Social security cards? There is so much information that we must keep safe as part of keeping our home together. Of course you might be one of those people who just shove papers here, there, and everywhere and hope you can find them again. But the smarter thing to do is to keep a file filled with all these documents and store them inside of a fire safe.

Regardless of the type of business you are in, from child-care to high finance; from ski-instruction to accounting; from writing to construction, there is a good chance that your life would be easier if you had a safe place to keep your important documents, valuables, and sentimental collectibles. It is far easier to purchase a high quality safe and rest assured that your valuables will not come to harm, that it is to stress about potential fires & burglary that may put your valuables at risk.

What do you do for a living? Are you curious to know if you could benefit from a home safe? We’ve love to hear some of your stories – about how safes have helped you in times of trouble or how you wish you’d have purchased a safe.

Thanks so much for reading!