No longer limited to athletic facilities and school hallways, secure lockers can safeguard items for your business and its employees as well as clients, visitors, and other guests. Today, you’ll find many secure locker storage solutions available. The question is, which one best suits your needs? This comparison of smart versus mechanical lockers can help guide your decision.
Versatile and secure locker storage is a solution of choice for public safety buildings, hospitals, university campuses, offices, libraries, museums, and all kinds of other environments. From protecting personal property to securing key evidence or firearms, multiple industries have found value in safeguarding their valuables.
This blog compares smart lockers’ and mechanical lockers' features, applications, and contributions to an efficient workplace. Read on to learn more about each alternative and make an informed choice.
What is a Smart Locker?
Smart lockers take the lockers you know of old and evolve them for today’s ever-changing environment. By combining hardware (such as electronic locking mechanisms) and software (including the operating terminal, management application, and user app), these secure lockers give you flexibility and greater control.
What makes a smart locker “smart?” By connecting lock hardware to an opening terminal and from there through the Internet of Things to a centralized platform, smart lockers provide additional levels of flexibility and control. You can set them up for personal or day use, team exchange of sensitive documents or goods, and more.
When Peaksware wanted to create a communal, cutting-edge feel to its new building in Colorado, it added bays of smart lockers. While they had originally envisioned 150 lockers in the break room, Patterson Pope customized the solution to fit in more organically with the design.
Integrating the system with Peaksware’s existing building management software allowed the software development company to provide a seamless experience. “You can come in with one key fob and access the building and your locker and behind the scenes,” said IT manager Nathon Johnson. “It’s seamless for our IT team to manage as well.”
Features of Smart Lockers
Security is a primary benefit of smart lockers. Traditional lockers are also secure, of course. Yet smart lockers replace physical keys or PIN codes. Users can unlock their locker via wearable devices, RFID badges, key fobs, connected operating terminals, or the smart locker app.
This versatility offers convenient access to your users while simplifying facility management. Building administrators can easily set access permissions for day-use, long-term use, package delivery, and more. Plus, they can change the configuration with touch-button simplicity in the dashboard to scale and adapt to different use cases.
You might also program your lockers to sound an alarm and notify security personnel if someone tries to break into a locker. Even within your team, it can help to have the accountability offered by connecting your active directory to the lockers. You’ll know who’s using which locker, when, and for how long. This information can help you optimize space while minimizing administrative burden.
While your facility managers enjoy real-time data and insights, you also enhance employee experience and customer or guest satisfaction. At Wake Forest University, for example, two banks of smart lockers installed in the 24/7 reading room let students and faculty members unlock a touchless locker using their campus IDs. Items are retrieved and checked out by librarians, and the borrower gets an email with instructions on collecting their items from the lockers.
It’s an elegant and user-friendly solution. “We have certainly had a lot of feedback that the lockers are a lifesaver,” said library associate dean Mary Beth Lock. “They fit so effortlessly it feels like they were always there.”
Custom Design Your Smart Lockers for Any Situation
You can find yourself wasting up to 40% of your lockers if you don’t plan effectively. That’s a waste of space and your investment. With smart technology, you can easily configure your lockers to fit your needs.
When temp and staffing agency Randstad USA moved to a hybrid office environment, smart lockers helped them rethink storage in their corporate headquarters. Taking advantage of real-time data, the company can respond dynamically, providing ready access for limitless users while adapting to individual needs.
Who comes into the office and when is dynamic, said Jeff Baer, Director of Workplace Solutions. Yet with smart storage, “everyone has an opportunity to store their stuff safely at the office.”
The lockers will also complement the design aesthetic. Specify their size and choose from a wide variety of different shapes and materials. Have your lockers blend into your design or add a bold “Wow” factor.
No matter how they look, expect users to be impressed. The options are endless. Take Lifeline of Ohio. Patterson Pope configured a smart locker bay consisting of 13 lockers to offer a contactless, user-friendly solution while emphasizing safety and security for organ, eye, and tissue gifts in Central and Southeastern Ohio and some of West Virginia.
“It gives me the peace of mind that there is going to be a clean handoff from point A to B and when it gets to the transplant center it is the right package and it is ready to be transplanted,” says Tommie McBride, Manager of Surgical Recovery.
What is a Mechanical Locker?
Mechanical lockers are a traditional storage solution offering lock and key, simple combination locks, or keypad options. These durable steel locker systems come in all shapes and sizes. You might go with the traditional floor-to-ceiling size school lockers or add smaller, cubical-sized options for personal storage.
The Franklin Police Department in Tennessee selected mechanical lockers to improve comfort and convenience in the men’s and women’s locker rooms. They also added 36 lockers featuring mesh doors for ventilation and visibility in their SWAT room. The department also custom-designed evidence room lockers, including refrigerated pass-through evidence lockers for both perishable and biological items.
“Our facility is now recognized as a model police headquarters,” said Sgt. David Prather. “We never realized how important the storage components would be and what a difference a good system makes.”
Features of Mechanical Locks
Why might you choose mechanical lockers? Sheer strength and durability. Steel lockers locked by padlocks or combination locks can deter thefts. Meanwhile, you can invest in secure steel lockers knowing they are also fully adaptable. As your needs change, it’s simple to reconfigure your storage to address new objectives.
With flexible configurations and lockers available in various shapes, sizes, and custom colors, you can easily select a mechanical locker solution that suits your space.
Mechanical lockers are a top choice for projects where budget or installation time is a main concern. Since these lockers don’t have the same sophistication as their smart counterparts, you can find more cost-effective options.
Plus, they operate independently of electronic systems. You don’t need to invest in IT infrastructure to fully benefit from mechanical lockers.
Finding the Right Locker for You
Both smart and mechanical lockers offer unique benefits. To select the right secure locker type, you’ll want to carefully consider your user needs, security requirements, budget, and the design aesthetic of your space.
Want to talk through your decision with a storage expert? Contact a Patterson Pope expert today.
