The use of Drive Thru services continues to expand each year. From fast food, to banks, pharmacies and even liquor stores, they are becoming more and more prominent. Along with this growth comes the need for reliable alarm and notification systems.
Business owners or managers are often tasked with finding and installing a reliable alarm unit. after lane paving is already in place. This obviously limits the types of sensors and systems that can be easily installed without breaking the entire drive-thru. There are several items to consider when selecting a step alarm:
- The weather: Yes, the weather is really important to the type of sensor that is selected. One of the simplest types of sensors is the rubber air hose. However, in snowy areas, the rubber hose will not work properly once snow has accumulated on it. Also, snowplows can destroy these sensors quite quickly. Infrared or magnetic sonar systems will work year-round in all weather conditions.
- The location: Some drive-in windows are too far from the sensor location for a wired system to be practical, if possible a wired system is generally preferred, although wireless technologies are generally almost as reliable now with improvements in wireless technologies.
- The required service: The service provided to customers can determine which type of notification or notification device is best for the situation. In restaurants etc a centrally located bell or whistle is often ideal as employees or servers are usually all in one area and can be easily notified. In other applications, employees may be more mobile and need to have actual pagers or other portable receivers on their person in order to be alerted to a customer’s arrival.
Common Misconceptions: The most popular type of vehicle sensor for traffic alarms is the magnetic probe. Generally, when companies or individuals buy these systems, they bury the probe next to or inside their driveway. Obviously, in most driving applications, this is not practical. It is not necessary to bury the probes for them to work properly. Burial is simply to protect the probes from being run over, damaged by a lawnmower, etc. In driving applications, many owners mount the probe vertically using C-clamps on a pole or post next to where the vehicles will be traveling, which works great.
Learn more about differententrance alarmsystems at www.absoluteautomation.com