Metal Detectors To Find Concealed Metal Objects

As the name suggests, metal detectors are electronic instruments used to detect the presence of concealed metal objects or stray metal pieces in places where they are not apparently visible to the naked eye. They are exploited in a wide range of applications, ranging from leisure activities to genuine security monitoring purposes. They can be either hand-held metal detectors or walk-through metal detectors, depending upon where and for what purpose they are used. The use of metal detectors is wide. The best metal detectors are probably the one that is applicable to your business. You can find metal detectors online

One major application of metal detectors is for the enhancement of office security. Due to the nature of the exacting requirements in office security enhancement, it is advisable to go in for one of the best-rated metal detectors available in the market rather than some cheap metal detectors or used metal detectors. Frankly, there are no all-purpose best metal detectors as such for universal application. A detector that meets the requirements of a particular application can be called the best one for that application.

How do metal detectors enhance office security?

One serious security concern inside an office is workplace violence or any threatening situation arising due to someone from the office or an outsider bringing into the office premises a concealed weapon (e.g. a gun or a knife).

Another equally serious security concern, particularly in niche businesses dealing with precious metals, is pilferage. For example, in businesses dealing in manufacture of gold jewelry it is very easy for anyone to conceal a small piece of the precious metal or a piece of jewelry in one's pocket, or wherever else.

Security metal detectors can play a vital role in enhancing office security by preventing workplace violence as well as materials pilferage.

Components of metal detectors

The commonly employed technology for detection of the presence of metals is the Beat Frequency Oscillator (BFO) technology. The basic components of a BFO system are the following:

• Oscillator: An oscillator is a device that generates alternating current pulses at the rate of thousands per second.
• Search coil: This is the part that actually senses the presence of metal when passed over an object for metal detection. It simply consists of a large coil of wire that is connected to the oscillator. It is also referred to as the search head, or loop, or antenna.
• Control box: The control box houses another, smaller coil, which is also connected to the oscillator. In addition, it contains the electronic circuitry, controls, speaker, batteries, and the microprocessor.
• Shaft: The shaft connects the search coil with the control box. It is generally adjustable and can be set at a comfortable level according to a person's height.
• Stabilizer: This part is optional. It helps keep the entire unit steady as one sweeps it back and forth.

Functioning of metal detectors

When an alternating current passes through a coil, it produces an alternating magnetic field around it, thus generating radio waves. The frequency of these pulses in the two coils is slightly offset, and this difference in frequency is used to create an audible radio signal. When the search coil is passed over a person carrying, e.g., a concealed weapon (such as a gun or a knife), the metal in the concealed object produces its own magnetic field due to induced eddy currents from the coil. This interferes with the frequency of the audible radio signal, leading to detection.

Choosing a security metal detector for your office

Before choosing a security metal detector for your office, the following factors should be considered.

First of all, you should lay down your requirements regarding security enhancement. For example, whether you need a metal detector for body search or for pilferage prevention or for access control, or for all of these. The second factor to be considered is your financial budget for this purpose.

If the budget is low and the purpose is simple body search for weapons or pilferage in a small office, then hand-held body scanners are ideal, because they are lightweight and inexpensive.

If security enhancement is required on a larger scale as in big stores or banks, where the traffic of people walking in and out is heavy, individual body search by security personnel may not be practically convenient. In such places a walk-through metal detector would be preferable. Every time someone carrying a weapon or whatever passes through the detector, a beep sound will alert the security officials.

All the detectors may not be able to detect all the metals equally efficiently. So you must note down what metals you need to detect and choose an appropriate detector accordingly.

Advantages and disadvantages of metal detectors

Some advantages of security metal detectors are:

• The immediate and most obvious advantage of metal detectors is enhanced office security.
• They play a very important role in preventing workplace violence by picking out persons bringing in weapons to an office.
• They help in pilferage prevention, especially of precious metals.
• Hand-held body scanners for body search eliminate the need for physical pat-downs during weapon screening, avoiding embarrassment to clients/ employees.

Some disadvantages of metal detectors could be:

• They may sometimes give a false alarm if someone is carrying even harmless metallic objects (e.g. toys), or say gold jewelry/coins as a personal belonging, causing a lot of embarrassment and inconvenience to the person.
• They may not always be safe for people fitted with a pacemaker.
• They may interfere with magnetic recording media like cassettes and CDs.

However, as long as you are aware of these advantages and disadvantages, and you choose the right metal detector that meets with your requirements, security metal detectors can drastically boost your office security.