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Digital safes replace traditional `tijoris'

NEW DELHI: Tucked away in the cupboards and almirahs, safes for a long time have been the best kept secrets in a home with their keys being in the safe hands of the most trusted person of the household, but now the keys are being replaced with passwords, keywords and e-swipes - courtesy digital safes.

It is not just the households that use digital safes, hotels, shopping establishments and even professionals are taking to digital safes.

``A digital safe is one of the first things I ask for in a hotel. I prefer the e-safes where in I can use my credit card to lock and unlock the safe'', says Abhisheka Kumar, a finance manager.

The market for digital safes is growing rapidly - around 20 per cent per year. ``Electronic safes enable the customer to perform keyless operations on the safe as this avoids the problems of getting the keys duplicated and even the fear of losing the keys'' says Manu Saigal, Manager, Godrej, a major player in electronic safes.

These new-age `tijoris' come in fancy names like Rhino, Saffire and e-swipe.

Indian consumer was not that aware of digital safes but of late the advantages of electronic safes are appreciated with the advancement in the technology. ``When we introduced our range of digital safes a few years back in a trade fair, people confused them for microwave ovens! And now people come to us and ask us about new features in safes,'' says Vandana Aggarwal of the Ozone Overseas, a distributor of digital safes.

``The traditional safes as we know them are sturdy and intimitadating with multiple key systems and levers, and hence they were never seen as an item that added value to a room where they were stored, but with digital safes, the situation has changed'', adds Aggarwal. Now people prefer having the electronic panelled safes on the walls.

Some of the features include dual level passwords that range from 3-16 digits, audio-visual low battery indicator, emergency mechanical override, to open safe without damage in case password is forgotten and auto-freeze facility to eliminate unauthorised access.

More advanced ones can be operated using credit, debit and ATM cards. Some maintain records of the last hundred logins with the time of the opening and closing of the safe.

It is not just the households that are the target of digital safe manufacturers.

``Digital safe is a useful utility item in every home & office for storing cash, jewellery and important documents and hence our target audience is farely large and hence we expect a huge growth in this segment'' says Aggarwal.

``Large hotel chains provide digital safe facility to their customers as this, they feel adds value to their overall service,'' says Saigal. - PTI

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