Pay window, transfer tray or hatch? Choosing how things cross a secure counter

The screen is the part of a secure counter everyone notices, but the hardest decision is usually the small one underneath it: how things get from one side to the other. Get that right and the counter works all day without staff leaning round the glass or propping a gap open.

This guide starts from what has to cross the counter, then goes through each option we make, with a comparison table at the end. For the glass itself, see our guide to attack-resistant and bullet-resistant glass.

Start with what crosses the counter

Three questions settle most counters:

1. What passes through? Paper only, cash and cards, small packets, or bulkier items such as property bags or boxed medicines.
2. Can people hear each other? Glass blocks speech. A quiet counter can rely on natural speech through the mullions. A busy one, or one used by people with hearing aids, needs electronic speech enhancement and a hearing loop.
3. What’s the threat? Most counters need protection against manual attack: someone hitting the glass or throwing things at it. A risk assessment that identifies a firearms threat moves you to ballistic products.

Two more come up at survey: whether the counter needs a seated position for wheelchair users, and whether the opening is in an internal counter or an external wall.

Pay windows: the standard counter unit

A pay window is the glazed unit that sits on the counter, with the tray built in beneath the glass. It’s the usual answer for cash offices, dispensaries, ticket offices and reception counters. Our PW range comes in four builds, all glazed to 11.5mm BS EN 356 P4A:

• PW1: natural speech through the mullions, no tray
• PW2: a cash packet tray, 110mm deep, for documents, cash and small packages
• PW3: a 75mm audio tray with electronic speech enhancement and a hearing loop
• PW4: a 25mm shallow document tray with the same audio system

Three variations cover the cases the standard range doesn’t:

• Low-level pay windows (LLPW1 to LLPW4) put the opening at seated height, so a wheelchair user is served at the main counter rather than sent to a side window. LLPW3 and LLPW4 have a built-in hearing loop.
• The bullet-resistant pay window (BRPW) is for counters where the risk assessment identifies a firearms threat. It has 26mm BR4/SG1/NS glazing to EN 1063, is designed to resist BS EN 1522 FB4 as a whole unit, and uses a cash packet audio tray over an under-counter shot box.
• The flush-fit pay window is for serving through an external wall, at a garage forecourt or a 24-hour pharmacy. It sits flush with the building, and its drawer locks from the inside.

Transfer trays: when the screen is already there

A transfer tray is the stainless steel tray set into the counter beneath the screen. Choose a tray on its own when you already have a screen, or when a run of glazed screens needs a transfer point. Our transfer trays come in four versions:

Each tray fits a prepared opening in the counter, with a rebate so it sits flush. The ballistic audio tray is tested and certified by a UK accredited test house to BS EN 1522 FB4 and SG1, and includes an under-counter shot box. The audio trays need a 13amp socket. None of the trays is for external use.

All-in-one units: the CW2 and the BTW1

Two units combine the glazing and the transfer point, so nothing separate has to be cut into the counter:

• The CW2 cash window pairs 11.5mm P4A glazing with a 110mm cash packet tray and natural speech through the mullions. It’s a compact choice for cash and ticket offices.
• The BTW1 budget transfer window has 11.5mm 3-ply attack-resistant glazing over a latched transfer opening, 465mm wide by 170mm high. There’s no tray and no speech system. Staff pass documents and small items through the opening and latch it shut, and the window locks with a night latch.

Sliding hatches: an opening that shuts

A tray leaves no gap, but some counters need a real opening for part of the day: a serving hatch, a stores counter, a reception that hands over larger items. A sliding hatch gives you an opening that closes and locks instead of a permanent gap.

Our sliding hatches come in vertical and horizontal versions, with the same 11.5mm P4A glazing, steel framing and Abloy cylinder pin lock. A vertical hatch slides up and a horizontal hatch slides sideways, so the choice comes down to the space around the opening. Both are made to order, in bespoke sizes within a 2 to 1 height ratio.

Bulk items: the EBTU

When items are too big for any tray, such as property at a custody desk or larger items at a pharmacy, use a bulk transfer unit.

The EBTU has two electronically interlocked doors, so the secure side is never open to the public side. It’s built to ballistic resistance BS 5051 G2 S86, mounts in a wall or on a counter in left or right hand versions, and needs a 13amp socket for the interlock.

Side by side

Joining them into one protected line

Most real counters use more than one of these. A typical public counter might have two standard pay windows, a low-level window for seated customers, a sliding hatch at the end for larger items and a door through to the staff side, all in one run.

We make them in our Edenbridge workshop to fit together, so the frames, glazing heights and finish match along the whole line. Where the risk reaches firearms, the BRPW joins with FB4 doors and ballistic trays, so the line has no weak point. Where conversations are hard, speech transfer systems and the hearing loop options carry the sound through the glass.

Not sure which combination your counter needs? We start with a free site survey, then specify each position. Talk to us about your counter, or see our security screens and counters and transfer units and hatches.