There is a point when most busy offices will have to rethink how to store all the documents and information they gather over time and an off-site records storage company might be a good solution, so what do these companies offer?

It doesn’t matter what type of business you are, if you accumulate many records that need to be kept on file, it is likely boxes in the office are not going to be sufficient enough to keep your information safe and tidy. This then means a different solution is necessary.

Before you consider which off-site storage company to use, you will need to find out what services they offer, and whether or not the offer the right services to fit in with your requirements, especially since alot of information that is gathered will hold personal sensitive data, therefore you need to choose a company that you know you can trust.

Here are just a few of the different services that an off-site records management company can offer:

Document Management

For a company that needs to store alot of paperwork, you will need to know that a company will have enough space not only to store your current information, but also any information that you will gather over time. Therefore, when looking at a company, visit the premises to ensure that there is sufficient space to accommodate you.

As well as having enough space, you also will want to know that your documents are stored in a clean and tidy environment and that information is allocated specific space so that when it comes to retrieving your documents, they are easily found.

Ask what form of management the company offers and how they track your information. If you need to obtain a certain document, you need to know that any document you require can be easily found in a short space of time. Most companies will have a tracking system in place and everything will be computerised so that they know exactly where your information is.

Document Destruction

We know that information is required by law to be kept for a certain length of time, but once that time is up, the documents need to be destroyed in an effective manner leaving no traces of information that can be retrieved.

This should be a service that is offered by the off-site records management company. They will generally be fully equipped to destroy any type of information, whether it be documents, data or computer hardware.

Document Shredding

Shredding documents is suitable for companies who want to be sure that once the information is shredded that no information remains vulnerable. The good thing about shredding documents rather than incinerating them is that the paper can be recycled.

This is something that many companies will be conscious of, especially when you look at the amount of paperwork that is stored. So by shredding information, you know that you can recycle that paper as well as knowing that the information that is recycled will have no traces of information which can be tracked to peoples personal information.

Data Storage

Many off-site companies do not only store paperwork, but they store other forms of information such as CDs, computer hard-drives and tapes. As well as the storage of this format of information, there are destruction facilities available too.

It is always advisory to visit any premises you are considering to use to fully ensure that you are happy with the environment you information will be kept in. You can also make it clear exactly what kind of service you need and that the company is suitable to hold all of your information and have a good system in place to know where your documents are as well as when it is time to destroy those documents.

So, these are just a few things for you to look at and know what type of services you can expect from a records management and storage company.