Your Most Common Document Management Questions Answered Here


Record Storage Systems is proud to work with professionals throughout North and South Carolina to help them effectively and efficiently manage hard copy and electronic records. If you’re considering an offsite document storage provider or are interested in a document scanning service and going digital, chances are you have a lot of questions.

In this blog, we’re answering your most common questions about document management and breaking down the misconceptions, uncertainties, and barriers to successfully outsourcing your document storage, scanning and shredding.

If I store business records offsite, I’m worried I won’t have access to the information I need. How will I be able to quickly access my records?

We hear this from clients and prospects a lot – and trust us, we understand! Data and information are arguably the most important assets to your business, so it’s understandable you want to keep them close by. With offsite document management services, all boxes are tracked using a unique barcode system. This allows us to locate your records within minutes and quickly send what you need with secure Scan-on-Demand. Think of us as an extension of your business. Call or request records through the website and receive a digital copy in as little as 30 minutes via secure FTP or encrypted email.

How can I create a realistic record retention plan?

Record retention is a hot topic these days – especially as companies begin to transition fully to electronic document management. Creating a retention plan will not only help reduce overhead costs, but will keep you more secure and prevent records from cluttering valuable office space. We recommend researching record retention guidelines for your human resource files, invoices and accounting, and tax records based on state and federal laws in your industry. Once retention dates and timelines have been established, create a document scanning plan to convert active records to electronic versions. Find reputable offsite document storage in Charlotte NC to provide and securely store hard copy records that you have a legal and ethical obligation to keep. Once you’ve identified records that are able to be destroyed, set up a document shredding schedule to regularly destroy old records. This will keep you secure and keep your costs low.

For more information on creating a record retention plan for your business check out our other blogs:
Document Retention 101: Here’s What to Purge and When
The Document Retention Guide to Tax Season
Do Your Competitors Have a Better Document Management Strategy Than You?

Is onsite document shredding better than offsite document shredding?

We hear this question A LOT. When a company is considering a document shredding service or a purge project, they’re typically deciding between onsite shredding (this usually takes place in the parking lot of their office building with a shred truck) or offsite shredding, which typically occurs at a document shredding provider’s facility. While it’s a matter of preference for some, there’s a common misconception that shredding offsite is less secure than shredding onsite – which is not true. Onsite shredding actually exposes your confidential records to more risk and uncontrollable elements — such as bad weather, wind, unauthorized personnel, unsecured parking lots, etc. — which leave your sensitive records vulnerable to an accidental security breach.

We recommend choosing a company that shreds your records offsite at their secure, gated facility in a controlled environment under video surveillance. At Record Storage Systems, all documents are locked within a secure shred container and transported using GPS tracking to our secure facility where they are destroyed under video surveillance using our industrial shredder. We also offer clients the opportunity to watch a stream of their documents being destroyed from our lobby.

How can I decide if document scanning is worth the cost?

If you’re considering scanning hard-copy records and converting them to electronic files, it makes sense to get several document scanning quotes and establish a scanning budget. Document scanning pricing depends on several factors including number of images, prep time involved, and the condition of the documents. We advise clients who are seeking document scanning services to evaluate how active the records are and how frequently they will need to be accessed. Typically, if the records are older and not active, we recommend offsite storage rather than scanning. However, if the records are active and frequently accessed, document scanning is the most efficient option and the cost can be justified based on all the benefits document scanning had to offer, including time saved, reduction in errors, better customer service, and enhanced communication between departments.

Check out our blog “3 Factors that Determine the Cost of a Document Scanning Project” for a detailed overview.

Have more questions? Contact us and we’ll be happy to offer a free consultation to determine which document scanning in Charlotte, NC services are right for you.

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