As any successful and busy law firm will tell you, it’s not long before the paperwork starts to stack up, which is fine for the cases you are working on, but what about the cases that have been closed?
Many successful law firms in London might find that it actually costs more to store archives in their offices than it would do to outsource the service to an off-site secure document storage facility. How is this possible? Consider the value of rental for an office in central London. The costs are going to be sky high. If you can find a good, reliable document Storage Company on the outskirts of London you could potentially free up your archive space in the office and turn it into a fee-earning space by creating more desk space!
For any legal company security and confidentiality has to be off paramount importance. Lawyers will sign confidentiality agreements with their clients and this also most likely needs to be put in place between the lawyer and the archive storage company.
In some cases the law firm might even want to find out more about the recruitment process of the document storage company, to find out how it goes about recruiting it’s employees. Whilst this may sound over the top, it’s all part of the territory that goes with dealing with a law firm.
A law firm is also going to be looking for many services that any other company might want from a document storage company.
For example, they will want to know how secure the facility is and what measures are put in place to ensure that there is no risk of fire or flood damage to the documents. Perhaps they will want to know what kind of insurance is in place.
They will also want to know how accessible the documents are, and what kind of notice they need to give to be able to get access to the documents they have in storage.
In summary, a law firm is going to be looking for a document storage company that is on the ball and that not only make promises on the quality of their service but also deliver those promises
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Document Storage - More than just boxes?
When people talk about Document Storage, you immediately assume that they are talking about a warehouse where documents can be archived for a set period of time. Very often sensitive and financial documents need to be kept for a period of up to 10 years to satisfy the government and Inland Revenue.
With many document storage companies out there it can sometimes be difficult to choose the right partner for you.
Sometimes, document storage is about more than just the storage. It’s about the people that you deal with. Customer service is of high importance in the document storage industry. Wether you are contacting someone for a quote, or you need access to your documents its important that you are greeted with a smile and good manors. It’s also important that the person you are dealing with is knowledgeable about the document storage companies’ procedures and that they can answer your questions on the spot.
For many legal practices its important to know that employees of a document storage company have been thoroughly ‘checked’ before employment. Legal documents often contain sensitive materials and the legal practice needs to ensure that they can trust the employees of the document storage facility to ensure full confidentiality. In fact, many legal practices will insist that an employment policy document is made available to them before committing to store their documents in a particular storage facility.
Another big factor when considering a document storage facility is the disaster recovery procedures.
Imagine what a nightmare it would be to find out that your documents had gone up in smoke. Document Storage facilities invest huge amounts of money into ensuring fire and flood damage isn’t an issue. Again, when you are considering document storage company its important to ask these sorts of questions before you commit to a contract.
And finally, remember that a cheap solution isn’t always a good solution. You get what you pay for. This is a lesson that many British companies are yet to learn as they focus on profits and not quality of service. Find yourself a good quality document storage company and consider what your documents are worth to you. Is it worth saving a few pounds to risk losing them?
With many document storage companies out there it can sometimes be difficult to choose the right partner for you.
Sometimes, document storage is about more than just the storage. It’s about the people that you deal with. Customer service is of high importance in the document storage industry. Wether you are contacting someone for a quote, or you need access to your documents its important that you are greeted with a smile and good manors. It’s also important that the person you are dealing with is knowledgeable about the document storage companies’ procedures and that they can answer your questions on the spot.
For many legal practices its important to know that employees of a document storage company have been thoroughly ‘checked’ before employment. Legal documents often contain sensitive materials and the legal practice needs to ensure that they can trust the employees of the document storage facility to ensure full confidentiality. In fact, many legal practices will insist that an employment policy document is made available to them before committing to store their documents in a particular storage facility.
Another big factor when considering a document storage facility is the disaster recovery procedures.
Imagine what a nightmare it would be to find out that your documents had gone up in smoke. Document Storage facilities invest huge amounts of money into ensuring fire and flood damage isn’t an issue. Again, when you are considering document storage company its important to ask these sorts of questions before you commit to a contract.
And finally, remember that a cheap solution isn’t always a good solution. You get what you pay for. This is a lesson that many British companies are yet to learn as they focus on profits and not quality of service. Find yourself a good quality document storage company and consider what your documents are worth to you. Is it worth saving a few pounds to risk losing them?
Document Storage - More than just boxes?
When people talk about Document Storage, you immediately assume that they are talking about a warehouse where documents can be archived for a set period of time. Very often sensitive and financial documents need to be kept for a period of up to 10 years to satisfy the government and Inland Revenue.
With many document storage companies out there it can sometimes be difficult to choose the right partner for you.
Sometimes, document storage is about more than just the storage. It’s about the people that you deal with. Customer service is of high importance in the document storage industry. Wether you are contacting someone for a quote, or you need access to your documents its important that you are greeted with a smile and good manors. It’s also important that the person you are dealing with is knowledgeable about the document storage companies’ procedures and that they can answer your questions on the spot.
For many legal practices its important to know that employees of a document storage company have been thoroughly ‘checked’ before employment. Legal documents often contain sensitive materials and the legal practice needs to ensure that they can trust the employees of the document storage facility to ensure full confidentiality. In fact, many legal practices will insist that an employment policy document is made available to them before committing to store their documents in a particular storage facility.
Another big factor when considering a document storage facility is the disaster recovery procedures.
Imagine what a nightmare it would be to find out that your documents had gone up in smoke. Document Storage facilities invest huge amounts of money into ensuring fire and flood damage isn’t an issue. Again, when you are considering document storage company its important to ask these sorts of questions before you commit to a contract.
And finally, remember that a cheap solution isn’t always a good solution. You get what you pay for. This is a lesson that many British companies are yet to learn as they focus on profits and not quality of service. Find yourself a good quality document storage company and consider what your documents are worth to you. Is it worth saving a few pounds to risk losing them?
With many document storage companies out there it can sometimes be difficult to choose the right partner for you.
Sometimes, document storage is about more than just the storage. It’s about the people that you deal with. Customer service is of high importance in the document storage industry. Wether you are contacting someone for a quote, or you need access to your documents its important that you are greeted with a smile and good manors. It’s also important that the person you are dealing with is knowledgeable about the document storage companies’ procedures and that they can answer your questions on the spot.
For many legal practices its important to know that employees of a document storage company have been thoroughly ‘checked’ before employment. Legal documents often contain sensitive materials and the legal practice needs to ensure that they can trust the employees of the document storage facility to ensure full confidentiality. In fact, many legal practices will insist that an employment policy document is made available to them before committing to store their documents in a particular storage facility.
Another big factor when considering a document storage facility is the disaster recovery procedures.
Imagine what a nightmare it would be to find out that your documents had gone up in smoke. Document Storage facilities invest huge amounts of money into ensuring fire and flood damage isn’t an issue. Again, when you are considering document storage company its important to ask these sorts of questions before you commit to a contract.
And finally, remember that a cheap solution isn’t always a good solution. You get what you pay for. This is a lesson that many British companies are yet to learn as they focus on profits and not quality of service. Find yourself a good quality document storage company and consider what your documents are worth to you. Is it worth saving a few pounds to risk losing them?
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
How secure is your document storage company?
Document storage is a vital service for businesses that need to archive historic records. Industries such as medical, legal and finance rely on document storage facilities as they have a legal requirement to keep financial records, patient records and client information.
But just how secure is your document storage provider?
Most 'good' providers will offer standard security services such as CCTV, secure premises and many also provide on site security staff to ensure that the premises are kept secure out of working hours. The CCTV can either be on site or monitored by an off-site company.
In terms of the security of your documents when it comes to disaster recovery, what promises does your provider offer in terms of flood and fire damage.
These are all questions that you should consider asking your document storage provider BEFORE you commit to any long term contracts. Ask up front and save yourself a headache later on!
But just how secure is your document storage provider?
Most 'good' providers will offer standard security services such as CCTV, secure premises and many also provide on site security staff to ensure that the premises are kept secure out of working hours. The CCTV can either be on site or monitored by an off-site company.
In terms of the security of your documents when it comes to disaster recovery, what promises does your provider offer in terms of flood and fire damage.
These are all questions that you should consider asking your document storage provider BEFORE you commit to any long term contracts. Ask up front and save yourself a headache later on!
Monday, 15 February 2010
Will technology mean the end for document storage?
It may sound like a silly question, but will technology see the end of traditional document storage and archive storage facilities in the UK?
Data Storage in data centres is now becoming very cheap, and it is probably more cost effective to scan document copies and store them electronically. So what does this mean for document storage companies?
In the short to medium term I don’t believe that document storage companies will be affected by this use of technology. People are comfortable with the fact that their original documents, that they can touch and feel, are securely stored in an off-site location. Although off-site data backup would be secure and “backed up” there is something about knowing that you have something physical, rather than virtual.
What is important to note however is that this technology is starting to creep its way into document storage facilities in terms of document retrieval. Some document storage service providers allow their clients to access scanned documents over a secure web site which means they can reduce costs in trips to the warehouse when they need to retrieve documents. This is more of an added service for convenience reasons more than anything else.
Some document storage companies might also consider the use of virtual storage as part of their backup procedures although this isn’t very common right now due to the workload involved in creating the virtual documents by scanning them into the system.
So to sum it up I don’t think that traditional document storage facilities are under any threat from replacement technology just yet and we will be seeing the document storage box in full swing for the foreseeable future!
Data Storage in data centres is now becoming very cheap, and it is probably more cost effective to scan document copies and store them electronically. So what does this mean for document storage companies?
In the short to medium term I don’t believe that document storage companies will be affected by this use of technology. People are comfortable with the fact that their original documents, that they can touch and feel, are securely stored in an off-site location. Although off-site data backup would be secure and “backed up” there is something about knowing that you have something physical, rather than virtual.
What is important to note however is that this technology is starting to creep its way into document storage facilities in terms of document retrieval. Some document storage service providers allow their clients to access scanned documents over a secure web site which means they can reduce costs in trips to the warehouse when they need to retrieve documents. This is more of an added service for convenience reasons more than anything else.
Some document storage companies might also consider the use of virtual storage as part of their backup procedures although this isn’t very common right now due to the workload involved in creating the virtual documents by scanning them into the system.
So to sum it up I don’t think that traditional document storage facilities are under any threat from replacement technology just yet and we will be seeing the document storage box in full swing for the foreseeable future!
Will technology mean the end for document storage?
It may sound like a silly question, but will technology see the end of traditional document storage and archive storage facilities in the UK?
Data Storage in data centres is now becoming very cheap, and it is probably more cost effective to scan document copies and store them electronically. So what does this mean for document storage companies?
In the short to medium term I don’t believe that document storage companies will be affected by this use of technology. People are comfortable with the fact that their original documents, that they can touch and feel, are securely stored in an off-site location. Although off-site data backup would be secure and “backed up” there is something about knowing that you have something physical, rather than virtual.
What is important to note however is that this technology is starting to creep its way into document storage facilities in terms of document retrieval. Some document storage service providers allow their clients to access scanned documents over a secure web site which means they can reduce costs in trips to the warehouse when they need to retrieve documents. This is more of an added service for convenience reasons more than anything else.
Some document storage companies might also consider the use of virtual storage as part of their backup procedures although this isn’t very common right now due to the workload involved in creating the virtual documents by scanning them into the system.
So to sum it up I don’t think that traditional document storage facilities are under any threat from replacement technology just yet and we will be seeing the document storage box in full swing for the foreseeable future!
Data Storage in data centres is now becoming very cheap, and it is probably more cost effective to scan document copies and store them electronically. So what does this mean for document storage companies?
In the short to medium term I don’t believe that document storage companies will be affected by this use of technology. People are comfortable with the fact that their original documents, that they can touch and feel, are securely stored in an off-site location. Although off-site data backup would be secure and “backed up” there is something about knowing that you have something physical, rather than virtual.
What is important to note however is that this technology is starting to creep its way into document storage facilities in terms of document retrieval. Some document storage service providers allow their clients to access scanned documents over a secure web site which means they can reduce costs in trips to the warehouse when they need to retrieve documents. This is more of an added service for convenience reasons more than anything else.
Some document storage companies might also consider the use of virtual storage as part of their backup procedures although this isn’t very common right now due to the workload involved in creating the virtual documents by scanning them into the system.
So to sum it up I don’t think that traditional document storage facilities are under any threat from replacement technology just yet and we will be seeing the document storage box in full swing for the foreseeable future!
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