The problem with self-storage is not insufficient storage space - the availability of additional storage units means there’s as much space as needed.

The problem is that managing records in off-site self-storage is like holding back a tide of archival chaos - the tide will eventually and inevitably come in.

It’s the nature of archives that causes off-site self-storage to degenerate into an inefficient, troublesome and high cost alternative to managed storage services:

Out of sight, out of mind. This is dangerous when it come to company records. Management would never let the primary office to descend into the chaos that frequently befalls archives in self-storage. If the most junior persons in the company are left to manage off-site storage - without the experience, awareness and possibly conscientiousness to the job well - then out of sight is bad news.

Archives - last on priorities, top of hassles. This is the same for almost all organisations. Corporate archives are important but it seems that attending to them can always be put-off to another day. If something is important but at the same time it’s the bottom of priorities, the mismatch will eventually give rise to  problems.

Archives expand to fill the available space. There will never be enough space so self-storage will require continual culling of obsolete records, or taking on additional storage units or periodically relocating the records to larger units. All are time-consuming and expensive tasks and sources of risk to the accurate tracking of records.

Filing errors happen. Filing errors in self-storage are time consuming and expensive to resolve. We speak to many clients that have had to spend days and weekends to recatalogue records in self-storage in the desperate search for a vital file. Filing and refiling errors will happen.

Staff changes. We frequently hear along the lines of “It was really well organised when we had Mary taking care of the archives. She left and now look at this place!” The records quickly fall into disorder and then stay that way. Mary left 3 years ago!

Archive storage and retrieval is left to the most junior staff. Junior staff often don’t appreciate the importance of each and every file so don’t take the necessary care in cataloguing, storing, and refiling company records. They are charged with a difficult and unpleasant job in a remote location. The state of the records indicates to them that management doesn’t particularly care so, they subconsciously reason, why should I? By the time their short-cuts and errors are discovered, they’ll be back-packing around Europe or at their next job. Junior staff, archives and a remote location is a dangerous mix.

OH&S risk. Office staff being required to lift heavy boxes in a cluttered, poorly lit remote site is a recipe for injury, lost time and expensive rehabilitation.  It’s just not worth it.

Managed off-site archive storage - a better alternative:

Managed off-site archive storage service eliminates all of these problems and generally comes at a lower cost than self-storage.

So if you’re considering off-site self-storage, contact us first to compare the simplicity of use and savings from our managed archive storage services.

If you have records in self-storage and are experiencing some or all of the problems detailed above, contact us to for a free no-obligation consultation as to how we can help undo the sins of the past and migrate your records to our managed archive storage services.

What’s prompted you to look into scanning?

If the response is along the lines of….

we’re out of space, or

we’re moving office and don’t want to take the paper with us

we just want to get rid of paper

…then scanning is generally not the most cost effective solution. It might satisfy the objective of getting rid of paper but not necessarily in the most economical way.

If space is the problem, off-site storage is usually the fastest and lowest cost solution.

As a rule of thumb, records can be stored off-site for 10-15 years for the equivalent cost of scanning those same documents. With most records only needing to be retained for 7 years, its clear that off-site storage will be a lower cost alternative to document scanning.

Document scanning comes into its own:

• for very long retention periods
• when immediate access is required - for instance in a customer service centre to satisfy a caller when on the initial phone call
• when distributed, concurrent or very frequent access is required
• to integrate legacy paper records into a new electronic document management system
• to provide redundancy for originals

Notice that none of these characteristics relates to space. If document storage space is the primary problem, more often than not off-site storage will be the answer.

Hybrid solutions

It’s not always as simple as 100% document storage or 100% document scanning. If a small percentage of documents require  immediate access - such as signed application forms or banking authority documents - a hybrid solution of document scanning combined with off-site storage could be the best solution. Or if it’s acceptable to wait for documents for between 15 minutes and 1 hour, off-site storage combined with retrieval and scan-on-demand might be the answer.

About FileSaver

FileSaver is an archiving services firm providing document scanning and off-site document storage services. We have extensive experience in assisting clients with large scale document scanning projects, off-site document storage, as well as hybrid scanning and storage solutions tailored to each client’s requirements.

If your organisation is considering document scanning as a solution to its document storage and access needs, contact us for expert advice and a free, no-obligation consultation as to the relative merits and costs of document scanning versus off-site storage, and consideration of possible hybrid solutions.

• Legal files
  • front page of a contract
  • survey report
  • drainage diagram
• Healthcare files
  • most recent doctor’s notes
  • specialist’s report
• Finance files
  • Direct debit instructions
  • Signed contract
• Accounts payable
  • Copy of supplier invoice and supporting documents 

In these instances, there is no need to retrieve an entire box or file - FileSaver’s staff can retrieve the box or file, locate the required documents, image and email the documents and then return the box or file to storage.

Delivery via retrieve, image and email can be in as little as 15 minutes after request.

Client’s simply ask for what they want in their language - front page of contract for matter no. 12345; supplier ABC Co’s invoice no. 9999 from July 2009 - and FileSaver customer care staff take care of the rest.

Retrieve, image and email is not just faster than delivery of physical records but clients also benefit through:

• lower cost than physical delivery of records
• more convenient than waiting for physical delivery only to locate the documents themselves
• more efficient as it enables clients to deal with the documents on the spot and move on
• more secure as originals are retained safely in storage

If delivery of documents as electronic records in as little as 15 minutes appeals to you and your business, call us for a no obligation review - phone 1300 880 830.

Offsite storage of business records is a simple and proven way of reducing business costs and improving profitability. Running out of space is often the catalyst to looking for offsite storage - fortunately, the reductions in total cost and improvements in business processes make offsite archive storage a compelling alternative to management of records in-house:

Free office space

Commercial office space is expensive to lease and rental rates have exhibited steady long term growth. With Sydney prime office rents around $700 psm pa, offsite document storage can generate savings in rent alone of up to 90% versus storing in-house.

Choosing offsite storage has strategic benefits as there is no longer a need to estimate and provide for space for ever increasing archives. You then have options to sublet surplus space, hand back space to a landlord at lease renewal, or perhaps avoid needing to relocate to larger premises.

Increase revenue

In-house management of records consumes an inordinate amount of time and is a continued distraction from higher value-added activities.

Offsite storage of business records frees space for revenue earning activities such as employing additional revenue generating staff. It can also free management from any involvement in day-to-day archiving activities and longer term planning for archiving space, staff and shelving.

Free staff from archiving

Archiving is generally the least liked, most inefficient and error prone office function. Managing records in-house consumes valuable staff time in storing, moving, retrieving, re-filing and, should they ever find the time, purging obsolete records. There are indirect costs too from the inefficiencies of working around boxes stored in every corner of the office, and the difficulties in locating records cause delays to internal processes and unnecessary increases in staff costs.

Reduce OH&S risks

Heavy boxes piled high around a commercial office present a real and unnecessary risk to staff welfare. Hazards include:
• general lifting hazard
• lifting above shoulders
• trip and fall
• collapsing boxes
• risk of hand injury from binders and filing pins inside box handles

Offsite archive storage greatly reduces these risks.

Improve record keeping

Moving to offsite storage is an excellent opportunity to create or to validate a central inventory or database of all records in storage.

Searching for required documents is then simple and done from your desktop as against crawling over and around boxes looking for information scrawled on the front or top of at time inaccessible boxes.

Improve speed and reliability of access to records

With offsite storage, retrieval is no longer reliant upon the availability of your staff. Simply ask for required documents, files or boxes and they are delivered to your office.

Offer - No-obligation review and cost comparison

Contact us to see if offsite storage can help reduce your firm’s business costs and improve profitability.

We’ll start with a no-obligation review of your existing practices. We’ll then provide an archiving services proposal including a cost comparison to your existing arrangements.

No matter the state of your in-house archives, there’s generally nothing for you to do in preparation for us - we take care of all aspects of preparing and migrating your records to offsite.

Offer – 20 free archive boxes

A pack of 20 of our heavy duty archive boxes is yours free just for arranging a no-obligation review and comparison - value $77. Call us on 1300 880 830 and make sure you mention this offer.

For the small buiness and home business professional, time and space are in short supply and are better spent than in the thankless tasks of archiving, storing and handling records.

Managed offsite storage of inactive company records is a cost effective way to ensure compliance with records retention regulations whilst freeing time and space for better use.

What is Managed Offsite Archive Storage?

Managed offsite storage is used by organisations large and small. The service includes:
• collection of boxes of records for storage
• barcoding boxes
• data entry or uploading of your box contents information
• retrieval and delivery of required records upon demand – next day as standard; we also offer retrieve, image and email in as little as 15 minutes
• secure destruction of records when they’ve past their required retention period

The service is available for quantities of just a few boxes and starts as low as $10 per week.

Managed offsite storage is NOT renting a self-storage unit. This just exacerbates the problems and inefficiencies of managing ever growing company records. Refer to Self Storage Not Working for the pitfalls of self-storage

5 Reasons Small Businesses Should Use Managed Offsite Archive Storage

Save time

Time is the small and home business owner’s most precious commodity.

Using managed offsite archive storage will free time to be spent on core business acquisition and execution activities.

Archiving and archive storage is the least liked of all administrative tasks. They consume time during packing and storage and then periodically in searching for required documents and in moving boxes from place to place.

So just because you’re in small business it doesn’t mean you need to do everything yourself! A professional and low cost service can free you from the hassles of archiving.

Free space

When you’re just starting out, company records are the least of your concern.

Then, as business picks up, one archive box quickly becomes two and before you know it, the cupboards are full, the car can’t fit in the garage and you’re surrounded by unsightly boxes.

And it’s not just that archive boxes take up space - they are unsightly and consume an inordinate amount of time in accessing required documents.

You and you’re home or office deserve better.

Improve compliance

Managed offsite archive storage is a means to improve compliance with records retention regulations.

Before, or as records are sent offsite, an inventory is created to appropriately describe the contents of each box. The inventory can be prepared by you or by FileSaver staff as part of an entirely hands-off archiving service.

The contents data in our tracking system is made available via the Internet. This puts you in better control of your records than when they were stored in-house.

Inclusion of retention dates means that records are kept for only as long as they are needed for business or compliance purposes.

Flexibility for future

Using a managed offsite archive storage service means that you are free to make decisions about the businesses location and space requirements without needing to accommodate or plan for space for ever expanding records.

Managed offsite archive storage simplifies your life. You (and your family) will be glad you did it.

Reduce costs

Managed offsite storage saves money by saving both time and space.

The service starts as low as $10 per week and is generally half the cost and a lot less hassle than storing in a self-storage facility.

You’ve got better things to do so call us on 1300 880 830 to see how we can help simplify and de-clutter your small business.

The CEO Sleepout brings business and community leaders together to raise awareness of homelessness and to raise money for the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s good works.

The prospect of over 200 business and community leaders including Dick Smith and NSW Minister for Community Services, Linda Burney, sleeping rough on a piece of cardboard lifted the profile of this the 4th CEO Sleepout.

We thank customers, partners and friends for generously sponsoring Brendan to the tune of $3,450.

The event raised $610,000 for Vinnies work for the homeless.

Read more about the CEO Sleepout here.

The Company:    International Financial Services Company..

The Problem:    The Company had accumulated a large inventory of archived finance files and was growing by around 10,000 new files per annum. The Company had been using the services of a storage company which, whilst alleviating space constraints, had not improved the efficiency nor accuracy of tracking of  tens of thousands of client files. Archiving and file retrieval remained a troublesome aspect of the Company’s operations.

The Solution:    FileSaver was engaged to take-over the existing archived files and to perform all aspects of future settled file archiving. FileSaver now collect and individually barcode the files allowing for precise tracking at all stages of storage and retrieval. Required files are delivered upon demand eliminating the inconvenience and source of error of retrieving entire boxes to access individual files. The service immediately improved the accuracy of tracking settled files, reduced overall archiving costs and freed the Company’s staff from the non-core tasks of file archiving.

Case Study - Finance Company File Archiving

The Company

Headquartered in New York, the Company provides financial products and services to customers worldwide. In Australia, the Company markets financing products directly to customers and through its network of distributors in all states.

The Problem

Having operated in Australia since the 1970’s, the Company had amassed a large volume of finance, lease and other loan files. The highly confidential files contain all documents generated from application through to approval and the dispersal of funds and updates throughout the life of the loan.

It is vital that the finance files be secure and accessible over the long-term to support the Company’s day-to-day operations, and for use in the event of customer default and the need for recovery action. The files were also needed to respond to regular internal and external audits requiring occasional retrieval and delivery of up to three hundred files at short notice.

The Company had for several years been using the services of a multi-national storage company. Whilst outsourcing resolved a storage problem, archiving remained time-consuming and file retrieval was become increasingly problematic:

• The inventory of archived files was increasingly being found to be inaccurate
• The storage company would deliver boxes rather than the just the required files
• A request for a single file required delivery of up to 10 boxes for the company to search, return the box and try again
• The storage company was just working to direction in retrieving and delivering boxes but not adding value to the archiving and retrieval processes

The Solution

The Company engaged FileSaver to take-over all aspects of settled file archiving.

FileSaver designed a solution tailored to the customer’s file intensive, high-activity environment. The solution involved:

Transfer of records from previous storage company
• Identification of errors and deficiencies in the inventory data for existing boxes such as absence of department or destroy dates or inadequate contents description
• Collection and transfer of over 2,000 boxes from the previous storage company
• Resolving errors and deficiencies at the time of transfer
• Destruction of obsolete records
• Retrieval of required files upon demand

Future archiving
FileSaver perform all aspects of settled file archiving including:
• Packing archive boxes, barcoding files and creation of detailed inventory
• Insert or attachment of documents to stored files
• On-demand retrieval and delivery
• Frequent retrieve scan and email of required documents

The company has access to all files under management via FileSaver’s web enabled tracking system for the purpose of enquiries and ordering services.

Benefits

The company’s finance files are now securely stored, precisely tracked and available upon demand.

By outsourcing the non-core tasks of packing and barcoding and indexing files, the company has:
• greatly improved accuracy of file tracking
• eliminated the hassle of non-core tasks of archiving
• reduced labour costs and overall cost of archiving

“The service we get from FileSaver is better than we get from any other company. And I don’t just mean storage companies - your service is better than any other company we deal with”

To see how Filesaver’s Records Management Services could benefit your business, contact one of our representatives today.

The Company: Insolvency and Corporate Restructuring Firm

The Problem: The Company was appointed Administrator of a large transport business and continued to operate the business through to an eventual trade sale.

The Company required the packing, removal and detailed discovery of approximately 3,000 boxes of archives to support its administration activities and also in preparation for legal proceedings between the transport operator’s stakeholders.

The Solution:FileSaver was engaged to perform all aspects of the packing, removal and detailed barcoded discovery of records. The 3,000 boxes of records were removed in just one day and detailed discovery completed within 2 weeks. FileSaver manges the delivery and tracking of records for the purpose of legal discovery by the legal representatives of the various stakeholders. FileSaver provides ongoing storage, retrieval and archive help-desk services.

Case Study - Large Scale Archives Discovery

The Company

The Company is one of the world’s leading financial advisory, audit and tax service providers. It operates a division specialising in insolvency and corporate restructuring.

The Problem

In 2007, the Company was appointed Administrator of a large, multi-depot transport business. In the capacity of Administrators Appointed, the Company was continuing to operate the transport business through to an eventual trade sale.

The transport company’s record keeping was predominantly paper-based. Records were stored in one of its depots and filled any available space including above and around machinery, in workshops, and in multi-use storage sheds. The archives were in very poor condition with collapsing boxes and an absence of any central paper or electronic inventory.

The records needed to be properly organized to support ongoing internal operations, and for statutory compliance. Of particular importance to the Company were records including financial reports, board meeting minutes and those relating to the purchase and disposal of assets as these documents would be critical to the Company in its role as administrator.

The company recognised that it did not have the space, staff or time to adequately address the large volume of records with its internal resources.

The Solution

The Company chose to outsource the non-core task of archiving and, following a review of alternatives, engaged FileSaver to perform its Discovery service plus ongoing archive storage and retrieval services. Discovery included packing, removal, and preparation of a detailed barcoded inventory of the records.

Planning

The Discovery project was led by FileSaver’s Chartered and highly experienced insolvency practitioner.

Certain records were going to be critical to the Company in the performance of its role as receiver/manager, and also for use in pending legal proceedings between the transport operator’s various stakeholders.

As a first step and prior to commencement on-site, a critical documents register was established as a watch-list for records requiring special or urgent attention:

• Board meeting minutes
• Capital expenditure applications
• All documents relating to the purchase or disposal of assets
• Financial reports

Each of the transport operator’s divisions had always performed its own archiving. FileSaver contacted each of the divisions to obtain any available archive inventories. As might be expected, the inventories that could be obtained were highly variable in quality and the format ranged between paper registers to various electronic formats. The inventories were consolidated into a single database for use in the detailed discovery exercise.

As the transport business continued to operate under administration, the depot was subject to high truck and staff movements at all times. It was determined that the lowest cost and the least disruptive approach to the removal of the records would be to complete the relocation in as short a time as possible.

It was planned to remove the approximately 3,000 boxes of records in just one day and then perform the detailed discovery in the controlled environment of FileSaver’s Records Centre.

Packing and removal of the records

FileSaver provided all lifting and handling equipment, materials, staff and transport to perform the relocation.

The depot’s storage areas were ‘mapped’ so that the original storage location of the boxes could be marked on the respective pallets. The source location could prove to be useful in the discovery process in determining the age and assigning the divisional owner of the records and therefore the extent of discovery required.

Boxes that were in a satisfactory condition for transport were stacked on pallets and cling-wrapped. Loose records and boxes that were too damaged to allow safe transport were packed into new heavy duty archive boxes and stacked on pallets for transport.

As planned, the records were removed from site in four semi-trailer loads in one day.

Discovery

The single database consolidated from previously obtained archive inventories formed the basis of the discovery, and the critical documents register guided the extent of discovery required for each box of records.

Discovery commenced immediately the records were received at FileSaver’s Records Centre.

In the discovery process, records were treated as follows:

Critical documents as set-out above:- Files were to be individually barcoded and a detailed description entered into the database

Other records:- Boxes were to be barcoded and a description of contents to be captured including reference date and retention date

The Company was contacted progressively as critical documents were located and those of immediate use to the Company’s administration were promptly delivered.

The Discovery project was performed by a team of five specialist staff and was completed within two weeks of commencement.

The Company was provided with a detailed electronic inventory of all records including some or all of the following data fields:

File barcode; box barcode; brief description; detailed contents; date reference; contents range; retention date

The Company was also granted Internet access to FileSaver’s web enabled tracking system for the purpose of enquires and ordering.

The Discovery report provided the Company convenient access to records for the performance of its role as receiver/manager. The report also provided sufficient data to enable the Company to authorize secure disposal of obsolete records and thereby minimise storage costs.

Conclusion

By engaging FileSaver to deal with the extensive archives the Company could focus on its core insolvency services and make optimum use of its staff resources and specialist expertise.

The archives relocation and discovery exercise was completed in less time, with greater accuracy and at a lower cost and than could have been achieved by the Company using internal resources.

FileSaver continue to support the Company with archive storage, on-demand retrieval and help-desk services.

• Legal - via matter number, client name or nature of transaction
• Finance - contract number, lessor, lessee name, settlement date
• Healthcare - MRN, patient name, DOB
• Accounts payable - processing batch number, invoice number, creditor name, invoice value

This service complements our file management and document imaging services with images as well as hard-copy records now secure and available upon demand.

Contact us on 1300 880 830 for more information.

The purpose of the foundation is to foster growth of medical research with the knowledge that ‘Today’s Research is Tomorrow’s Treatment’.

The Nepean Clinical School is able to attract leading researchers from around the world and there are now over 100 researchers conducting research at Nepean Hospital in a variety of disciplines:

• immunology
• haematology
• paediatrics
• liver disease
• cancer
• diabetes
• endocrinology
• and many more

FileSaver, which has a close connection to the medical profession through its medical records storage and management services, has made a five year committment to contribute to the Nepean Medical Research Foundation to support its medical research in Western Sydney.

To learn more about or to donate to the Nepean Medical Research Foundation visit NMRF

If your business requires medical records storage services, Filesaver can help you effectively manage your records.