Wed, Feb 18, 2015
By: Jim Beran
Taking on the role of preserving and cataloging your business records is no small matter. There are legal, ethical, and practical issues that could arise if something goes wrong. At the same time, choosing the right document imaging services can provide tremendous relief and peace of mind.
If you're going to trust a company to handle this important task, there are some things you should ask first before making a decision.
1. What experience do you have?
Experience is important. While nearly anyone can pull together the equipment necessary to advertise themselves as a document conversion service, you don't want to entrust your business records to just anyone.
Rather, you want to make sure your document scanning partner is knowledgeable in the latest rules and regulations affecting your industry's documentation requirements. They should be able to provide references from satisfied clients in the same or similar industries so you can verify the quality of their work. And, this experience should filter down through all employees in the firm through valid and consistent education.
2. What qualifies your company to handle my business records?
Beyond the number of years the company has been in business, are they keeping up with necessary industry requirements, qualifying them to process the type of records you need them handle?
For example, if you own a medical practice and are considering hiring a document scanning partner to assist with records management, confidentiality is essential. The company’s equipment and facility needs to be secure and their employees should be trained and qualified to ensure the privacy your patients require.
3. Can you create a plan for both paper and electronic records?
It’s common for businesses to produce a wealth of both hard copy and electronic records that are equally important. While space-hogging paper files may be the more immediate concern, you'll likely find it frustrating and inefficient in the future if these different document types are stored in separate systems.
The most effective document imaging services will have the equipment and expertise to manage and store both paper and electronic records with equal skill, allowing you to merge these records seamlessly for instant reference when needed.
4. Can your company help reduce paper long term?
The goal for your business is continual growth. And sometimes growth means cutting back on certain resources to become more efficient. To reduce unnecessary paper costs and waste, many businesses aim to better manage how paper is used day-to-day. It makes sense, then, to partner with a records management firm that has the ability to scale with your business and handle your scanning, storage, shredding, and filing needs for years to come.
5. Do you support “green” document management efforts?
While this may not be your main concern when it comes to caring for your business records for legal and practical reasons, it’s important for businesses working toward a more environmentally conscience or “green” office.
One example of an environmentally responsible document management practice is shredding and recycling destroyed documents. Rather than throwing out one ton of documents that are scanned and no longer needed, shredding and recycling paper saves three cubic yards of landfill space, 17 trees, 6 months of an average home's electricity use, 250 pounds of carbon dioxide, and 7000 gallons of water!
At Gilmore Services, our facilities and procedures are guaranteed secure and compliant with all privacy and related laws. Our employees are continually trained in industry best practices, updated in the regulations governing document management, and all have passed rigorous background checks to ensure your security. We have the resources and experience to effectively scale to help any size business maintain their documents long term. We are also keen on lowering the impact of our work on the environment in every way we can.
To find out more about the right document scanning plan for your business, contact us today.
