Other Services
Other than archive storage, records management, shredding services and document scanning, Access Records Management offers additional services, including the following:
Boxes
How long will you need to store your documents in a box? 7 years? 10 years? 40 years? However long you require, you will need the documents to be available for use as and when they may be needed (that’s the point of Records Management after all!).
To cater for this, we have made our document storage boxes far superior to the average boxes on the market. Our boxes are constructed to the highest standard; they are double skinned for extra strength, NOT sprayed with repellent or paint (for the logo) which can stain and degenerate the paper contents, and are of the patented “klik-store” construction. This means that instead of having to fold and insert tabs to build the box, our boxes simply “open up” in a single movement when extended at each end, leading to a stronger, dual skin construction.
All of our boxes are constructed from recycled cardboard and are 100% recyclable. The boxes are in multiple sizes and are designed to be versatile for a wide range of files. They are strong enough to withstand years of handling, in and out of storage, and come conveniently flat packed with simple assembly instructions.
On-site viewing
Sometimes the needs of your business may require a simple viewing of a single document to obtain information. Should you wish to review your documents on site at our London Records Centre, we have a secure reading room, and visits can be arranged during normal working hours. For security reasons, visits are by appointment only, and access is only permitted to the reading room or reception areas.
Forensic box investigation
The start of a journey into off-site document storage can be easy. You have kept a record of what documents are in what box, and they simply get collected by us and securely placed into our storage facility.
But what if you aren’t that organised? What if you have a storeroom, or basement, or office, full of boxes stretching back over years? Staff have come and gone, boxes have random letters and numbers written on them (if at all), and you now have the responsibility of getting these boxes placed into off-site storage whilst ensuring that IF a document is needed, it can be retrieved quickly and easily. Access Records Management can help!
With our knowledge of the legislation associated with document retention, we can investigate the contents of the boxes, identify “what” and “when”, and provide you with a full report as to the contents, how long they should be stored for and when they should therefore be destroyed. How detailed the investigation is up to you, but the end result will be that you have peace of mind that your documents are securely stored, and easily accessible.
Traceability – ‘Record Status Reporting’
A few questions for you: Do you know where all your files and records are right now? Can you access them without delay? What are the consequences for your business if you fail to produce a document to a timescale, or maybe cannot find that document at all? Not being able to find the information your company needs, when it is needed, can be very costly in terms of time wasted, legal ramifications, and financial risk of fines as well as potential lost business.
A study by the International Data Centre showed that management and staff in an organisation can potentially spend 35% of their work time searching for information. Secure storage of records is a necessity, but the ability to track where the documents are at any time of the day or night is a real company advantage. That is why Access Records Management offers “Record Status Reporting”. From the comfort of their own office, our customers can use our online system to search for real-time data, showing the movement history of their files and records, as well as determining the current location. This “Record Status Reporting” tool offers a complete audit trail and events history tracker to deliver peace of mind across the whole business.
File audit and consultancy
Is your business employing the most efficient Records Management process?
Do you know whether physical storage or digital storage is the best option for you?
Are you paying for the storage of records that you don’t need to?
If you cannot answer “yes” to those questions, you need to ask an expert with many years of industry experience.
With our no-commitment guarantee, you can be confident of receiving the best advice from Access Records Management. Your satisfaction is our top priority, and that starts before you even become a client.
A free consultation of your current archive is offered, and our consultant will ensure that all of your needs, both financial and operational are taken into consideration. We will ensure that your statutory requirements are met in the most cost-effective way, whilst highlighting ways that you can drive efficiencies and savings across your business.
Scan on-demand
The holding of all your records in an electronic format is an attractive one. However, the potential legal and financial ramifications of not being able to produce an original document can be daunting. That’s why Access Records Management offers its scanning services to manage the movement of your important information from paper to electronic media in an efficient and cost-effective way, enabling you to call on documents as and when you need them, secure in the knowledge that the original is always safe and sound. This is called Scan On Demand.
We can store all your physical records at our highly secure Records Centres and as soon as you request a document we will locate it, scan it and return it to you electronically in a secure manner that best suits you. Scanned images can be returned through an encrypted email, a secure FTP site or via our online service. The dispatch of the image is immediate, and the electronic image is accessible wherever you are.
We will work closely with you to determine the best document scanning services for your company records. Whilst you have the security of housing your physical archiving at our managed Records Centre, you can also relax in the knowledge that any information you need can quickly be retrieved electronically for use in your day to day operations – without the files ever having to leave our warehouse.
Bulk document scanning (Bulk to archive)
Many businesses may want to hold a digital archive of certain documents for some reason. For those businesses we offer a service whereby we digitise your documents project by project, year by year, or for whatever reason you may need a one-off, bulk scan of documents. This service is ideal for those businesses that NEED digitisation but don’t have the internal infrastructure to facilitate it. It’s very simple – you send us your documents, we scan them before returning the resultant images (written to DVD, usually in PDF format) to you. At the end of the process we can either return the documents back to you, or securely destroy them. There are several reasons why a business may wish to consider bulk document scanning, a particularly appropriate service for smaller businesses with limited resources, as they can enjoy all the benefits without the enormous expense.
Will storage
To prevent disputes arising about a will after a death, lawyers and solicitors need to have a clear policy in place for managing the secure storage and destruction of clients’ legal files and documents, such as wills.
Along with wills, you can store accompanying records such as evidence of the original advice provided at the time of making the will.
Legal firms have different positions on storing and destroying paperwork. For example, your firm may store an original will until after a client’s death, keep it indefinitely, or alternatively store it for a 50-year period from the date of inception. Whatever the policy you follow, it’s very important that all the documents are kept safely and can be easily accessed.
In some instances, a person might use a will writing service to draft their will and the Probate Service to hold it. As a law firm, it’s worth advising your prospective clients that this is not necessarily the best route to choose: the document might not be entirely safe or easily accessible in the event of an emergency.
Access Records Management provides document storage that is designed to be safe, secure and the documents easily retrievable for our customers. Our strict process for handling confidential documents means that we don’t come into direct contact with the files – unless a customer sends us an instruction to do so, specifically asking us to retrieve files on their behalf.
Our fast and efficient document retrieval services mean that in an event of an emergency, or the demise of your client, all-important files can be accessed and retrieved quickly. In the event that a client requires emergency access we can deliver a three-hour door-to-door or same-day turnaround time if you instruct us by 2pm that day.
You and your clients can also rest assured that our storage vaults are solid and built to last, constructed with flame resistant and fire retardant materials employing the latest fire suppressant technologies.
For more information about will storage click here.
To find out more about any of the above services please call us or send us your enquiry via the contact form on this page.
