subject: Are All My Records Kept Together When I Store Them Offsite? [print this page] In your home office, all of your records are in the front office in a file cabinet or in the back lot in a room marked storage. Because you are personally retrieving your records yourself, you keep them close together in an order that is easily accessible for you or your staff members. When you move your company business records to an offsite archival company you wonder if they keep the records in one contiguous area or if they are spread all over the warehouse. Well, what do the records management companies do with your records?
Document records management companies utilize their storage spaces in all manner of ways. Some documents need to be kept in a controlled environment, away from dust and moisture, rodents and water damage. Other documents that are not so central may be stored in boxes or containers but it is unnecessary to store them in a moisture free environment. Some business records like computer discs and back ups need to be in a climate controlled atmosphere, with security and data storage capabilities.
Archival companies place business records where their retrieval personnel will easily access them. Sometimes this means moving your records into storage by container instead of keeping all the records together in one contiguous area. This does not mean that your records will be lost or easily scrambled; it only means that the storage company is using all their spaces to their optimal advantage. Your records will be in their onsite computer in a grid of records keeping software for ease in accessibility.
Even though records management companies do not keep your records in one contiguous area, they are thoroughly stored in a logical manner. When you need your records to review a receipt, or a tax form, the company office clerk checks the computer records, fires up their trusty robot or the fork lift, and goes into the warehouse to pick up your storage boxes. Where the records are kept is not an issue since they have a computer grid map of the storage area. Your records will be kept dry, free from rodents, moisture, ground water, floods and fire. All of the important records are in one tidy storage facility with the computer records together, the environmentally fragile records together, and the storage boxes of the everyday paperwork all in the same facility. This facility will have 24 hour security to protect your records from any violation.
