It is indeed a big decision for any business to search, evaluate and finalize a trusted records storage provider. Because it involves a lot of due diligence, thinking and brainstorming before handing over Records Storage – the single most confidential function to an external services provider. Let us help you with some of the key questions to ask your records storage and management vendor so that your decision making process is simplified a bit. Here are ten questions to ask your prospective Records Storage Company. How long have you been in business? The answer to this question is important as it will help you understand the experience of this records management company in storing and managing records in your region, industry etc. Records are stored and maintained for multiple years and it is a constantly evolving process. Only vendors with that number of years of expertise can offer you a reliable service in the long-term. Understand the leaders or founders of the business and their experience in information management, records management etc. Because merely a business can be run. But the passion of the founders in the respective business help them offer personalized service. 2. What is their knowledge and experience of storing records in your line of business? Anyone can start a records storage business. But it is their knowledge and constant upskilling process that can get them adequate exposure and experience in the records-keeping compliance management. Each industry has its own records keeping compliance process. Only when they have handled similar clients, they will be able to support your business in the most appropriate and confident manner. Vendors who have multiple years of experience in storing and managing records can add tremendous value addition when it comes to safely avoiding troubles with compliance issues. 3. How are my records protected when they’re stored offsite? The next biggest question comes to most of the clients are how secure their records will be at an offsite records storage facility. Today the market is so competitive that any leakage of confidential information will ruin a company’s trust and reputation once for all. Evaluate if the vendor has adequate security measures to take care of the records against physical, artificial and natural disasters. High-level security and video surveillance Motion and intrusion detection sensors State-of-the-art fire detection and mitigation systems Protection against sudden Floods 4. How to take inventory of my files and index? Some record storage providers make you inventory and index your boxes before storing them. If you want to save time and hassle, partner with a records storage company that can inventory and index your boxes for you. Trained professionals can organize and index your records so you have an accurate offsite storage inventory. 5. How do I get my records offsite? Another important question will be to understand how records will be safely transported from the company to records storage facility. Each and every time as per the agreed frequency, understand what kind of transportation system is available to collect, store, deliver documents. Also evaluate how secure this transportation system is? How records are packaged, loaded, monitored for tampering on the way etc. What kind of checklists and reports they produce from the point of pick up to delivery? 6. How long does it take for documents to be delivered? Your business needs records on the go for swift decision making. Understand what are different options you have to request and receive your documents. Do they have same day delivery or Next-day delivery? Can they provide Scan-on-Demand delivery? 7. Where is the document storage facility located? It makes a lot of sense to understand where your records will be stored. The location proximity or distance will influence the services to a great deal. Closer within city limits the real-estate costs are very high. The longer the facility the accessorial charges of each and retrieval records will be. If they provide scan-on-demand services, then locations don’t matter and it can offer you significant cost savings over many years. 8. Who can request for a file from your business? Understand their standard protocols on how they grant access to your records repository. You will mostly agree with their approach if their processes are practical and standard. Avoid records storage service providers who don’t validate records requests. Understand how easy they are making the records retrieval request. Also how they are training those users to request for files. 9. How the pricing works? Though it is not the only criteria, Of course pricing is definitely one of the factors in deciding a records storage provider. Is it per box or per file or based on the dedicated storage space you like to contract? What other factors that can influence the pricing? As time passes by, records keep getting generated in volumes and your cost of storage can climb multifold. Evaluate how the pricing works in an incremental manner. Understand their contract terms so that you won’t be surprised at a future timeline. 10. What value adding services do they offer? Records storage is just one of the components of a comprehensive information management program of any organization. Understand if the records storage vendor himself can assist you in any of the services like media storage, document scanning, and shredding so that you have one vendor for your entire records management function. We hope this blog post is useful to evaluate your current and prospective records management vendor. Go ahead and ask them if they can provide a FREE TRIAL for a short time frame. That way you will be confident of their ability to handle your volume of records. Consult KAYMAN Records Management Services. Documenting Peace of Mind.