The task of in-house document shredding can be both a time consuming commitment and costly expense for your business, in more ways than one.
The Cost
Believe it or not, outsourcing your paper shredding needs will save your business money. Consider this: not only do you have to pay the cost of the shredder itself, but you also have to pay for maintenance and disposal fees as well as the cost of having an employee operate it, resulting in both money and man-hours lost. Also take into account that a standard office shredder will not shred through staples, paper clips or rubber bands, which reduces the volume and speed at which you can shred. What would likely take multiple hours with a regular shredder would take mere minutes for a paper shredding company such as Armstrong Archives.
The Risk
Businesses often seek the assistance of document shredding services to help them with protecting their confidential information, and mitigating the risks of fraud and identity theft. Document shredding services prevents the theft of customer and employee records, and decreases incidents of corporate espionage. It is also required by many federal and state laws. Hiring a paper shredding company is crucial to preventing theft and minimizing any potential damages to your business.
State and federal laws and their penalties are growing due to the continual growth of identity theft and the problems it presents for both businesses and their customers. Depending on the industry that you are in, you may be breaking one or more of these laws if you are not seeking the services of a document destruction company. A few examples of these laws and regulations are FACTA, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and Gramm Leach Bliley. The main purpose of these laws and regulations is to ensure that companies are protecting their sensitive health and financial information with smart storage and disposal practices. These laws are well-known for their harsh penalties and strict enforcement.
The Simplicity
Paper shredding companies such as Armstrong Archives make the shredding process easy. When you schedule a regularly scheduled shredding service, the shredding company will come in and place locked collection containers in high traffic areas around your office. All your employees need to do is be sure to place documents for shredding into these containers and forget about them. Simple, no?
When the time comes for your document shredding, the shredding provider will pull their truck up to your business. The truck operators will go inside and begin removing the locked containers. The containers come back to the mobile shred truck, where their contents are dumped into the on-board shredder. You or another representative can watch the shredding process as it happens via their on-board cameras, for added peace of mind.
The Protection
After your shredding is complete, and before pulling away from the curb, you will receive a Certificate of Destruction clarifying that your documents have been thoroughly shred and disposed of in an appropriate fashion. The scraps will go to a recycling center where it will be used in the creation of new paper. In the event that someone attempts to sue your company, you can show them your Certificate of Destruction which will back up your claim that you are responsibly disposing of your documents.
At the end of the day, you need to be sure that you are not only protecting your sensitive business and customer information, but also that you are disposing of it in a manner that is compliant with federal and state privacy laws. To find out how Armstrong Archives can be of assistance, contact us today to learn more about our paper shredding and document destruction services. Call 972-635-0983.
Posted By: Sherri Taylor – President/Managing Partner
Sherri Taylor is the Managing Partner and President of Armstrong Archives, one of the largest independent records and information management companies in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.
