September 2018

On Document Archiving: How to Choose the Right Archive Record Storage

While many companies associate a digital archiving system with an increase in costs, it can save you money overall.

If you’re paying for rent by the square foot, you need to make the most of your office space. Document archiving will ensure that you get the most from your space and keep your most important documents in a safe and secure site away from your office.

Here are 6 steps to proper document archiving for your business.

1. Run an Audit

While you might think your first step is to take all of your documents and start boxing them up, you could end up storing things you don’t need. We all have a pile of papers waiting to be tossed out. You should make sure you separate what you need to keep, what can be scanned, and what should be thrown away.

You’re going to risk wasting valuable and expensive storage space by just boxing everything up. There are so many files and forms that could be redundant or unnecessary. Take a ruthless attitude and treat nothing as sacred.

When you decide what to discard, keep in mind the minimum retention rates for things like tax forms.

Keep in mind your carbon footprint as well. Make an effort to recycle everything from phone books to light bills. If you’re working with a document storage company, they’re going to offer secure destruction and shredding services for you. Double check that they recycle everything they get and leave it in their hands.

2. Digitize Some Documents

If you’re not legally bound to keep a document, you don’t necessarily have to keep the paper form around. Unless it’s something you feel sentimental value for, it can take up less storage space sitting on a hard drive. Back it up twice and you’ll have it whenever you need it in an emergencywithout keeping it onsite in a box.

If you don’t have a good scanner, ask if the storage provider you’re using has one. Many copy machines have high-quality scanning capacity built in, so if you have extra time to hang out around your office you might have access and not know it.

An electronic document management system allows your documents to be scanned and stored on the cloud. Whether you use Google Drive or your own home server, you can have your documents accessible wherever you are in the world. Install some security permissions and password protection and you should be able to keep any nefarious actors out of your personal or professional business.

3. Finding the Right Boxes

When it’s time to start boxing things up, you need to choose the highest quality boxes available. They should be durable enough to handle lots of heavy files and last for years to come. Cheap corrugated cardboard shipping boxes meant for single use won’t suffice.

A few drops of water and they’ll start to fall apart.

You should also clearly label your files and your boxes. This will allow you to get quick and easy access to what you need when you need it. Have a hybrid file system with a digital database connected to your physical storage so you know a file is in box A17 and can find things easily.

A records database will keep everything much more accessible than just throwing it in boxes labeled 1-100 with no digital database to correspond.

Streamline the process for finding files later and you’ll thank yourself.

4. Choose the Right Location

When you’re looking for storage, you need to keep your files in a location that’s easy to get to. Not only should it be physically close, but it should be a place where you can get ahold of them quickly.

If your small business has an extra room, an onsite storage room will probably be good enough. You’ll see that as the years go by and that your business grows, you’ll need more room. It takes space to put in climate control and maintain a facility for your records and might need that space for your business soon.

An off-site solution is one of the best ideas you can have if you think you’ll outgrow your space soon. You’re better off starting your business with an off-site storage space rather than having to move and implement a new strategy later. Start that strategy now rather than having to change things up when your business is up and running.

6. Organization is Key

You need to keep the documents that are alike together. Only you know what kinds of documents you have and what you need to store, but there are some basic rules to follow.

You should have a few categories of documents to hold on to. There can be tax returns, invoices, employee data, and customer data in separate categories. You should then organize each one of these by date.

When you do this, you’re able to get access to your files quickly without fumbling aimlessly through boxes. You can look up what index the files you’re looking for likely are in and then retrieve them from your facility

Keep retention rates marked in your records as well. This can help to remind you when you can have your files destroyed so that you can keep rotating them. The best thing you can do to protect your data is to get rid of anything you really don’t need anymore.

Document Archiving Is Good For Business.

No matter what industry you’re in, document archiving is a concern about space, staffing, and budgeting. Since all of these elements work hand in hand to contribute to your profit margin, you need to take document archiving seriously.

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Things to Consider When Choosing a Medical Courier Service

Courier services are big business on a global scale. It’s an industry that’s booming, well into the many billions of dollars, with more and more companies entering the market every year.

But how do you know which ones are reliable? And how can you trust them when it comes to sensitive, delicate deliveries like the ones required for medical courier services?

Even more importantly, what if you’re a business that needs a medical courier service but you’re feeling skeptical that any of them could measure up to your very high standards? After all, shipping and delivering medical products can be a very costly and sensitive process, and you or your business might rely on delivery success.

Keep reading for the ultimate guide on how to select the best medical courier service, so that you or your clients receive the highest standard of care.

Medical Courier Employees: A Vital Element

There are several things to consider when looking at hiring a medical courier service, and chief among them is the courier staff.

Employees must have a friendly, calm and compassionate manner. They’re dealing with chronically ill, stressed, or otherwise incapacitated clients who may not have much interaction with the outside world on a regular basis.

Some of them might rely on service animals, and so a courier must be able to manage and interact with those animals.

Delivery people must be vetted with appropriate background checks and possess HIPPA compliance, because they are moving and handling material that’s not only expensive or confidential and personal but also literally life-saving.

They also need to be detail-oriented, time efficient, familiar with routes and familiar with handling of toxic or expiring compounds and chemicals.

They should also have training with communicating with lab technicians, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.

Customer Service

For your peace of mind, in addition to couriers that have been thoroughly trained and vetted, you’ll want to know that the entire customer service staff is also top-notch.

Should an issue arise, you’ll want to be able to communicate quickly and effectively with a real, live person.

Also, since many clients are patients with difficulties in communicating, such as being hearing impaired, you’ll want to ensure that the courier service has those bases covered.

Patience in this industry is also a big bonus. If you’re dealing with communicative and laid-back customer service employees, even a major snafu can be pleasantly managed.

Your Courier Must be Insured

In case of unforeseen events such as weather disasters, it’s important that the courier service you select is licensed and insured by a reputable company.

As well, their couriers should also be insured.

Timing and Availability

Customers relying on medical couriers are often waiting for time-sensitive items. A delivery that’s a day or even a few hours late can seriously impact their lives.

It’s necessary that when choosing a medical courier service, a client or business sees that their website or other resource has tracking options, as well as dates and times of availability.

Ideally, you choose a courier that is available every day of the year, at most times or 24 hours a day and always with the option for same day delivery.

Careful Transportation

Delivering medical products is a careful process, and the delicate nature of the products makes the method of delivery all the more important.

Why is this? Weather, both hot and cold, as well as changing environments over long distances, makes the trucks or delivery vehicles one of the things you must consider very closely.

In addition, a courier service that understands and uses high tech insulated packaging will be key in your decision-making process. And let’s get blunt here: blood, organs, and other organically-based compounds must be stored at very specific temperatures. There is no room for mistake or negligence, ever.

Please be sure to ask questions of the courier services you are considering, like what are their trucks equipped with, and are they built for climate control?

Ensuring this will also ensure that your products are successfully delivered to you or your patients.

Experience is Everything

Even though the courier industry is booming, and new businesses are arriving on scene with cool technology and innovative ways to deliver your medical supplies and products, that doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to be great.

Sometimes, experience can trump the bells and whistles. When it comes to something as sensitive as medical deliveries, this couldn’t be truer.

Research the courier company to see if they have a long history of success. That will include client testimonials, and any other published proof of their superior courier abilities.

And if their services are a bit more expensive, it’s usually worth the extra expense to have peace of mind and a guaranteed delivery.

While the younger companies might entice you with flashy promises and cutting costs, it might not be wise to pursue their services when considering your needs.

Your Medical Courier’s Abilities are Vital!

This guide is a great way to carefully consider the couriers you’re interested in hiring, either for yourself or your business.

It’s a bit of an in-depth process, but don’t be overwhelmed. In the end, with your products successfully and safely delivered, it will be well worth it.

Are you ready to start researching the amazing courier services available, but don’t know where to begin? Head over to our blog and get an idea, then let us know how we can help you.

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Why It Pays to Pay for Hand Carry or On Board Courier Service

You used the tracked, registered, certified parcel delivery…where is your package? The Hope Diamond was sent to the Smithsonian Museum via ordinary mail carrier. Can you imagine trusting your vital medicine, a human kidney or fragile electronics to the public and private postal services today?

Most parcel services have fixed pickup and delivery times, huge sorting hubs and automated sorting. Many things can go wrong. Many hands have access to your cargo before it reaches its destination.

Sometimes you need your delivery faster than posted timetables, even the same day. When speed and security are a priority, a courier to hand carry your items aboard a passenger flight is the best choice. Read on to learn more.

Reasons You Might Need Hand Carry Service

Emergency shipments aside, there may be security or other reasons to prefer hand carry courier service. Antique glass, legal documents like passports or contracts or even the latest draft of a future movie are often too precious or a security risk to trust to common carriers.

Absolute white glove service for an antique concert bass? It sits in its own seat! A 10k pink diamond ring? Never leaves the courier’s pocket. The master copy of next year’s Call of Duty game? It walks directly from the hands of the software developer to the duplicator a whole continent away.

If you need an uninterrupted chain of control from your hands to the recipient, you need hand carry/on board courier service. There are other reasons to select on board courier service, though.

No Rigid Timetables or Routes

Missed the 5:00 p.m. deadline for next day delivery? Not on the scheduled route for the area? On time service, even when your parcel isn’t on a timetable shared by the common carriers is no problem. An on board courier service is only bound by the last flight out of the airport.

A courier can take custody of your product right as it leaves assembly, hand carry it aboard a passenger flight and deliver it straight to the recipient.

High Priority Cargo

Larger items travel as the checked baggage of the courier. As checked baggage, they travel in a pressurized hold. They receive priority handling and are available to travel to their final destination faster than ordinary cargo. At check-in, a courier is present for security screening and can request TSA special handling if necessary to speed your goods on their way.

Oversized goods are presented as oversize baggage and are transported accordingly. At the destination, your goods are unloaded as passenger baggage and are available for delivery to their final destination within minutes of airport arrival.

High Security and Real-Time Whereabouts

When the safety and security of your parcel are important, couriers can provide real-time status updates. For small items that meet carry-on baggage requirements, your parcel will never leave courier custody. Larger items will be personally presented to baggage check-in and picked up at arrival.

From the airport, your courier can hand carry your parcel directly to the recipient and confirm delivery. GPS tracking throughout the process gives you peace of mind.

Fast Customs Clearance

As accompanied baggage, your parcel will go through passenger customs clearance. This ensures expedited processing speed. This can mean the difference of minutes and hours instead of days spent in customs clearance.

Once through customs, your item can then be handed off for delivery to its final destination. A waiting delivery vehicle can speed your package on its way or your courier can hand-deliver the items.

How Do You Prepare for Courier Service?

Contact your courier company for specific guidance. In general, make sure your documents are in order for delivery. Your courier will meet you at a designated place. For small-size shipments, the item is placed in an airline-carry-on, backpack or briefcase. Larger items may be placed inside a suitcase or taken boxed.

Items should all be securely packaged before the couriers’ arrival. All items should be sealed and secured before leaving your custody. Your courier checks the packaging and will ask you to correct any irregularities before taking the parcel.

Items traveling as baggage must be packed to withstand rough handling or stacked baggage on top. Checked boxes, cases or bags may be subject to search or x-rays. For high-value items and electronics easily damaged by x-rays, your courier requests TSA hand inspection. They will accompany the shipment during inspection.

What Happens After the Courier Takes Custody?

The courier clears the security checkpoint and gets onto the plane with everyone else. Small carry-on items remain with the courier the entire time. Your courier must place them in the overhead compartment or underneath the seat in front of them.

Your package then flies to its destination, taking advantage of any direct or connecting flights. For most domestic deliveries, the same day handoff is possible. International delivery in less than 24 hours is within reach, too.

In the end, your courier may be met by someone to take your package to the recipient or they may deliver it themselves. Either way, courier delivery allows unmatched speed and security for your special items. Want to request ID confirmation and a photo of the recipient? The courier can do that!

How Do I Arrange for Service?

One telephone call and our representative can walk you through the process and find you the most economical, safe and fast delivery for your needs. Having a courier hand-carry a 200 lb hospital scanner part across the country and into the next one over is not much more than sending the parts by express overnight service.

However, no customs delay, use of scheduled commercial flights and positive control over the shipment means that the hospital scanner is back in business faster. When speed and security are off the essence, a courier taking charge is ideal.

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