What to Know about using our Secure Shredding Service:

1. Shredding is for everyone
   Our customers frequently ask if our services are provided to local non-business customers, and the answer is yes! In addition to our community shred events, we also offer a walk-in shred service during regular business hours. Drop off a batch ready for destruction, and we’ll handle the secure shredding!

2. Be Careful with your Clips
   When preparing documents for destruction, it’s important to know that we can’t accept items with large butterfly and binder clips. However, paperclips and staples are a-okay! Remember, remove any large clips from your documents before their arrival!

3. Folders vs. Binders
   While we do accept documents in folders with tabs or small prongs, we don’t accept items residing within ringed binders. Be sure to remove all papers from any large binders, and never place binders into shred bins.

4. Plan ahead
   Plan your pickup or purge 3-5 days in advance to allow our team to schedule your appointment, providing you with plenty of time to prepare your items. If you’d like to use our drop-off shredding services, we accept items during regular business hours Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.

5. What else can we shred?
   Augusta Data Storage can shred more than paper! Our facilities are equipped to securely shred electronic waste, proprietary items and more! We provide a full list of what we can shred here, including but not limited to: CDs, hard drives, computers, plastics, x-rays, film, etc. If you’re looking to shred something a little more specific, contact us and see if we can accommodate your needs!

6. We recycle!
   When our customers ask what happens to their shredded documents, we’re happy to say that Augusta Data Storage recycles all paper pulp at Georgia Pacific. Our recycled materials are directly used to create new products, reducing landfills and providing environmental savings.

7. Watch your document shredding
   If you’d like to observe your document shredding in our plant, we can provide that experience by appointment. When you take advantage of our mobile shredding service, we display your items being shredded on a monitor located on our truck!

8. How we charge for our secure shredding services
   Drop off Shredding is charged by weight with a minimum charge of $30. Our monthly service customers are billed by the tip, which means no matter how much you have to shred we only charge per facility visit.

9. Facility certifications
   Augusta Data Storage is NAID AAA certified for document destruction and e-waste destruction. If you’d like to learn more about our certifications and their requirements, please look here.

Shredding Services and Preparation

10. On-site Shredding
    Augusta Data Storage brings the shredding to you with our secure mobile units. We provide our clients with security knowing any sensitive information never has to leave their premises intact, offering secure containers for easy destruction and clean collection. We schedule and charge for on-site shredding according to volume and routine.

11. Off-site Shredding
    From documents and electronic waste to specialized media and proprietary products, Augusta Data Storage can handle all your secure shredding needs. With our industrial equipment, we ensure destruction with zero-landfill solutions, providing you with a certificate of destruction upon completion.

12. Drop-off Shredding
    For businesses and local residents in need of one time, small-batch shredding services, Augusta Data Storage offers drop-off shredding at our Augusta, GA facility. Simply drop-off your items and we’ll weigh and process them for destruction. Drop off services are billed by the pound and subject to a minimum service charge of $30. We also provide drop-off shredding for end-of-life electronic devices, such as old laptops and phones!

13. Purging & Bulk Shredding
    Bulk shredding, or purging provides a quick and easy way to eliminate large volumes of out of date records and archived files. At completion of your purge job, Augusta Data Storage provides you with a certificate of destruction as a record of compliance. 

Augusta Data Storage seeks to provide a unique secure shredding solution no matter what your needs, from mobile shredding and walk-ins to e-waste purging and community shred events. Recycle when you shred with us, and receive certificates of destruction for your records. For any additional questions concerning our services and processes, contact us today!

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WHY PURGE MY RECORDS?

There are typically two reasons that our customers call to schedule a record purge.

If their business is closing or relocating, they are likely looking to do a large scale, on-site purge project at their location to securely destroy any outdated records that they will not be relocating or records they no longer need.

Or, more commonly, we work with customers who, for compliance and information security reasons, require annual purge shredding of specific sets of records. Typically these purges are of records that are over a certain age and are no longer needed for reference in their archived storage.

Customers store these records either at their location, in an archive storage area, or have outsourced the storage of lesser-used records to Augusta Data Storage. If their records are stored in our facility, here is a quick look at how the purge process happens and how we determine the correct records for destruction.

PLACING YOUR RECORDS IN STORAGE

When you choose to outsource your record storage, there is a level of planning and inventory control that is required to ensure that the records are safe and easily located, if needed.

When we bring records into our facility, we complete what is known as the “inventory control sheet.” This form details the contents of each box, includes a list of barcoding for storage and location tracking, and includes a destruction date.

That’s right – before the records are even stored in our facility, we are already working with you to identify when the appropriate destruction date is, based on your internal policies or the compliance standards in your industry.

Once the form is completed, all of the information is uploaded into our inventory control software. This is the same software we use to locate your records in our facility and check them in and out if you request them for delivery.

PREPARING YOUR RECORDS FOR PURGE DESTRUCTION

When our tracking system detects that your destruction date is getting close, we contact you to ensure that you are ready to proceed with the destruction on the pre-determined date. This gives you an opportunity to ensure that there are no active files, or information you might still need access to, within the destruction list.

Once you approve the files for destruction, your records are pulled from our warehouse facility and are shredded in our on-site shred plant. The paper is then baled and recycled.

CONTINUITY OF SERVICE

A great benefit of using Augusta Data Storage, is that we are able to provide a full records management process for you, under one roof. From storage and records retrieval, to purging and secure destruction, the entire process is managed internally, by our team.

There are no third-party vendors handling your information and you can rest assured that your documents remain entirely secure in our facility, from initial storage all the way through destruction. This helps you limit the chain of custody of your sensitive information, meaning less people are touching, sorting, and accessing your records throughout their lifetime.

If you are interested in learning more about our secure document storage or destruction services, contact us today to learn more about how we can help you protect your valuable information.

The post How Do I Purge my Records Stored at Augusta Data Storage? appeared first on Augusta Data Storage.

In a recent blog from NAID (National Association for Information Destruction), CEO Bob Johnson takes a closer look at this question. He points to their book Information Disposition as a great reference on how to determine the ins and outs of your records management program, and the article speaks specifically to determining whether or not information is sensitive enough to require regular shredding services. “…when designing an information disposition program, organizations should be mindful to comprehensively account for all potential sources and types of information including memos, duplicate or flawed forms, or even a casual planning note jotted in haste, regardless of whether that information is recorded on paper, computer, a removable solid state flash drives, email, or magnetic tape.” Meaning that even notes or copies of emails and correspondence that are not filed or archived, should be handled with the same level of security as those items that you file in a locked cabinet and shred at the end of every year. Luckily, a records management company like Augusta Data Storage is your one-stop-shop for all things records management, so we’re going to take a closer look at each of these destruction options and their benefits.

Annual Purges

Annual or semi-annual purge projects are often a key component of any record retention policy. This one-time secure shredding project occurs when you are removing outdated files from your archives or if you have a large assortment of outdated files that you need to dispose of. Many of our clients have purge projects when they relocate OR at the end of the fiscal year, or tax season, as these are often times that require you to sort through and organize a large collection of your files at once.

What Happens During an Annual Purge?

• Records are removed from archives or records storage, based on pre-determined factors (such as date, record type, past customers, etc)
• Records are sorted and prepared for destruction (removed from binders, large clips removed, etc)
• Records are destructed on-site via our mobile shredding units OR transported back to our secure shred facility where they are shredded
• Customers are then presented with a certificate of destruction with a list of items destroyed and a date of destruction for their records.

Scheduled Shredding

Scheduled shredding is the safest way to ensure timely destruction of your items. While annual purge projects are often necessary for most companies, scheduled shredding ensures that day to day paper waste does not create additional threats to information security. Scheduled shredding service is completely customizable, from the size of your collection containers, to the frequency of pick-ups.

How does Scheduled Shredding work?

• Customers receive secure collection containers from Augusta Data Storage to place in various locations around their facility.
• Based on a pre-determined schedule, our mobile shred truck will visit your facility weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or on an as-needed basis, to empty your containers
• The containers are emptied into our mobile shredding truck and the documents are shredded on site.
• Once the items are destroyed, the customer is presented with a certificate of destruction for their records.
• Shredded paper pulp is then returned to our shred facility, baled and recycled to reduce the impact of office waste on the environment.

Developing an effective plan to manage your information security can be time consuming up-front but invaluable in the long run. There are tons of options out there when it comes to finding a solution for records management. Augusta Data Storage has been the leading local service provider for Augusta based businesses for 25 years. As our local market area has grown and the needs of information management have changed, we have continued to develop our business to speak to the needs of our customers. Whether you’re planning a one-time purge of out dated records or looking to develop routine shredding services, we would love to talk with you to help you develop a plan of action that best meets your needs.

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Document destruction is an essential element in any business’ information security process. Whether you’re a health care provider managing patient files, a law office with case files, a financial services firm with client files, or even a business with employee personnel files, MOST businesses handle confidential information every single day. When it is time to destroy those documents, there are several ways to manage the process. We recognize that the needs of our customers are as unique as their organizations, which is why we have covered all our bases when it comes to secure shredding options.

Shredded documents are delivered to our facility via our secure mobile shred trucks for processing, bailing, and recycling pick-up!

Augusta Data Storage is equipped to handle a variety of shredding services including: Purge Shred Projects, Scheduled Shredding Services, and Drop-off Shredding Services. Wondering which might be right for your organization or even personal needs? Here is a closer look at our options:

Purge Shred Projects:

These projects occur for several different reasons but they all have the same result in mind; to destroy a large amount of documents all at one time. Purge projects can be conducted annually, semiannually, or on an as needed basis. Purge projects can be done onsite, taking advantage of our mobile-shredding, or off-site projects which occur when we bring all of your documents to our physical location to be shredded at our plant. Depending on the volume of records you have to destroy, one option might better than the other. When completing a purge project, customers pay based on the weight of the paper that is shredded, in addition to any fees for associated labor, based on the scope of your project.

Scheduled Shredding Service:

A regularly scheduled mobile paper shredding service is perfect for businesses & organizations that frequently produce sensitive and confidential documents and want to be sure that they are complying with information security standards. Routine service provides the best protection for your secure documents at the most cost-effective price. To determine the number and size of collection bins, as well as the frequency that those bins need to be emptied, Augusta Data Storage provides a no cost consultation for your needs. Collection bins are then delivered and placed in a convenient location within your facility. Our mobile shredding truck will then visit your location on a set schedule and empty the collection bins. Services are billed based on a set rate for each time that we empty your collection bins. Destruction schedules can be set for daily, weekly, or monthly service.

Drop-off Shredding Service:

Sometimes the need arises to have just a few boxes of information destroyed, especially if you’re considering getting rid of any of your old personal files at home. Drop off shredding service is billed by the weight, much like a purge project, but with a much lower minimum charge associated. You can bring your documents directly to us, watch us shred the documents and then rest assured that your information was destroyed properly and securely.

No matter if you chose to use our scheduled shredding service, purge shred or the drop-off shred service, you will always receive a Certificate of Destruction upon the competition of the service. This certificate gives you the assurance that your information was destroyed to the highest of industry standards. Augusta Data Storage carries a AAA NAID Certification – the highest level of certification in our Industry. By managing your document destruction needs with these services, you can maintain your records safely and securely.

The post 3 Secure Shredding Solutions from Augusta Data Storage appeared first on Augusta Data Storage.

Once you understand the process, putting together a plan for your project might be a little easier, but working with a team of experienced professionals is key. When it comes to managing your business’ documents, you want to trust that you are purging them out of your system in an organized and secure manner, that’s where Augusta Data Storage comes in. Our multi-faceted service offerings allow our team to customize the scope of your project to fit your unique needs. We are able to help you relocate your files to a different storage area, provide off-site storage and retrieval, or even provide secure document destruction for those items you are completely purging from your system.

When we first met with Jebco in Warrenton we were brought in to help them organize and mange a destruction purging project where we would securely shred all the outdated and unneeded paper files that had been collecting in their facility for several years. After completing the project, we followed up with Jebco to find out, first hand, how they thought the project went and to help provide an inside look for some of you feeling a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of diving into a purge project in the future.

1. When was the last time your organization completed a document purging project?
   We have never done purging like this before. What few documents we have shredded in the past was done in office with a small desk-side shredder, two or three sheets at a time.
2. What prompted you to initiate a purging project?
   We had practically run out of space. We had every cabinet and box we could find packed to the gill.
3. What were your initial expectations of the project? Did you think it would be hard? Tedious? How long did you think it would take? How much work did you think would be involved?
   I thought when I suggested this project, it would take months of going through all of our papers to see what I could throw away or shred. I found a “RETENTION SCHEDULE” and read through it several times, then our office manager and I put our heads together and decided how many years of documents we needed to retain. From there I started putting orange dots on doors and cabinets to mark what would stay and what could go.
4. On the day of the document purging project, what stood out most to you about Augusta Data Storage and their team?
   On the day of the project, I was impressed with the efficiency of the workers, they worked well together. Butch, our account manager, was right there helping the team.  They were very polite and dressed professionally.
5. What is one tip you would share with a company considering a document purging project in the future?
   Please don’t think you have to save everything. Study the your state’s retention schedule to find out what is necessary to store and for how long.
6. Do you have any additional thoughts or comments to share regarding your project or recent experience with the team at Augusta Data Storage?
   I would like to comment again what a pleasure it was working with Butch from the beginning of this project until it was finished. Everything was handled in a very timely matter.  We appreciate the patience and kindness shown helping us through this project.

Check out this short video about the Jebco  document purging project to get an inside look at some of our processes.

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