How Many Emails do You Get in a Day?

While most of us don’t know the number of emails we get every day, we do know it usually feels like too many, and we have no idea how long we should keep them and if we even should.

Is there a rule of thumb on how long to keep emails? Is it a problem to keep them longer than is legally required? There’s a legal time limit for keeping emails?

A popular solution to the compounding accumulation of email history is the auto-delete policy. While it’s possible this kind of policy can be executed correctly, it’s also possible that in the case of a lawsuit against the organization, it can result in claims that evidence was illegally destroyed.

It’s important to determine what the industry-specific regulation for email retention is for your business. This area of law continually evolves, so regular re-evaluation and implementation are essential.

Expanding our Lenexa Facility

This winter we’re completing  the expansion of our Lenexa facility. We’ll be adjacent to a large empty space, which will make future expansions seamless.

We’re located in the Meritex Underground facility, situated between Olathe and Overland Park. Underground facilities are known to provide the best protection against extreme weather conditions, as well as stable humidity and temperature.

Meritex  Lenexa  meets strict energy performance levels set by the U.S. EPA.

The facility also offers excellent security features.

Above, Jesse and Conan begin moving files in. At right, Jesse unloads a palette into the new space.

Kansas City Location Expands

“Record Center 5″ is getting a fresh coat of paint before we begin moving in.

We can easily accommodate large stuffed bears (up to 18 ft. high), spy gear, Emmy Awards,  wax statues,  and lower portions of preserved tree trunks. Also suitable for storing documents and records.

Our  guarded, humidity and temperature controlled underground facility create an environment suitable for storing just about anything.

A Smarter Company to Watch

Thinking Bigger Magazine’s “Smarter Companies to Watch” annual publication highlights select companies that have an edge over their competitors. Media Services was selected to participate in the 2011 annual issue.

Every company is struggling with continually increasing amounts of information: boxes of documents, confidential financial information, old health records. We resolve these issues securely, in accordance with appropriate legislation, and environmentally responsibly.

Questions Your Company Needs to Answer

• How do we destroy paper documents that need to be kept confidential?

What Gives You Satisfaction, Security and Safety?

You’re free to fully enjoy whatever life brings you when you have them. Even sleep is better when you have a sense of satisfaction, security and safety.

We lock our doors and windows at home to make us feel safe, and some of us work out to get a sense of satisfaction, but we minimize the importance of managing our paperwork. We make it “paperwork” instead of “records of our important financial information” or “identity information for our parents.”

When we hang on to information we don’t need or poorly maintain the important information, we often end up with low grade dissatisfaction.

Unknown documents with critical, confidential information stored in unknown places leaves you vulnerable and misplacement, theft, and/or misuse can lead to disaster.

The solution is to inventory and identify the information that matters most, get rid of what you can, and protect what remains.

The Department of Defense’s RIM Policy

A recent 4.9 billion dollar lawsuit was the result of a simple security misstep – by the Department of Defense!  An employee transported data tapes in his personal car, which was then robbed. According to this article in the Army Times, those tapes had the social security numbers and other personal information  for 4.9 million people!

In this case, the breach of security happened because of an inappropriate transportation issue….and that is directly related to a lack of appropriate oversight and security processes.

How to Stay Out of the Courtroom

The Kansas City Health Information Management Association‘s Fall Symposium is taking place at Penn Valley Comminuty College’s Health Science Institute on October 8th, 2011. Our Records and Information Staff Consultant, Bill Millican, will be speaking on How to Stay Out of the Courtroom ( OR, if You do Have to Go, How to Shine!)

As a records management professional, one of your top priorities should be to develop and manage a records and information management program that is efficient, effective, compliant and legally defensible. In this session hear what critical elements an organization must include in its Records Management Program to accomplish this top priority.

Reducing Risk of Revenue Loss (and More) with Records Management

When proper attention isn’t given to records and information management (RIM), the entire organization is at risk of revenue loss, serious financial sanctions, business process inefficiencies, and improper destruction of important records.

An effective records and information management program provides storage of information that is safe from environmental (or building) disasters, legal compliance, is defensible and is an enormous asset to any organization. It provides a higher level of protection from sanctions by lowering relevant risks and increasing efficiencies, which invariably reduce operating costs.

Data Breaches: How do They Happen?

All businesses are vulnerable to data breaches. Credit card information, client lists, and confidential company information are a few examples of the kinds of data that can wreak havoc when in the wrong hands.

Since 2008, the number of data breaches that involve personally identifiable information (P.I.I), has continued to drop. With over 800 incidents reported in 2008, the number dropped in 2010 to about 350 (according to DataLoss db). This shows us that awareness and protection is working, but is it working fast enough; and is our sensitive data being protected as well as it could be? These are great questions that are not easily answered.

The information below provides insight into the causes of data breaches, and can inform decisions on how to better protect company information.

The Paperless Office – The Paperless Business World

Why Not?

 For over twenty years, probably more, there has been an ongoing discussion about the paperless office, or business world; and while we appear to be making some headway, there are those who maintain that we are losing the battle. One would think that with the proliferation of technology and the hand-held device that essentially presents any and all types of electronic documents that we need and use in a paper format, why in the world do we continue our use of paper? Great question, isn’t it, and oh so difficult to effectively answer? Below are some thoughts as to why we are so slow to sever our paper dependency.