In addition to the more apparent costs that come with storing files locally are some other points that can also negatively affect you. It is worth considering these four hidden expenses of using an inadequate storage site:

Documents are often stored in basements, which are below ground and prone to flooding. Such underground spaces are also the dampest, a huge threat for paper documents. Basements are also often the least protected from fire proofing, leaving your important documents vulnerable. Often, these are not insured – contrary to those stored at professional facilities – leading to further repercussions.

The last place a company will invest in security is in its storage facilities. Storage areas also tend to be places rarely frequented by employees, such as basements. So if a document does go missing, it could take months for its disappearance to be noticed. To make matters worse, if this document belongs to a client, this could seriously damage your company’s reputation.

Storing your own documents means you need to invest in boxes, racking, barcoding systems and even employees to manage and archive the documents. This costs you time and money. Professional storage facilities not only have all of the above in place, but also the experience of business archive storage expertise.

We know that boxing and cataloguing require quite a lot of space, which you might not have. But we do! You can bring all your files to our offices and make the most of our space.

The boxing and cataloguing process requires a certain discipline and familiarity. Our operations department handles tens of thousands of boxes a year and our experts are always willing to advise you as well as to help you box and catalogue.

We will provide you with a plan for the process before the operation begins. Thanks to years of experience and the integration of logistics, operations and good management, what would normally be perceived as a confusing process is a today a smooth migration of document boxes regardless of the amount or state of the document boxes we receive.

Your compliance officer will need to come over to Rentastore’s offices to handle the cataloguing according to your company’s objectives.

Expert members from our operations department will supervise the process and will also assist by providing manpower to handle the physical side of boxing. This has been found to be both efficient as well as of great assistance.

You’re only as strong as your weakest link they say. While you may be tempted to train temporary help to scan and index your documents or even use valuable staff to do this project, this can waste your time, energy and resources in the long run.

Entrusting this job to trained personnel will help you avoid this pitfall. Indeed, the staff at Rentastore are fast, efficient and trained for the services you need. Scanning and indexing are for people that have the time to work on it every day and the experience to provide an efficient and cost-effective service.

Now that you have digitised, compartmentalised versions of your data you now can easily and quickly have an overview of your company’s knowledge, leading to faster work processes. You see the process does not simply involve creating digital versions of your documents, but they are given a searchable title. Here’s how it works:

Easy and accessible indexing

Our top-notch machines turn your documents into organised and searchable electronic files. Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), the images of text – be they receipts, plans, manuals, and so on – are converted into machine-encoded text. Not only, but the file is also named, depending on the information in the document. This means it is now searchable and editable. This allows any electronic document to be quickly indexed and conveniently searched.

Extend the life of your documents

Another huge plus to having your documents scanned means that they have been given a new lease of life. While it is of course impossible to scan every paper you own, scanning certain important papers and documents that are needed for a long time can be worth your while as this will prevent them from being damaged over time.

Guaranteed privacy

You might worried about opening up your files and documents to other people. Rest assured: we offer planning, organisation and management of the entire digitisation process. We do this using guaranteeing intensive quality management in compliance with data protection regulations.

We have a clear and refined process, that has been perfected to run smoothly thanks to years of operation. In sum, here is how it works:

• The folders are separated
• The documents are prepared and indexed
• The documents are scanned at our headquarters in Mriehel
• The images are post-processed, placed on CD, cloud or flashdrive
• We apply an extensive range of filters to achieve top quality, regardless of the document type. The scans are often better quality than the original
• The files are now ready for input into your system

Any paper document, really. We can provide electronic scanning solutions for all types of paperwork including:

• Production records
• Purchase and sales invoices
• Delivery notes and manuals
• Plans and drawings
• Personnel and payroll records

Like a neatly organised shelf, or a tidy cupboard, well-catalogued files and documents help you to be more efficient quite simply because you can find things quicker. And, just as with that neat shelf, having your items in order helps reduce stress by saving you the frustration and panic that often comes with wasting time looking for something you need right now.

So, where do you begin? Anywhere you want, you’ll be pleased to hear. “There are no two same ways on how to catalogue,” comments Paul Azzopardi, Business Development Executive at Rentastore. It is also a very simple process: “Cataloguing runs along very basic lines or common sense,” he explains.

Essentially, cataloguing is the process of providing access to documents by creating formal descriptions to represent the documents and then organising those descriptions through headings that will connect users queries with the relevant documents.

Rentastore offers its clients the option to store boxes of with your documents, with no minimum number of boxes required in its state-of-the-art document archiving warehouses. Rentastore makes it easy for you to store your documents, by dropping off boxes at your office, providing you with a barcode for each box and then picking up the boxes when you are done. But it is up to you to create your own cataloguing system. Through this storage system you can easily and quickly locate the documents you are looking for.

Below are some trusted tips on how to effectively catalogue your folders and documents:

Keep things simple in order to avoid chaos and confusion. Your document catalogue systems need to be accessible for everyone as you never know who needs to retrieve certain documents at any given time.

Your cataloguing system will only work if the document names are accurate. Check and double check that you have inputted the correct file name. If possible, work with someone else so that you have a second pair of eyes checking you. It is perfectly normal, and human, to make a mistake!

Keeping a spreadsheet where you note down the names and relevant contents of your documents is key to effective cataloguing.

“An Excel sheet, the knowledge and records of the contents of what documents are being placed inside a document box which are in turn relevant to the bar code provided is one sure way of cataloguing your documents,” advises Paul Azzopardi.

It is up to you to decide what information is best to describe your folders and documents. Some popular rules for categorisation include:

• Date
• Department
• Document type

One good way of knowing what words to use to describe your documents is to think about how you might look for them. So, for instance:

• By date (You want the December 2019 phone bill)
• By company (You want the ABCCompany phone bill)
• By type of document (You want a phone bill)

A clever way of saving these documents then would be to allow you to know what the document is without opening it. A suitable file name, in this case, could be: 2019-12ABCCompanyBill

The same concept applies to folders. It is not pointless to have a load of folders called Bills inside other folders. It would be better to call the folder ABCCompany Bills so that you can use that name to search later on.

Once you have your documents and folders in order, you can then put them in the boxes and note down the corresponding barcode.

So, cataloguing and indexing the contents of your boxes could look something like this:

Individual File/ Folder names, within each archive box

Edit

Name	Folder Name	Barcode
2019-12ABCCompanyBill	ABCCompany Bills	234567 890128
2019-11ABCCompanyBill	ABCCompany Bills	234567 890128
2019-10ABCCompanyBill	ABCCompany Bills	234567 890128
2019-12XYZ_OrgBill	XYZ_Org Bills	234567 890128
2019-12XYZ_OrgBill	XYZ_Org Bills	234567 890128

It may seem arduous to organise your folders and documents initially but having them organised and catalogued will save you so much time and stress in the long run, you’ll wonder why you hadn’t done this earlier!

If you wish to store your documents and folders in our professional document storage warehouse get in touch with Rentastore by calling +356 2124 3777, or by email on the following address: sales@rentastore.com.mt.