What is the Best Way for Governments & Municipalities to Handle Public Records?

Don’t. Outsource it instead.

As a governing body, your organization seeks to protect your community, meet economic needs, provide service, and ensure a high quality of life to all citizens. But to do so requires paperwork! LOTS of paperwork! Your office has an obligation to respond to its constituents’ public information requests, retrieving documents from records rooms from off-site storage, preserving public records, complying with record storing regulations, and maintaining archives of maps and drawings. Whether you’re in a small city government or work at the county level, employees are often overburdened with managing and filing paperwork on top of myriad other responsibilities. Employees have had to deal with disorganized files, unnecessarily slow sharing of files between departments, and a general backlog of documents needing to be filed, scanned, or destroyed.

For years, government offices have been kicking the can down the road when it comes to outsourcing document management. But with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the closure of many municipal and county government offices, the need is now more apparent than ever.

Government offices looking for efficient processes for organizing, storing, and accessing records should consider outsourcing their document management needs. The good news is SRS can provide solutions for all types of public records, from building permits to birth and death certificates. And despite the overwhelming feeling of too many documents and never enough time, the following are typically true:

You will regain space.

If you are dedicating too much space to storing records, that is potential money down the drain. Even if space is not yet a problem, that doesn’t mean it won’t become an issue down the road. When you outsource your records storage with SRS, you can utilize that space more efficiently, expand if necessary, and lower operating costs.

You will regain time.

When we consult with municipalities, we go in and remove entire file rooms. Our indexing team then sorts through the files one by one. Once we know what you have, we shred what is eligible for destruction, store what needs to be kept, and we actively manage the rest for retention. When your staff needs a file, they simply request via our scan-on-demand system. Our team will promptly deliver it, typically within the hour. Much easier than sifting through a disorganized file room!

Your constituents’ records will be secure.

Even if your staff has undergone proper training, unsecured records rooms are at risk from a breach due to vendors, temporary employees, or virtually anyone who enters your office. When you store records offsitewith SRS, your records are kept in a locked, safeguarded storage facility with 24/7 video monitoring.

The efficiencies will add to your bottom line.

In a time when the economy is uncertain and budgets are being squeezed for every available dollar, an outsourced document management solution will create efficiencies with tangible results. The combination of space, time, and security will, ultimately, positively impact your bottom line.

If the COVID-19 crisis has amplified your government office’s need for outsourced document management, contact us today.