The time Scan Film or Store helped save my marriage

In this month’s blog post, one Scan Film or Store customer explains why working with us had unexpected benefits…

I have a confession to make – I’m a hoarder. I still have the sticker book I was given in junior school, countless printed photos from the days before iPhones and Instagram, and a collection of letters and diaries that span most of my lifetime.

As a journalist, I also have an awful lot of magazines. Well, I did. Shelves of them. Granted they were neatly categorised – some for research, some for fun, most because they contained a piece of work I’d done at some point in the last decade – but they were taking up increasing amounts of room. And gathering dust (confession number two: I’m not much of a housekeeper). Something had to be done.

One option was for my husband and I to move from our two bedroom flat into a three bedroom house. Except that decision, when we made it earlier this year, was precipitated by the discovery that we were expecting twins. Yes, a new house would give us more room, but it would instantly be filled with cots and nappies and various other small person paraphernalia. There wouldn’t be much left over for all those magazines.

My husband was adamant. The move would be a chance to reduce our (read: my) clutter. We would have a clear out as we packed, and another as we unpacked. I knew he’d be ruthless, and I feared for my magazines.

Luckily, I knew someone who could help. I spoke to Mark at Scan Film or Store about how easy it might be to get my articles scanned so I could keep a record of my portfolio without the bulk. “Oh, very easy,” he assured me. I think he might have said a few technical things after that, but I’d heard all I needed to hear. Easy is what you want when you’re preparing for a house move and two babies, as well as running your own business.

And it was easy, from start to finish. Mark even provided me with boxes, and collected them once they were full. The magazines were carefully disassembled, and the articles I’d marked were scanned using the kind of technical wizardry that is well beyond my understanding.

Next thing I knew, I was holding a single disc containing 635MB of high-res PDF files, all perfectly square and in focus, labelled up with the magazine name and issue. I was thrilled – as was my husband when he saw the empty shelves in the study.

Having this digital portfolio has also given me the raw materials to update my website with visual examples of my work (when I get a chance) or email new editors with clippings if they ask for them. Ideal for those pieces that never got published online.

I’m not sure there’s a cure for being a hoarder, but there’s certainly a way to stop it taking over your life – or wrecking your marriage. I can’t recommend Scan Film or Store highly enough, for everything from technical expertise to excellent customer service.

If they could do such a great job with my relatively small stash of magazines, imagine what they could do with a whole office storage room or even a warehouse full of paperwork?

 

5 (not entirely serious) ways to survive a summer stuck in the office

5 ways to survive a summer stuck at the officeSo summer is upon us, and Facebook will soon be full of holiday snaps from a rash of exotic beaches around the world. Which is great if they’re yours, but less fun when you’re looking at them from your desk, with its ineffective air con, wilting rubber plant and view of the skyscraper next door.

There’s only one way to survive a summer stuck at the office, and that’s to cheat and bring the holidays to you. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1) Join the tourists and get the open top bus to work instead of your usual commute

Be sure to abandon your laptop in favour of a backpack (worn on both shoulders, naturally) and hang a digital SLR around your neck so you fit in with the crowd. Then relax as the usually frustrating journey to the office becomes a mini staycation adventure in your own town.

2) Suggest a theme for dress down Friday – Hawaiian, beachwear, mermaid etc

You’re not the only one who isn’t eating paella and swigging sangria on the Costa del Britsabroad – your colleagues are bound to be feeling the effects of the green-eyed holiday monster too. What better way to boost moral than to get everyone out of their shirts and ties and into something far more suited to a resort theme night?

3) Buy a cocktail kit and mix everyone up a pina colada* at lunchtime, complete with umbrellas (*It may need to be a virgin one, depending on your boss)

If anything’s going to distract you from the why-am-I-here-when-it’s-sunny-outside blues, it’s a cold glass of something cheerful. Even if you decide that vodka at midday is probably not going to help you balance the accounts or proof read that report, a well made summer mocktail can do wonders for the soul.

4) Insist that everyone in the office speaks with a foreign accent

Granted, this one may be harder to pull off, but if you can get everyone on board (and we suggest trying this after the cocktails, assuming you were able to persuade the manager to let you have real ones) the sound of non-English chatter should help you feel like you’ve escaped home shores for a little while.

5) Fill a tray with sand, put it under your desk, take off your shoes and pretend you’re on a beach

If you can’t go to the beach, the beach must come to you. If anything signals being on holiday, it’s the feeling of sand between your toes, and this particular summer survival kit is so easy to make (helpful hint: sand is readily available at any good DIY store, or your kid’s sandpit).

Of course, you could always book yourself an actual real life holiday. In which case, we’ve got one final summer survival tip – make sure you don’t forget data security while you’re gone. Thieves tend to see the holidays as a chance to notch up a little overtime, so get your documents stored securely, either by locking them away at an alarmed and monitored unit like ours or by transferring them to protected digital formats.

Then lock the door behind you, and forget about it all for a week. Oh, and before you go, don’t forget to send these tips to the colleagues you’re leaving behind – after all, if you’re going to make them look through your exotic Facebook snaps, you should at least give them the tools to survive a summer stuck in the office.

Shredders Grimm – Terrifying Stories of Data Destruction Disasters

When it comes to data or document destruction you may think hitting “delete” or shredding is sufficient to protect your data.

This month we are here to share some terrifying tales of what happened when data destruction went wrong.

Secure data destruction should be a key part of a document management process. All too often businesses leave it to chance and could therefore be just minutes away from featuring in their own horror story about customer data getting into the wrong hands.

So with that in mind, are you sitting comfortably and ready for some real life stories that will keep you awake at night thinking about whether or not you disposed of your data correctly?

Let’s begin…

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Why Companies Fail to Back Up Their Data – Scan Film or Store Exposes the Truth!

Paper vs digital - blog post by Scan Film or Store

For many businesses data is crucial, so have you ever thought about what might happen in the event of a disaster? Imagine having a fire, flood, or complete crash of your computer systems and losing all your data because you have failed to properly back up your data; something like that could completely destroy a company.

With that in mind there are businesses out there that do fail to back up their data properly for some ridiculous reasons, and we are here to make sure you all understand the importance of backing up your data.

This month’s blog post will enlighten you on the 4 most common and ridiculous reasons for not backing your data.

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How to declutter your office – and boost business efficiency

Clutter is bad for your business. Seriously – it’s probably costing you money as you read this.

For a start, it takes up space. Assuming that you pay for your premises in some way, unnecessary paperwork is effectively squatting.

Clutter also makes you inefficient. How long do you spend looking for documents you know you filed “sensibly” a couple of months ago but now can’t find?

And it’s stressful, isn’t it? For you and for your staff, who are probably as demoralised by chaos as you are.

If you’re shifting uncomfortably in your seat right now, don’t worry – you’re definitely not alone! But scheduling in a declutter or spring clean soon would be a good idea. After all, it’s the right time of year for it.

“But I need all this paperwork!” you may be saying. And maybe you’re right. But do you need it languishing in flimsy archive boxes or rows of rusty filing cabinets?

Here are three things to ask yourself:

Do I need it at all? If the answer is no, get rid of it. If it’s sensitive, make sure it’s properly destroyed so you don’t run into security issues.

Do I need it on site? A safe and secure storage facility could well be the answer – just make sure it’s one with a good barcoding, cataloguing and retrieval system.

Do I need it in hard copy? If not, scanning it will reduce its physical impact without you losing the content you need.

No one likes spring cleaning, but we all love an uncluttered, efficient workspace. And at least it will be done – until next year, anyway.

If you’d like us to help you assess your business data and how it can be more efficiently stored, expertly scanned or securely destroyed, contact the team on 0800 008 7229 for a no obligation assessment.

Just how Secure is your Document Storage?

Here at Scan Film Store one of our main services is document storage, whether holding your physical paper records securely off-site or scanned copies in a digital format.

So we were intrigued to find out about some of the most secure storage facilities in the world. When you think about the ultimate in secure storage Fort Knox would probably be one of the first to come to mind, but in fact there are a number of more unusual places that can rival it in terms of security but it’s likely you’ve never heard of them.

Svalbard Seed Vault

How many of you have heard of the Svalbard seed vault before today? Well to tell you the truth neither had we. As the name might suggest the purpose of the vault is to store duplicates (‘back ups’) of all seed samples from the world’s crop collections.

The seeds are stored on the island of Svalbard which is located halfway between Norway and the North Pole under what is known as “black box” arrangements. This means that once the packets of seed are sent for storage they will not be opened or sent to anyone other than the original depositor in the event that they are required. No one will have access to anyone else’s seeds!

So if you want to make sure that your business records are backed up and have no possibility of being altered by anyone else then the seed vault sounds like a pretty great place. What a shame that your business records don’t come in seed format.

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