- 04 | 08 | 2026
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Secure document storage services – your questions answered
In our 25 years of providing offsite document storage, we’ve answered a lot of questions from businesses just like yours.
Some are practical, some are about security or compliance, and some are simply about cost. Here are the ones we get asked most often, answered in full.
Question 1 How disruptive will the process of outsourcing my document storage be?
If you work with an experienced document storage provider, they’ll come armed with ways to minimise the impact on the day-to-day running of your business. Their in-house experts should be able to create implementation plans which take the pressure off your people, and work around your existing processes. For instance, when a busy 12,500-patient doctor’s surgery outsourced its paper records to OASIS, we coordinated a schedule and arranged pick-ups around the surgery’s busy times.
Question 2 How long will it take for a provider to collect and store all my document archive boxes?
The size and scale of the project will dictate timings, but it might not take as long as you think. Here at OASIS, we checked, organised, collected – and even scanned – a 300m-long paper document archive for a housing association in under 5 months.
Question 3 After the initial archive has been collected, how do we add documents on an ongoing basis?
Your outsourced document storage company should provide barcode stickers so you can box up your documents and then arrange collections via their online system.
Question 4 How much will offsite document storage cost?’
The price will depend on several factors like how much you want to store – some businesses store less than 1,000 documents with OASIS, while others store millions. The service level agreements (SLAs) you choose impact price too – for example, how quickly you want hardcopy documents delivered when a retrieval request is made.
What we can say, is that organisations don’t always consider the cost-savings they’ll be making when they store their documents with a professional provider like OASIS.
A reduction in the total volume of papers needing to be stored, through your supplier weeding out and destroying rubbish prior to collection
Retention policy management (destroying documents as they become obsolete or pass data protection dates) to keep costs low in the long term,
The ability to release office space or self-storage units – reducing annual expenditure, and/or,
The ability to repurpose what was storage space for new revenue-generation activities
Question 5 What happens if I’ve sent a document into secure storage but I need it back urgently?
Depending on the service you’ve agreed with your storage provider, you should be able to get hold of it immediately with a scan-on-demand service, and within around 4 hours for hardcopy deliveries.
Question 6 What’s the typical process for retrieving a document that’s stored at a secure offsite facility?
If you choose OASIS to store your documents, you’ll be able to use our self-service portal. Any employee, working from anywhere, can search and request a file (depending on their access permissions). Retrievals are tracked and recorded in the system for audits, with time and date stamps. It’s easy to use – no searching in multiple spreadsheets or phoning call centres – just put the files you need in a shopping cart and they’ll be scanned or delivered in line with agreed SLAs. Files are barcode-scanned from location to location and signed for by whoever takes delivery, for a full chain of custody. Returns are managed within the same system.
Question 7 Will it be harder to comply with data regulations like GDPR if I outsource document storage?
If you choose the right provider, it should actually make it easier. You’ll be able to get hold of audit trails showing who accessed which documents and when. You’ll be able to make sure document retention schedules are applied correctly. Your documents can be securely destroyed when they’re no longer needed. Secure storage facilities are likely to be much better protected and set up to keep documents safe than your own business premises. Because your archive will be catalogued, indexed and barcoded, you know exactly what you’ve got – rather than storing up risk in piles of mystery archive boxes at your offices.
Question 8 How will our physical records be protected against theft when they’re stored offsite?
Professional records facilities are typically equipped with an extensive range of security measures. For instance, OASIS protections include integrated 24-hour central alarms, recorded CCTV with 90-day footage retention, 330kva back-up generator, security personnel checks, 2.2m perimeter fencing with locked gates, and vault storage monitored by 24/7 video surveillance, keypad controls and biometric fingerprint scanners.
Question 9 How will our documents be protected against fire, flood or other damage?
Look for professional document storage facilities which have been designed to keep items safe from natural disasters, fire, pest, flood or environmental damage. OASIS safety measures include compliance with BS9997 (Fire Risk Management Systems), a comprehensive fire management plan, including best-in-class fire detection and suppression systems such as VESDA (Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus), fire suppression gases in our vaults, and remotely monitored fire alarm systems with key holders for each site. The bottom shelves of our storage racking are 10cm above floor level to protect items from flooding. Loading bays are fitted with water ingress ramps. Sites are monitored by externally approved pest control companies and we offer climate-controlled vaults with temperature and humidity monitoring.
Question 10 How do we choose a document storage provider?
Think about what’s most important to you, and make sure your storage partner can evidence their strengths in those areas. For example, do they have storage facilities within easy reach if you’ll need urgent or regular document retrievals? If you work in a highly-regulated or specialised industry like financial services, energy, healthcare, legal, or central and local government, do they have experience working with similar organisations? Will they deliver scanned files directly into your EDRMS (electronic document and records management system) to minimise the burden on your IT team and avoid adding more systems?
Got any questions we didn’t answer here? Get in touch
- 28 | 07 | 2026
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