Records Management, Document Management and
Email
As e-mails become more and more accepted as business
documents the need to manage and archive those documents in a similar manner to
electronic or scanned documents becomes important. E-mail archival allows
important e-mails to be selected and stored into a Document Management or
Records Management system.
What is e-mail?
E-mail is a
method of delivering information. It is not a kind of record.
E-mail is like regular mail - you get
letters, correspondence from clients customers and suppliers, signed contracts and
purchase orders, enquiries and complaints; and also advertisements, brochures,
personal messages and so on. Whether these are received by regular mail
(on paper) or by e-mail (in an electronic format) you handle them in a similar
manner. You manage e-mail the
same way you manage your paper records – by customer, client, matter, contract, project,
engagement or business function. The method of delivery is irrelevant.
To meet business and legal obligations, you
have to maintain much of the information you receive by e-mail in the same way
you manage paper records. Just like paper, you have to sort or index your e-mail so that
you can find the important things when you need them.
Typically, an
entire e-mail (including the message profile,
message text, and all attachments) should be
treated as one single item in order
for the record to be considered a legal document
and to be admissible as evidence in court
proceedings.
Should I save all my e-mail?
You shouldn’t save every e-mail
any more than you should save all of your paper mail. Just like you discard
some of your regular mail – brochures, leaflets, advertisements, and so on –
you should also discard unwanted e-mails. If you never deleted your e-mail, it
could present legal risks for the organisation. You
should save business-related e-mails - those that document your business and its
processes, as well as those that may be needed to determine what we are
(legally) required to do for someone or what they are required to do for us.
However, deleting email or not taking sufficient
steps to retain email and other electronic data
that should have been retained can also be Contempt of Court.
Information
that is stored electronically such as e-mail (or
other data on a computer’s hard disk) has the
same status as printed information and is equally
admissible as evidence.
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is the most commonly used e-mail software. Outlook e-mails can be saved in the Microsoft .msg format. Any attachments
are also saved, inside the .msg file.
Saved .msg files may be viewed with Outlook or an Outlook viewer.
An alternative is to save into a different format, e.g. PDF or XML which may be
more 'standard' though not necessarily a 'true' copy as some conversion is
required.
Records Management
is used for the storage, tracking and
retrieval of original documents, files and archive boxes, and optionally
scanned documents (in TIF or PDF format) and electronic documents such as Word documents, Excel
spreadsheets and Outlook e-mails.
Document
Management
enables organisations to manage their documents in an electronic format.
Typically a large number of documents are stored for subsequent retrieval.
Click here for Alliance
PaperChase Records Management software.
PaperChase records-management is an Alliance
Group product.
Alliance
specialise in Document Imaging for Windows, Records Management, Document
Management, Imaging for Windows XP, file-tracking, document scanning solutions,
RFID smart labels, medical records-management software, Document Tracking, Fujitsu scanners, EDRMS,
record management, Hospital Patient Records, email archiving, File Tracking, Paperless-Office,
Document Scanning services, Barcode Scanning solutions, ISO 15489, Wang
Kodak Imaging-for-Windows, TIF, TIFF, Kodak Scanning and Imaging Solutions, File
Tracking system, Archiving, Kodak Imaging-for-Windows Professional, EDRM, RFID
printers, Records-Management system, Imaging windows, electronic records,
document tracking, drawing and blueprint tracking, record tracking, asset
tracking.
Return
to Records & Document Management
Return to home http://www.alliancegroup.co.uk
records management and email, records-management archiving, file tracking,
file-tracking, records management e-mail archiving.
