Metrofile, the largest off-site record storage and management company in South Africa, has launched its locally developed random storage and retrieval software, MetroFiler.
A member of the MGX Holdings group, Metrofile specialises in the offsite storage and retrieval of paper records and magnetic and digital media for many leading corporate and IT companies nationwide.
Product manager Bruce Templeton says MetroFiler is a Windows-based software package that manages inhouse filing. Available as a SQL Server or Paradox database plug-in, it is unlimited in the number or type of records it can track, or in the size or location of the storage area. "Its primary benefit is its random storage and retrieval capacity," says Templeton. "This removes the need to set aside storage space for future records based on their sequential relationship with other records, resulting in massive savings in unused storage space."
Templeton adds that MetroFiler is based on Metrofile`s years of filing and storage experience and concepts.
"Once an appropriate storage area has been identified and individual filing areas barcoded, records can be barcoded and randomly stored for safekeeping," Templeton adds. "By combining the barcode information of the filing area and the record, MetroFiler tracks any number of records based on their location anywhere in the area."
Through user-defined "retention matrices", records can easily be moved to the Metrofile offsite storage facility when they are no longer required on-site at the client`s premises. This frees up storage space for new files. The system also allows easy retrieval of records from the offsite facilty and defines when the records are due for destruction, so records are kept for no longer than is necessary.
"An important feature is its audit function," says Templeton. "Locations can be audited at any time to ensure that records are filed away correctly." The software updates record locations automatically with each move. Once removed, the record need not be replaced in the same area since the software keeps track of its new location.
"For years companies have been storing their records sequentially," says Templeton. "Using simple technology MetroFiler makes it possible to overcome the disadvantages of losing misplaced records in sequential systems and saves on the space otherwise unused for future storage." MetroFiler resides on a database on a server so it can be accessed by all on the network.
"Random storage is inherently more secure, allowing companies to rotate records to and from any filing area," says Templeton. "MetroFiler restricts access to a record using predefined parameters by record type, category, department or user-level access rights."
*For more information on MetroFiler or Metrofile services, contact Bruce Templeton or Gavin McElroy at (011) 616-8118.
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