How to Choose the Right Shredder For Your Office
- By Jeff McRitchie
- Published 03/10/2010
- Business
- Unrated
Jeff McRitchie
If you are interested in more information about Paper Shredders you might want to visit MyBinding.com. They carry a large selection of Shredder Accessories, such as shredder oil, bags, and boxes. Check it out today!
View all articles by Jeff McRitchie
There are many things to consider when you are buying a shredder for your office. Here are four of the most important.
1. Security Level. It stands to reason that you are looking for a shredder in order to make the documents that you are discarding unreadable. For this reason, we really can't recommend a shredder that does not offer at least a security level of 3, meaning that it creates a cross-cut, confetti-like pattern that makes documents virtually impossible to piece back together. This is the level of security that is required in order for you and your business to be FACTA-compliant as well, so using a Level 3 cross cut shredder not only makes sense for your information, it can protect you from federal fines and liability resulting from identity theft. There are machines that offer higher security levels (up to level 6), which might bear investigation, depending on what the damage might be to your business if the information you are shredding were to somehow fall into the wrong hands. Long story short, however, do not fall into the trap of buying a strip cut shredder if you truly desire document security.
2. Capacity. What you want to ask yourself next is how many people will be using the shredder on a typical day. Depending on how many people will be using the shredder and how often, you can choose from personal desk side units - a very handy choice for busy HR departments, allowing each worker to shred documents on an as-needed basis. There are
also shredders that are intended for anywhere from 1-3 users to entire busy departments. Two important things to look at are: sheet capacity and on/off time. A lot of people aren't aware that most shredders can only run for a stated amount of time before they will need to be rested to keep from overheating. If you need a shredder that can be run for hours per day, you will need to investigate machines with a continuous duty motor.
3. Capabilities. There are a growing number of shredders out there that are able to shred CD's, DVD's and other types of digital media. This is something that you might want to consider, as it is a fact that confidential information does not only come in paper form any more. You will also want to look at things such as throat width if you regularly shred documents that are larger than letter or legal size.
4. Safety. Lots of different manufacturers offer lots of different safety features, from physical plastic guards that keep hands out of the feed openings, to electronic sensors placed at the feed opening that sense body heat and stop the motor instantly (currently offered only by Fellowes brand shredders). Most machines these days offer basic safety features such as: motor shutoff when the shred bins are opened, and when they are full, as well as automatic reverse (or shutoff) when there is a paper jam. The latter are the basic safety features that you should make sure that your shredder includes, while guards and electronic sensors at the feed openings are of a more premium nature - but definitely great selling points, and worth considering.
1. Security Level. It stands to reason that you are looking for a shredder in order to make the documents that you are discarding unreadable. For this reason, we really can't recommend a shredder that does not offer at least a security level of 3, meaning that it creates a cross-cut, confetti-like pattern that makes documents virtually impossible to piece back together. This is the level of security that is required in order for you and your business to be FACTA-compliant as well, so using a Level 3 cross cut shredder not only makes sense for your information, it can protect you from federal fines and liability resulting from identity theft. There are machines that offer higher security levels (up to level 6), which might bear investigation, depending on what the damage might be to your business if the information you are shredding were to somehow fall into the wrong hands. Long story short, however, do not fall into the trap of buying a strip cut shredder if you truly desire document security.
2. Capacity. What you want to ask yourself next is how many people will be using the shredder on a typical day. Depending on how many people will be using the shredder and how often, you can choose from personal desk side units - a very handy choice for busy HR departments, allowing each worker to shred documents on an as-needed basis. There are
3. Capabilities. There are a growing number of shredders out there that are able to shred CD's, DVD's and other types of digital media. This is something that you might want to consider, as it is a fact that confidential information does not only come in paper form any more. You will also want to look at things such as throat width if you regularly shred documents that are larger than letter or legal size.
4. Safety. Lots of different manufacturers offer lots of different safety features, from physical plastic guards that keep hands out of the feed openings, to electronic sensors placed at the feed opening that sense body heat and stop the motor instantly (currently offered only by Fellowes brand shredders). Most machines these days offer basic safety features such as: motor shutoff when the shred bins are opened, and when they are full, as well as automatic reverse (or shutoff) when there is a paper jam. The latter are the basic safety features that you should make sure that your shredder includes, while guards and electronic sensors at the feed openings are of a more premium nature - but definitely great selling points, and worth considering.