Records and Information Management

Smart Sort

Sort, organize, and manage physical files at scale

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Unmingle the commingled with Iron Mountain Smart Sort

Commingled files and disorganized records aren’t just a nuisance. They’re a liability that can inflate storage costs, increase discovery and litigation risks, and stymie the flow of critical information.

But what if you could efficiently unmingle your commingled files and know what to retain, defensibly destroy, digitize, or provide for a divestiture, legal matter, or other business need? And what if you could do it all without a complex, labor-intensive discovery project?

With Iron Mountain Smart Sort, you can. Smart Sort is a simple and budget-friendly solution to help you finally gain control of your records inventory.

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Solution Guides

Iron Mountain Smart Sort

As you accelerate digital transformation, you want to reduce cost and risk by destroying paper records that are no longer needed. Unfortunately, this is often not as simple as it sounds.

February 26, 2024

How Iron Mountain Smart Sort works

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Frequently Asked Questions

Benefits of Iron Mountain Smart Sort

✓ Find records quickly and accurately

✓ Make defensible decisions about what records to keep, destroy, or digitize

✓ Reduce the cost and risk of records storage

✓ Support office reconfigurations and closures

✓ Accelerate digital transformation

✓ Navigate mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures quickly

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Iron Mountain Smart Sort

Take control of your records inventory with Smart Sort. The Smart Sort process follows Iron Mountain’s secure procedures with vetted and trained employees.

Smart Sort processing centers are prepped and ready to meet the specific requirements of your project.

Smart Sort is a technology-enabled solution that uses information from your core business application and records retention schedule to make instant decisions on file disposition.

We start the Smart Sort process by capturing the unique file ID found on the outside of the file. We do that with a scan of a barcode or by hand-keying in the file ID.

Once the file ID is captured, using data extracted from your core business application and records retention schedule, Smart Sort tells us instantly-in real time-the outcome for that file, and we sort and re-box accordingly.

You decide how you want your records to be sorted. For example, sort by destruction eligibility year, record type, a unique identifier, or whatever you require.

For files that have met retention requirements and can be defensibly destroyed, the boxes are wrapped in black and clearly labeled for destruction.

Iron Mountain's employees have specialized training on the Smart Sort process and will expertly execute your project.

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Iron Mountain Smart Sort

Not sure where to start?

Compass is a powerful, technology-driven diagnostic assessment that can help chart your records cleanup needs.

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Learn how Smart Sort helped these organizations

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Customer Success Stories

Hospital reduces records storage costs and improves visibility and compliance with Iron Mountain Smart Sort

Learn how a hospital gained visibility across its records inventory and established a process for defensible disposition.

June 20, 2022

Hospital reduces records storage costs and improves visibility and compliance with iron mountain smart sort

Learn how a major US medical center freed up space for patient care by relocating their paper records offsite. They leveraged Iron Mountain Smart Sort to sort, reorganize, and cull their files prior to the move. This resulted in enhanced visibility across their inventory and savings of over $1 million in storage costs.

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Frequently asked questions

Smart Sort is a simple and budget-friendly solution to help you finally gain control of your records inventory.

Is Smart Sort only for records stored at Iron Mountain?

We can execute a Smart Sort project at your facility or ours.

What if I have records stored in multiple locations or with various vendors?

We will consolidate the inventory at an Iron Mountain facility and then conduct the Smart Sort project. At the completion of the project, we store only those records that are required to be retained. The Smart Sort process identifies files that have met retention requirements and can be defensibly destroyed. With a cleaned-up inventory, you can reduce your costs by paying to store only those files that need to be retained for compliance requirements.

What does it take to start the Smart Sort process?

We need information from your core business application (master patient index, policy or loan management system, case file management system, etc.) and an up-to-date records retention schedule.

Does Smart Sort support multiple records retention policies and record types?

Yes, each project is customized to your records retention policies and specific requirements.

What record types are recommended, and which are not, for a Smart Sort project?

You will benefit most from a Smart Sort project with core business records that carry event date retention rules (loans, policies, claims, patient records, case files, human resources records, etc.).
Corporate and business records are not recommended (payroll records, invoices, etc.).

Am I required to use Smart Sort on my entire inventory or can I proceed with a phased approach?

You select how you want to proceed, and the project will be customized to your requirements, objectives, and budget.

I need a defensible process for records destruction. How can Smart Sort help?

The Smart Sort process leverages your retention schedule and rules to create a standardized methodology for file review and processing. This rules-based approach allows us to deliver a consistent and defensible output.
At the end of the Smart Sort process, we will provide a report that gives you file-level visibility and the corresponding disposition for each file. This report enables you to defend the actions taken on each file.
For more information, please read Smart Sort provides a path to defensible disposition.

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Offsite records storage

We can execute a Smart Sort project at your facility or ours. And once the project is complete, we will store your records in one of our secure and compliant records centres.

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Secure shredding

Through the Smart Sort process, we’ll isolate records that have met retention requirements and are eligible for defensible destruction with Iron Mountain’s secure shredding service.

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Document imaging and digitisation

Smart Sort will help you make informed decisions and select which records to digitize so that you can accelerate your digital transformation journey.

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Dedicated professional staffing

Managing your legacy records can be a challenge, and oftentimes you’ll need extra help. Iron Mountain offers a range of dedicated records management professionals who can support you on a full- or part-time basis, at your offices or remotely.

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