Choosing a shredding service is a very important aspect of any business. Shredders help companies and businesses maintain the confidentiality of their clients and protect sensitive information. It is important to choose such shredding service wisely. Here are seven things you should consider when you are looking for a service to shred your company documents. 1) Identity theft is on the rise across the country. As identity theft continues to rise and thieves become more sophisticated, it is more important than ever to make sure that all confidential documents are shredded. 2) There are two types of shredding services, on-site and off-site shredders. Offsite shredders will bring your material elsewhere for proper disposal whereas on-site shredders can do it at your place of business. At DocuVault, we offer both. 3) Companies should be AAA certified by NAID, and you have to check the website to make sure they have the genuine logo. This certification means that the company is qualified and trained to properly shred confidential documents while protecting your privacy. Some companies try to lie about their certification. Always check their website for their authentic logo. We have ours on the front page. 4) Some companies are also HIPAA compliant, which is essential for clients looking to shred medical documents. It is an added layer of confidentiality protection. 5) What insurance is offered by the company? Different shredding services offer different levels of insurance, you want to make sure that the company you are considering is insured should something go terribly wrong, like identity theft. At DocuVault, we have $1 million insurance against identity theft to protect us and our clients. 6) Some companies offer more than just shredding services. For example, at DocuVault we also offer secured document storage for companies that might need to get some documents off site to make more room, but may still need to access them at a later date. 7) Some shredding services offer loyal customers discounts for yearly purges. Many businesses like to conduct periodic purges of their system and shred any documents that are no longer needed. You should speak with your company and see if any deals are offered to regular customers. Keeping these points in mind as your company begins to discuss finding a shredding service can help ensure that you find a service to match all the needs of your company.