Document policy management

RecordsFlow allows record managers to create document retention policies for the automatic purging or archiving of documents within any drawer in GoFileRoom. These policies (rules) may be configured using the following combinations:

  • Policy types - The three policy types available are Purge, Keep, and Archive.
  • Document's Create or Modified date
  • Drawer index values

Note: The creation and modification of document policies requires two administrators or record managers. These two users will be required to provide their authentication credentials in order to save the document policies.

To access the policy management area, choose Administration > Manage RecordsFlow from the GoFileRoom toolbar, then click the Policy Management tab.

Creating document policies

The creation and then execution of a document policy will span across two days. Since documents may be purged permanently, please act with an extreme level of caution when creating policies.

Notes:

  • Documents that are covered by a Keep policy will not be purged even if they are a part of a purge policy.
  • Documents that are covered by multiple conflicting purge policies (for example, older than three years versus older than seven years) will be retained for the longest amount of time (older than seven years in this case).
  • There is no special treatment with archived documents or document IDs in the indexed, barcoded, or scanned statuses. If they are covered within a purge policy, these records will be permanently deleted.

To create a new document retention policy:

  1. Click the Policy Management tab.
  2. Select the desired drawer.
  3. Choose the policy type. You have three choices: Purge, Keep, or Archive.

    Note: Purging is the process of permanently deleting a document, its respective index information, and its history from GoFileRoom. A Keep policy is the reverse of a purge and will ensure that a document is not purged. Archiving is the process for ticking a document as read-only.

  4. Enter a Policy Name to assist you in identifying the policy at a later time.
  5. Configure the policy rules by entering the index criteria on the right of the screen. You may create the policy using any combination of the fields found in the drawer and/or by the creation and modified dates.

    Note: There is a lot of flexibility when configuring your policies: wildcards may be used, multiple values may be selected, and date fields can be configured by older than or younger than criteria.

  6. Click Save.
  7. To continue, two administrators or record managers must enter their authentication credentials to approve the addition of the policy.
  8. Click OK after both logins and passwords have been entered. A confirmation window opens.

    Important! Overnight processing is required to identify the documents that are affected by the policy. Consequently, the Preview will not be available for a newly created policy until the following day.

Previewing and approving policies

Before any policy is executed and processed, it must be approved. When a new policy is created, the preview will not be available until it is processed overnight. New policies should be previewed before they are approved to ensure accuracy with your document retention policy. On the following day, the new policy becomes an incumbent policy. Incumbent policies may cover new documents on any given day, therefore, regular visits are recommended. To alert record managers of the potential daily changes in the documents covered by your policies, GoFileRoom will send an automated email message to all users that are member of the Records Managers system group.

Note: Administrators would also have to be members of the Records Managers system group to receive these emails.

The Preview/Execute tab allows record managers to preview and approve documents that are pending any incumbent purge, keep, or archive policies according to their respective rules configured in the Policy Management tab. The table includes the drawer name, the policy name, the policy type, and the number of pending documents for purging, keeping, or archiving.

To filter the list of policies by type, select a type from the Policy Type field.

To preview and approve a policy:

  1. Click the policy you wish to preview and approve.

    Note: You cannot cancel a policy after you approve it. Please be certain that the policy should be approved.

  2. Review all document information that is included in the selected policy.
  3. Click the Approve button to approve the policy.

    Note: Keep policies do not require approval. Therefore, the Approve button will not be available in the preview.

  4. Click OK.
  5. To continue, two administrators or record managers must enter their authentication credentials to approve the addition of the policy.
  6. Click OK after both logins and passwords have been entered. A confirmation window will display informing you that the policy has been approved and is scheduled for processing that evening.

    Note: Previewing the same policies will result in no pending documents until the next day if new documents fall into its criteria.

Modifying or deleting document policies

Any incumbent policy may be deleted or modified. To modify or delete a document policy:

  1. From the Policy Management tab select the desired drawer.
  2. Choose the policy type that requires modification or deletion.
  3. Select the targeted policy name using the Select Policy field.
  4. To delete the policy: Click Delete.

    To modify the policy: Make your changes on the right of the screen, then click Save.

    Note: RecordsFlow offers a lot of flexibility when configuring your policies: wildcards may be used, multiple values may be selected, and date fields can be configured by older than or younger than criteria.

  5. To continue, two administrators or record managers must enter their authentication credentials to approve the addition of the policy.
  6. Click OK after both logins and passwords have been entered. A confirmation window will display informing you that the policy was deleted or saved.

Archived documents

When documents are archived, they will still be searchable and viewable by your users in GoFileRoom. However, editing of the document or its indexes will be prohibited. Members of the Records Managers system group also have the ability to archive or remove the archived status as needed.

Note: Archived documents covered by a purge or keep policy will be included when the policy is approved and processed.

There are three ways to identify an archived document:

  • The Type icon in the search results will include the letter "A".
  • When an archived document is viewed, the Edit Document option will not be available and the Save Indexes button will not be displayed, thus prohibiting any editing.
  • The document's status will be "Archived" in the Document Tracking report.

Members of the Records Managers group can perform archiving from the Document Tracking report or Search Results list.

To archive or remove the archived status of a document:

  1. Select the document by ticking the checkbox for the respective document.

    Note: You can archive or remove archive status for up to 150 documents at once.

  2. Right-click the selected row and choose either Archive Documents or Remove Archived Status.
  3. Click OK.

Related articles

RecordsFlow overview

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