Under a Microscopic

Apparently a business putting documents in the trash is a good story for local media because it sure gets plenty of attention. Here is a story from Weslaco, Texas about a company putting personal information in the trash. And how much information does it take? In this case only 1oo names.

If you are a business owner you need to be extremely vigilant with the information your customers have entrusted to you. Just a few pieces of paper in the trash can land you on the evening news in an unfavorable light. I think the easiest way to do this is to make shredding easy and convenient for everyone in the office. There is now easier way than several locked bins around the office where the paper can be stored. You will also need a person with the assigned job of shredding and a manager to watch and document the process. If you don’t have two employees with too much time on their hands you should investigate a paper shredding service.

Courtesy of: http://www.shrednations.com

Businesses Are Now Recycling Paper While Protecting Sensitive Information

More companies around the United States are using balers, along with their shredders, to help save space, destroy sensitive data and recycle paper.

KAYSVILLE, Utah, Many people have seen a bale of hay lying in a field or at a ranch, but how many people have seen a bale of paper? It may seem a bit strange and uncommon at first, but more and more businesses are turning to this convenient form of shredding paper to combat increasing problems with identity and information theft.

Emptying shred bins is a common complaint of office employees who use paper shredders and feel they shouldn’t have to empty the bin so often. This is especially a problem when a shredder is used on a regular basis. Overstuffed shred-bins can back up into shredder blades causing annoying paper jams, and can sometimes result in broken gears and an overheated shredder. This is where paper balers can come in handy

Balers are attachments that connect to certain shredders and compact the paper until it is finally pressed and bound into a bail. The bail can then be removed from the compactor and transported to another location for pickup or disposal. Paper that has been compacted and baled can usually be recycled. One bale of paper, usually about the size of a box, contains the equivalent of several bags worth of shredded paper.

Shredder baler combinations vary in size. Some can fit in an office environment, where others will fill a small warehouse. Shred services often use shredder balers in their trucks due to the limited space. Shredder balers vary in the amount of papers they can shred at any given time. Some high-volume shredder baler combinations can shred up to 400 sheets of paper at once.

Courtesy of: http://www.free-press-release.com

ABC Office Announces The Addition Of The Shredder Shark From Banner American.

“ABC Office, a leading distributor of paper shredders on the Internet, has just added a new line of paper shredder to its current lineup. The new line is called “Shredder Shark” and is made by Banner A”

United States of America — KAYSVILLE, Utah, October 10 – This month ABC Office added a new line of paper shredders to its Web site. This new shredder line is a series of paper and document shredders from the popular manufacturer Banner American. These new paper shredders are small, compact and designed to be used next to or under a desk. These new shredders can be used at home or in the office. You can see this new line of paper shredders here: http://www.abcoffice.com/banneram.htm#bashredders. A total of four new shredders are being added.

Much of the identity theft today is caused by non-shredded printed material. It is a good habit to keep a paper shredder near any location where mail, paperwork and sensitive material is handled and discarded. This could be by a desk, in the kitchen or at the office. Many people think that tearing mail or sensitive material in half is sufficient. What they don’t realize is that this material can be easily put back together.

Because the Shredder Shark series of paper shredders are very compact, they can be easily placed around the office or in the home. The Shredder Shark paper shredders are specifically designed to shred personal information of all kinds. All four shredders utilize the more secure cross-cut method of paper shredding.

Once the correct model of shredder has be chosen, purchasing representatives and businesses can order via a secure shopping card over the Internet. This eliminates the need to shop at traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. Once an order is submitted, the shredder is shipped and is usually delivered to the business within five to seven business days. You can see ABC Office’s entire line of paper shredders, including Fellowes, by going here: http://www.abcoffice.com/shred1.htm.

Courtesy of: http://www.free-press-release.com

Super-sensor protects little hands and paws from shredder teeth

Personal paper shredders increasingly are found in homes and small offices to destroy documents, even credit cards, to protect against identity theft.

Fellowes introduces Super Sensor Shredder

One consequence of the presence of shredders — often described as “boxes with teeth”– has been finger amputations and cuts, notably among young children. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found there were 50 such injuries among children under 5 from January 2000 through September 2005.

Even dogs and cats have gotten tongues and paws caught in the “throat,” or opening, in shredders.

That’s where Itasca-based Fellowes Inc., which pioneered personal shredders 15 years ago, came to the rescue with new technology that disables shredders when a human or pet is about to enter the danger zone.

The Powershred DS1 personal shredder with SafeSense earned Fellowes a 2007 Chicago Innovation Award.

Tai Matlin, manager of research and development for Fellowe’s Business Machines group, said, “Humans and large animals create energy. With our patent-pending SafeSense technology, we put sensors into the shredders that can detect that zap of energy, and then turn off the motor if a human or large animal is in danger.”

He noted that similar sensors are used in iPod touch wheels and elevator buttons.

Nancy Heaton, senior marketing manager for business machines, said SafeSense was introduced in Fellowe’s $99 Powershred DS1 in August 2005. The device quickly became Fellowes best-selling personal shredder, with 3.6 million units having been shipped.

SafeSense now is available in 10 Fellowes’ shredder models, and soon will be available in seven others.

Matlin said SafeSense has been copied by Fellowes’ competitors.

What Makes a Hamster Paper Shredder Environmentally Friendly?

Hamster powered Paper Shredder

By Trevor Kassulke

Are you tired of adapters plugged inside the power strip? Hamster paper shredder is great office equipment that will help you do away with the requirement for electricity as it utilizes the power of a hamster.

The concept behind the design of this amazing device has left everyone speechless. This is indeed the best shredder available in the market, which is also environment friendly. The hamster shreds the paper with help of an exercising wheel. It does not use electricity and thus can definitely be a great asset for your corporate set up. It will certainly save a lot of your costs spent on electricity bills.

Tom Ballhatchet, the name behind the concept is thereby overwhelmed by the popularity of his invention. Tom has improvised on the past Hamster shredder model. The bottom and top of the cage is painted in red color. There are also slots to deposit water and food along with the slots to put in paper. You might worry about the safety of hamster as the gearing is internal but the little shredmaster is busy in running inside the rotary wheel. So, you can take a sigh of relief that he won’t get chewed up within the gears.

However, you must note that your shredder might breakdown frequently as the hamster also needs some rest after all. Also, keep in mind that you need to purchase the hamsters separately. Not to forget, the hamster running endless exercise cycles is obviously nothing in comparison to the power produced by electricity.

But the hamster is definitely fit to serve the purpose of a paper shredder. Nonetheless, you must not put any credit card or cardboard and other such things inside the device for shredding as it will be too thick and hard for the hamster to shred and may lead to cardiac arrest. So the device is appropriate to shred only a paper document.

Apparently, there doesn’t appear to be any links where one can purchase their coveted hamster shredder. Probably if many people approach Tom, he might be convinced to mass produce his wondrous device for people who want it eagerly.

So, why should one settle for any other shredder when the best is already there? Now what are you waiting for? Get started and find your hamster paper shredder soon. Just a little effort and you can grab the best shredding device for your company.

Courtesy of: http://ezinearticles.com

Survey Reveals Paper Shredder Trends

ABC Office sent a paper shredder survey to its customers to inquire about paper shredder use, identity theft and shredder trends. As a result of the survey, ABC Office received over 200 responses. The results of the survey are very interesting, showing what people think about identity theft and the importance of paper shredders.

Paper Shredders

Identity theft is an ever-increasing problem in the United States. The ability to create alternate identities, sign up for credit cards and abuse individuals’ identities is easier than ever for criminals. Receipts, mail and personal information are just some of the methods used to steal one’s identity. Out of 211 respondents, 22 people had been the victim of identity theft. That is over 10 percent of those interviewed.

This coming June, a new law will go into effect that will require anyone who has one or more employees to destroy their personal information. It surprised us to see that only 13 percent of those surveyed were aware of this new regulation. “It is very apparent that more people need to be aware of this new law and the importance of shredding personal information”, said Calvin Barlow, President of ABC Office. In this day and age, almost everyone should own a shredder.

Not surprising, over 70 percent of those surveyed feel that it is definitely important to destroy personal information. Because dumpster diving is perfectly legal, anything thrown in the garbage is fair game. Seventy-eight percent of those interviewed own a paper shredder. Fifty-one percent say they use their shredder on a daily basis. Paper shredders help destroy sensitive information. When dumpster diving, criminals tend to go for the easy find. If paper is shredded, the difficulty of putting the pieces back together is enough of a deterrent to make shredding worthwhile.

Strip-cut shredders are still the preferred method of shredding, but cross-cut shredders are quickly growing in popularity. This is due, in part, to the fact that strip-cut shredders have been around longer. Forty-eight percent of those surveyed own a cross cut shredder. Strip cut shredders, especially over-the-can shredders, typically shred paper into 1-inch strips. These strips, although hard to decipher, can still be reassembled. Cross-cut, or confetti-cut, shredders make it next to impossible to reassemble shredded documents.

The entire ABC Office paper shredder survey can be viewed by going to this link: (http://www.abcoffice.com/newsletters/ask-feb-2005.htm).

Courtesy of: http://www.free-press-release.com

In A Time Of Digital Information, Are Paper Shredders Becoming Relics? Asks Office Zone.

Paper shredders

“More information is being transferred over the Internet than ever before. Are shredders still a necessity or are they becoming a piece of history?”

Identity theft is a continuing problem and will more than likely never go away. With more people than ever transferring data over the Internet, fraud is no longer a paper only issue. With our population moving towards a paperless society, most people still agree that paper will never go away.

With the invention of the computer, e-mail and the Internet, many thought paper would disappear. Most people will agree, however, that junk mail, credit card applications, bills and other paper material have only been on the rise. It is very tempting, when faced with so much junk mail, to simply throw these items in the garbage.

Many people think that simply tearing the mail in half will suffice. What they don’t realize is that a letter that has been torn in two pieces is very easy to piece back together. Once re-assembled, the letter can be read, and if an application, be filled out and mailed from any location. Many credit card companies will still accept applications that are slightly damaged.

This means that paper shredders are still needed, and more now than ever. All mail with personal information should be shredded. It doesn’t take much information to steal one’s identity. It is a good idea to keep a shredder in the office, home office and in any location where mail may be opened.

Although large amounts of data can be transferred over the Internet, by way of e-mail or inter-company networks, CDs and DVDs are still widely used to hold data and information. When no longer needed, these storage devices should be destroyed. Many paper shredders now are capable of not only shredding paper, but CDs and DVDs as well.

Courtesy of: http://www.free-press-release.com

Shredded Checks

Many companies choose to shred in-house. This decision requires them to ignore the economic reality and the security risks. But how can they ignore the problems of disposing of the shredded paper? Easy for one Texas bank, just sell your shredded material to a local online merchant.

Personal Office Shredder

The first problem is that they don’t use a good enough shredder to truly destroy the information. However, any shredding service will tell you that the shreds should also be handled with care. For most that means pulping the shreds. The side benefit is the paper is now recycled into new paper.

Fixing Your Jammed Paper Shredder

by Factory-Express

How to fix your jammed paper shredder:

Jammed Paper Shredder

WARNING! Never attempt to remove paper manually from a jammed shredder plugged into power. ALWAYS unplug the shredder before attempting any manual maintenance.

If your shredder just shuts down without any apparent jamming, make sure the circuit breaker for the shredder outlet is on. If the shredder has power and there’s no apparent jam, it probably overheated. Turn it off and let it sit idle for about an hour. This should cure an overheating problem.

If the shredder doesn’t appear to be jammed with paper, it may be seizing up because the cutting cylinder blades need oiling.

If you suspect the blades need oiling, refer to the owner’s manual for instructions on how to oil them. NEVER use WD40, a petroleum-based oil, or otherwise flammable oil on cutting blades. Use vegetable-based oil like Canola or corn oil.

* Hold down the reverse button and squirt oil into the paper entry area in a sweeping motion from one side to the other and back.
* Place the shredder in the FORWARD position and allow the shredder to run for three to five seconds.
* Do the same in the REVERSE position.
* Repeat these last two steps about three times.

NOTE:
Continually attempting to run the shredder motor with the shredder in a jammed state can burn out the motor. Cease to apply power to the motor the instant you are fairly certain the jam will not clear up, and then proceed to a manual approach.

If the shredder is obviously jammed, turn it off, study the situation for a moment, and refer to your owner’s manual for instructions on how to proceed.

Short of that, turn the shredder back on and move the control switch to the REVERSE position to see if the paper backs out. This step usually solves the problem. If it doesn’t, slowly alternate the control switch between REVERSE and FORWARD a few times for about five seconds each. If this doesn’t work, do the same with the manual feed button in alternating REVERSE and FORWARD positions by holding the manual button down in each position for about five seconds. Repeat this process, as few times as possible, until you are reasonably certain this procedure will not clear the jam.

Turn the shredder off, unplug it from power, and let it cool for a while before you touch any internal parts. Being careful to not cut yourself on the shredder’s blades, manually try to pull as much of the jammed paper as you can from the shredder and try the alternating REVERSE/FORWARD process again. Use a pair of tweezers to remove any small bits of paper if necessary.

After allowing the shredder to cool, you may be able to pull the paper out while manually turning the motor by hand. Make sure the shredder is off, unplugged from power, and cool to the touch before trying this.

If everything else fails, you can also soak the jammed paper in shredder oil for fifteen minutes and try the REVERSE/FORDARD alternating procedure again.

If you’re not comfortable with these two last-ditch efforts, have the shredder serviced by a qualified service technician.

Courtesy of: http://officeequipmentblog.factory-express.com

Allegheny Paper Shredders Corporation is proud to announce its new Security Grinder product line.

Allegheny’s new line of Security Grinders consists of five models to meet a range of destruction capacity and horsepower needs. The single-shaft rotary design allows one-pass destruction of all types of confidential documents, from checks to computer printouts to waste bin contents. Equipped with interchangeable screens, these powerful machines ensure a highly secure, consistent size of output. This makes the Allegheny Security Grinder the application of choice when the highest level of secure destruction is required.

In addition, Allegheny Security Grinders easily destroy audio/video cassettes, CDs/DVDs, and virtually all types of returned, defective, or obsolete products. The large in-feed hopper enables ‘dump and run’ destruction without requiring pre-sorting or operator monitoring.

These rugged, high-capacity machines are ideal for use by contract shredding services, record storage centers, manufacturers, recyclers, return centers, and all organizations needing to reliably destroy high volumes of confidential material.

* 100% American made – no import-export or overseas shipping costs, saving you thousands of dollars
* High capacity ‘dump and run’ operation up to 10 tons/hr.
* Single-shaft rotary design – consistent screened output
* Highest quality components and features that exceed all other brands

In addition, Allegheny offers a complete line of high performance Paper Shredders and Cross-Shredding Systems. Allegheny is the only company to manufacture all types of destruction equipment for on-site and off-site operations.

Courtesy of: http://www.alleghenyshredders.com