FAQs > Choosing an Office Shredder - Things to Consider

When choosing an office shredder for the office there are a few things worth considering.

With so many different types of shredding machines on the market you want to know you get the best paper shredder for your needs. Because office paper shredders are going to be used by more than one person they are larger and faster than home paper shredders with more features. Here are a few things to consider to help you make the right purchase:

• How many people will be using the shredder?
  
• Do you need it to run continuously? If you shred high volumes of paper you don’t want to have to wait every 5 minutes for the motor to cool down. A continuous shredder will help get the job done far more efficiently and is well worth the extra investment.
  
• Do you need to shred CD’s? Thieves can have a field day with a batch of CD’s just thrown in the bin. CD shredders are available (they also shred paper)
  
• How sensitive is your information? You need to be confident that company and personnel records, banking information, sales records, meeting minutes, client data etc are all shredded and cannot be pieced back together (believe us, some criminals are prepared to do this) so a crosscut paper shredder is likely to be the safest option.
  
• How much space do you have for the shredder? Small shredders that sit under or on your desk are available although these models tend to be designed for more occasional use.
  
• Where will you locate the shredder? Although modern designs are much quieter than they used to be if someone is going to be shredding all day in a busy office it can be distracting and may be better located in a side room or mail room for example.
  
• If you are shredding huge amounts for long periods of time it is worth looking at the
  really heavy duty shredders or industrial shredders available as opposed to a standard document shredder.