Governments need the right technology and policies to handle all electronic message types

Using a central solution, organizations can retain, retrieve and quickly review all channels of communication in one seamless archive. Electronic records management can be more efficient when all content is captured in native context and rapidly searchable by user, channel or keyword. This eliminates the need for disparate silo searches of a variety of archives or hard drives that would have required effort from different departments (such as IT, HR or users themselves).

While searching for the right technology partner to archive content, government agencies should also implement use policies to align with their records management strategy. Policies must include:

• Which platforms and specific applications are allowed for employees to use for internal and external communications; define allowed and prohibited channels and clearly outline how content will be captured and archived for public records management.
• Which types of devices are allowed; for example, corporate-issued devices only or personal devices including phones and tablets?
• An overview of how security assessments will be carried out, and what will happen if prohibition or use policies are violated. It’s important to be transparent about protocols regarding the capture and handling of electronic communications.

Read more in the research brief, “The State of Electronic Communications in Government,” to gain insight on communication tools and how you can improve your records management practice. Download the infographic here.