Plan how records are collected (Office SharePoint Server)

Applies To: Office SharePoint Server 2007

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Topic Last Modified: 2016-11-14

In this article:

• Techniques for moving files into the Records Center site

• Completing your plan

After you develop a file plan and design the Records Center site, plan how active electronic and hard-copy documents in your organization will move to the Records Center site. This article reviews techniques you can use to move content to the Records Center site and suggests a way to plan how items in your file plan will become records.

Techniques for moving files into the Records Center site

You can use the following techniques for moving files into the Records Center site:

• Manually sending content from a Web site based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

• Using managed e-mail folders in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.

• Using a custom solution based on the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 object model, such as a custom workflow.

Manually sending content to the Records Center site

If a file is stored in a document library in a Web site based on Office SharePoint Server 2007, an information worker can declare it a record by sending a copy of it to the Records Center site using the Send to Records Center command. When a site collection administrator configures the connection to the Records Center site, this command becomes available on all active documents in the site collection. Along with sending a copy of the document to the Records Center site, the Send to Records Center command sends the document's metadata, its audit history, and its location on the active document server. If additional metadata is required in the Records Center site, the user is prompted to supply it. Although manually sending records to the Records Center site is not a practical large-scale solution, you can use it to supplement other methods of moving content to the Records Center site.

Using managed e-mail folders in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 to send e-mail and files to the Records Center site

Exchange Server 2007 includes policy features similar to those implemented using Office SharePoint Server 2007. In Exchange Server 2007, administrators can configure an Exchange folder so that, when a user moves an e-mail message into the folder, the e-mail message is copied to the Records Center site using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

When an e-mail message copied from Office SharePoint Server 2007 is received in the Records Center site, it is handled like any other file sent to the Records Center site; it is moved to the appropriate document library based on the matching entry in the record routing table. For more information about the record routing table, see Design the Records Center site (Office SharePoint Server).

The policy and records retention features described above are managed e-mail folders features introduced in Exchange Server 2007. Using managed e-mail folders, Exchange administrators can define folders that are targeted to specific business purposes, such as Personnel Issues, Product Planning, or Contracts. By assigning policies to these managed folders, administrators can ensure proper expiration of content, configure connections to other servers (such as a Records Center site in Office SharePoint Server 2007), or initiate any custom actions that have been configured in Exchange Server 2007. The use of managed e-mail folders can be enforced by rules (such as moving messages into folders based on their subject lines), or the use of the folders can be voluntary, requiring information workers to manually move e-mail into appropriate folders. For a full description of implementing managed e-mail folders and other Exchange Server 2007 features, see the Exchange Server 2007 Administrator's Guide.

Using a custom solution to send files to the Records Center site

You can programmatically send files and e-mail messages to the Records Center site from file and e-mail servers, whether or not they are based on Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Exchange Server 2007. To do this, develop and install programs that have interfaces to the records management methods implemented in the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 object model and then integrate those programs into your document or e-mail management processes.

By using the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 object model, you can determine the list of record types defined in a Records Center site's record routing table, and then submit a file — including its contents, properties, and audit history — to a particular record series. For a full description of programming the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 object model, see the Office SharePoint Server 2007 Software Development Kit (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=71218&clcid=0x409).

You can use the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 object model to create a custom workflow that copies files to the Records Center site. A workflow that sends files to the Records Center site can be integrated into your document management system as part of a workflow that guides a document through its life cycle. For document types that have a predictable life cycle, such as expense reports, you could implement a workflow that guides the document through its various stages and, as a final step, sends a copy of the document to the Records Center site. The workflow could be triggered by the creation of a new document.

Completing your plan

After you Develop the file plan (Office SharePoint Server) and review the methods for moving content into the Records Center site, complete your plan by determining how to send each type of record to the Records Center site. The factors to consider include the following:

• Is compliance enforced or voluntary?

• Can you count on the cooperation of information workers in your organization to comply with records management processes? In general, avoid manual processes; however, where they are needed, devise adequate training and monitoring to ensure team compliance.

• Will content be stored on Office SharePoint Server 2007 document management servers?

• Will e-mail be stored on Exchange Server 2007 e-mail servers? If e-mail is stored on Exchange Server 2007 e-mail servers, you can use built-in mechanisms such as managed e-mail folders to implement the connection to the Records Center site. If e-mail is stored on other e-mail servers, you can use the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 object model to design and implement custom methods for sending files to the Records Center site.

• Are you retaining physical content? Managing active physical content, such as hard-copy documents or CD-ROMs, and sending it to a records vault for retention (along with tracking the record in a Records Center site) requires unique planning not described in this topic. For example, if no electronic version of a hard-copy document exists, you might need to track the item by using a list and its associated policies and workflows. For a full discussion of strategies and techniques for tracking a physical record, both while it is active and after it is sent to the Records Center site, see the topic Plan physical records retention.

The following table illustrates how some records in a file plan will move to a records repository site:

Download this book

This topic is included in the following downloadable book for easier reading and printing:

• Plan Sites and Features, Part 1

See the full list of available books at Downloadable content for Office SharePoint Server 2007.