Private Investigators “Going Green”

Helping the Environment

It’s hard to go one day without hearing about “Going Green” or “Reducing our Carbon Footprint” to cut costs and assist the environment.  Also take into account that any industry that has strong associations with the Court systems, Lawyers and insurance companies as private investigators do, that the amount of reports, files and other documents that are handled on a daily basis would be in the large quantities.  Despite this, there is one Private Investigations company doing its bit by utilising all of the advancements in technology to limit the use of paper, reducing its carbon footprint and help the environment and equally important reducing the cost of doing business.   Some of these changes have an initial expense outlay but all of these measures have all assisted in our endeavour to be a ‘Mean Green Investigating Machine’.  How are you are to manage this you ask?

Reduce Paper

We have recently decided to run a full paperless office system which firstly involved scanning and digitally storing all of our old files and setting up a case management computer system which has numerous benefits when used in conjunction with Client’s with similar goals.  Firstly if we need to allocate a file to an Agent then all we have to do is log into our system and select the file that needs to be allocated and then select the Agent who we wish to allocate it to and that’s it.  The Agent then has all of our previous work on that particular file available on the system when they log in and when they conduct a period of surveillance then they can upload their logs, photographic schedule and invoices direct to our case manager system.

Internet

In the technological age that we live in most businesses and people in generally have an email account.  With any new Client’s we send out Client Service Agreements and any other documents via email and request that the documents be signed via a E-Sign electronic signature program and then they can be forwarded back to our office again without having to use paper what so ever.   When it comes time to receiving new instructions or sending the final report off to our Client then we use secure email for this purpose.   For very large files there is the ability to use services like “Drop-Box” or even “Google Documents” that allows you to upload, share and download large digital media files like photographs or video files without having to download them to disc or flash drives and mail them to our Clients.   There are numerous other programs that can be beneficial such as creating online forms and having them saved as PDF files which can be again filled out online, saved and then emailed.  Even the smallest thing can assist in the overall scheme of things even the search engine you chose to use.  We use www.blackle.com which uses a Google Custom Search and provides the same options as Google with one slight difference.  That difference is that the screen background is black and not white like Google.  This black version has the ability to save 750 Megawatt-hours a year based on the following study http://enduse.lbl.gov/Info/LBNL-48581.pdf  Blackles catch line is ‘We can saved the environment one search at a time’.

Equipment Choices

When you need to purchase new equipment you should look around for items that are “Carbon Neutral” or ones that have good energy usage ratings.  In our office we have recently purchased a paper shredder which is carbon neutral as is our newest computer printer.  Speaking of the printer, although we have reduced our paper usage as much as possible there is still occasions where we need to print documents, and to assist in this area in a Continuous Ink Supply (CIS) which replaces the standard ink cartridges.  Simply explained the CIS is a self-contained unit with its own cartridges fed by tubing from a large ink reservoir which sits beside your printer. The system acts like a giant cartridge by feeding ink to the printer when required and can save up to 95% of your printing costs and drastically reduces the amount of empty waste cartridges with one CIS being equivalent to over 50 standard ink cartridges.  Also throughout the office we have installed LED lighting throughout including the down-lights and standard bulbs all being replaced with LED alternatives.   When you leave the office of an evening switch off all equipment that is not required to stay on, this includes turning the power off at the main switch as it is known that items left on stand-by can still use up to 85% of the energy as if it was turned on.

Vehicle you drive

Our biggest expense was one that was ultimately required so it was a matter of selecting a vehicle which was more environmentally friendly than our previous vehicle, although still filled all of the check boxes for what was required.  We selected a diesel SUV on this occasion which has an average fuel consumption of 7.6 litres per 100 kms which is a remarkable saving compared to our previous petrol powered sedan which averaged 11.4 litres per 100 kms.  You then must ensure you regularly service your vehicle, regularly check your tire pressure and condition which all assists in your fuel economy as does being alert whilst driving and not Start-Stop driving with regular periods of hard acceleration.

Money back in your pocket

So being smart enough to make the most of today’s technology allowed our business to improve on our overall operating system, ensured that we are keeping the appropriate required records, increasing our accountability and all of this with the added benefit of reducing the cost of doing business and doing our part to help the environment.  There are very tough times ahead for many businesses and Citywide Investigations can now benefit from decreased costs in paper and office supplies, stamps and other postage costs, storage fees and a huge saving on the yearly fuel bill.  SO in our opinion “Going Green” is a smart choice that was easy to make.

Paraben USB Sticks Reseller

Citywide Investigations welcomes the new addition to its website a products page.  You will find a collection of high quality items which could be extremely beneficial to anyone who is having trust issues with a partner or child, or perhaps you have accidentally deleted important information from a mobile telephone or computer.   However no matter what the issue, we hope that you can find a product that can assist in rectifying it for you.   The list of products will increase over time, but it does take time for ALL products which could be potentially on our products page to go through our own quality testing measures by an experienced private investigator to ensure the products perform to a high quality.  No inferior products will make it to our list, with no cheap brands stocked what so ever.

In the past week Citywide Investigations has become a reseller for the Paraben USB Sticks.  These have been designed with forensic investigations of your own computers, laptops and iPhones & Android Smart phones.   You simply purchase one of these devices and with a few simple steps can complete tasks such as retrieving lost or accidentally sms & data from your mobile phone, through to bypassing your forgotten windows password to gain access to your computer and even a USB device that searches your computer for pornographic media or for chat logs (even deleted items) of a partner that may be having an online affair or is not being completely truthful to you.  You could get to the bottom of an issue that has been bothering you, all from the comfort of your own home without the need to contact a private investigator or pay for an expensive computer or mobile telephone technician.

The updated website features a new look, new features and loads more information than the old site. Part of the aim of the updated site is provide more relevant and topical information to clients and prospective clients. This includes a blog section, which will be updated regularly with new articles on private investigation, surveillance and other relevant advice, tips and news.

What do you think about the new website? If you have any feedback we’d love to hear from you. Go to our contact page for details on how to get in touch.