In all likelihood, when you think about Mobile Filing Cabinets you think about cabinets that have one or two drawers that can fit under or beside your desk and have wheels on them. While this is an accurate description of a mobile filing cabinet, it is not the only type of mobile filing cabinet. Every time you visit a doctors office that has a lot of patients, then you probably see a mobile filing cabinet at work without even realizing that this is what it is. These systems are typically mechanical in nature and are installed on tracks so that they can be moved around as needed.
There are a couple of different types of mechanical Mobile Filing Cabinets to choose from. The first, and most common, type are simple one way sliding systems. These cabinets can be flush against each other and then opened (think about sliding a book to the right or the left on a book shelf), to allow people to access the files. This can be a manual system or a system that has a pulley option or even an electric option (push a button and the cabinet shelves shift for you). At the end of the day, the system can be locked up to prevent unauthorized entry into the cabinets.
Desk Shelving Unit
Another type of mechanical system actually allows for individual shelves for the Mobile Filing Cabinets to be pulled out (think about actually pulling a book out of the bookshelf rather than moving it from side to side). This type of system requires a lot more space than the first type of system and requires a more complex tracking system to prevent the mobile cabinets from going the wrong way. As you can imagine, this will be a more expensive system because it requires more tracks and more space.
While many business have gone to an electronic type of filing system, schools, doctors offices and hospitals are required to keep a hard copy of every file that they receive. As such, Mobile Filing Cabinets tend to be the first choice for these types of institutions. In the past these types of cabinets were only available from local vendors, however, with the Internet, anyone in the market for these cabinet systems can shop around because they have far more choices online.