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Getting started with Communication Archiving

What Communication Archiving is for, who uses it, what you need before you start, and your first steps.

Applies to Communication Archiving as it works today. Moraph updates the platform continuously, and this page is reviewed when it changes.

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On this page
  1. What it is for
  2. Who uses it
  3. Before you start
  4. Steps to get started
  5. Where to go next

Moraph resells, implements and runs Smarsh as a managed service, so email, chat, collaboration and text messages are captured and kept in non-rewriteable, non-erasable storage as SEC Rule 17a-4 and FINRA rules require. We connect each channel, set retention and supervision policies with your compliance team, and watch every day for capture gaps. Your compliance staff review flagged messages and decide; we keep the archive complete and the evidence ready for examiners.

What it is for

Firms now communicate across email, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Bloomberg, text messages and more, and each channel has to be captured, retained in compliant storage and supervised. Archiving platforms are capable, but they depend on dozens of connectors that break quietly when a vendor changes an API, a user changes phone or a new channel appears. Compliance teams often learn about a capture gap during an exam or a production request, when it is too late to recover the messages. Retention schedules, legal holds and lexicon policies drift away from written procedures without anyone noticing.

  • Capture connectors fail silently and gaps are found during exams or document requests
  • New channels are adopted by staff before they are approved and captured
  • Retention, legal hold and supervision settings drift from written supervisory procedures
  • Production requests from regulators and counsel are assembled under time pressure

Who uses it

  • Chief compliance officers at broker-dealers, investment advisers and futures firms
  • Supervisory principals and compliance analysts who review flagged communications
  • Records management and legal teams who handle holds and productions
  • IT and messaging teams who own the email and collaboration systems being captured
  • Internal audit and examiners, who need evidence that capture and supervision are complete

Before you start

  • Your organization uses Communication Archiving as a managed platform from Moraph, under an agreement that covers it.
  • Licences for Smarsh, bought through Moraph or under your own agreement with the vendor.
  • A Moraph account in your organization for each person who works with Moraph on the service.
  • Named technical and security contacts, recorded in the Moraph Portal.

Steps to get started

  1. Agree the scope of the managed service for Communication Archiving with Moraph, including which environments and teams it covers.

  2. Name your administrators, technical contact and security contact in the Moraph Portal under People and access.

  3. Review the configuration baseline Moraph proposes for your regulations, and record any changes you need.

  4. Confirm how users will sign in, through your identity provider where the platform supports it.

  5. Agree the pilot group and the cut-over plan with your Moraph delivery lead.

Where to go next

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