What is a virtual office?

virtual officeMany people ask the question, what is a virtual office? The answer is very simple. Virtual offices are a technology based solution that replace many services that could previously only be obtained by maintaining a physical office space. Some of the key elements of a virtual office are:

Local business mailing address
Dedicated local business phone number
Live phone call answering
Dedicated local fax number
Mail receiving service

Packages may vary from provider to provider, but the core services tend to be present with high quality companies.

The virtual office has evolved as a means of serving companies with needs not met by the executive suite model. The key difference between the two solutions, virtual offices do not provide for physical office space whereas executive suites do. Some virtual offices offer on demand, hourly access to conference room spaces for client facing meetings.

Why would a business use a virtual office? By utilizing these solutions a business can eliminate the need to bear the cost of a dedicated full time office space. This obviously presents an enormous cost savings to the small business owner or even owners seeking a presence in a city without needing a full time office. A company can still present a polished image to prospective clients while maintaining cost controls. Budgeting is a critical concern for all businesses big or small. A service such as this fills a need and offers a value. That is a win/win proposition.

What kind of companies use virtual offices? Here are some scenarios that can help you decide if a virtual office is right for you. A freelance programmer writing code for businesses around the country. Technological solutions allow a small business owner in this situation to communicate effectively and easily with all project stakeholders with no need for a physical office. In this scenario working from a home office serve adequately for day to day operations. The drawback, the owner would also need to publish a home phone number and business address, answer incoming calls, receive mail, etc. While these tasks are not difficult, they are tedious and time consuming taking the focus off actual business operations. A virtual office eliminates all of these issues for an affordable monthly fee. This frees up entrepreneurs to focus on operations and growth. This is just one scenario, there are many others and a businesses from Attorneys, Doctors, Construction Contractors and more have found this is the solution for them as well.

So that’s it, a virtual office might be just what you need to achieve that next level of growth.

For more helpful information you can also visit:

http://www.sba.gov
http://www.entrepreneur.com
http://www.ebusiness-strategies.com/