Happened upon the term “virtual office” while looking to choose an office space? Well, a virtual office is a business location in cyberspace. By using computers and phones connected to the Internet, executives, freelancers, and other employees can have significantly greater flexibility when it comes to getting their work done, especially when compared to a traditional office environment. Sun Microsystems, one of the leaders in the early days of experimentation in the virtual office realm, found that employees working at home used 60% of the time they would normally have spent commuting actually doing some work.
There is no doubt that setting up a virtual office for your business has many advantages. Besides the flexibility, opting out of a traditional work environment eliminates that cost partially or entirely. Almost six out of 10 employers identify cost saving as a significant benefit to telecommuting.
But what exactly does a unique office solution like the virtual office set up really have to offer businesses? Check out some of those features to help choose an office — or to opt out and go virtual:
Virtual Conference rooms and offices
One of the things a virtual office can provide is the on-demand use (hourly, daily or weekly) of conference rooms and offices for meetings. This basically means that there is a virtual venue provided to “meet” with several people or clients by talking, video chatting, sharing virtual documents, spreadsheets, and powerpoints, and allowing for seamless communication no matter where you are located.
An Address
Although your business may be run entirely online, down to the actual production and human resources, it is still often necessary to provide an address both for clients and legal reasons. Many companies that specialize in providing a unique virtual office will provide an address — complete with a unique suite number — so that you can write it on documents and even have packages or other mail delivered there, which the virtual office providers can have forwarded to you if need be.
Comprehensive Management Software
One of the best things about working in a virtual office is that everything is located in the same database, using extremely efficient software that can help you manage schedules, deadlines, meetings, and appointments.
The need to choose an office can present a number of difficulties. After all, the space in which you and your employees work can determine how much and how well it is produced. Deciding to go virtual can save time and money, as well as make your employees much happier that they have a choice in the matter.
