Virtual offices can provide three main types of services – communication services, meeting room services, and a registered business address. Virtual offices can do a variety of things. They can give a start-up business instant credibility simply by providing a prestigious address. And they can do much more, providing a wide range of services – as a suite or a la carte – from a distance.
Why a Virtual Office
Small businesses, including start-ups and home-based businesses, can benefit from a virtual office for a variety of reasons. These can range from instant credibility and status, in the case of a registered business address, to the very functional and practical benefit of access to comprehensive communication and meeting room services. For a small, start-up business, the costs of using a virtual office are much lower than the full overhead of a traditional, physical office. You could think of a virtual office as an office time-share.
The services fall into three broad categories:
Business Address Services. This is perfect for a home-based business that wants to be taken more seriously, or that needs to in order to compete. With an official address at a prime location, it could appear to be more established. Business Address Services offer an extensive range of items. Among them:
- Local mail drop-off and pick-up
- Onsite locked mailboxes
- Mail forwarding
- Courier management
- Round-the-clock access to the building
- Access to other virtual office locations in the provider’s network
Meeting Room Services. Gain access to conference rooms and office space. A business support center can provide many things, including color printing, fax machines, office supplies and shipping services. Conference rooms can be booked per day, per hour or available in a bundled package. Video conferencing tools and presentation tools are included. Other services include catering for meetings and valet services.
Communication Services. A long list of communication services can include automated call answering, call forwarding, live phone answering, outbound calling, and voicemail (including voicemail-to-email and voicemail-to-text delivery).Virtual offices can be cost-effective and flexible; small businesses can choose a la carte items, or take a comprehensive suite of services.
