The introduction of the telephone forever changed the way companies did business, making it possible for traveling salespeople to call a corporate headquarters and place orders collected in the field, for businesses to coordinate shipping and delivery over huge distances, and for changes in production or strategy to be made instantaneously in response to events unfolding across the world.
Today a similar revolution has taken place, and it’s all thanks to the internet and mobile technology. With workers able to communicate face-to-face from their pocket and contribute to documents, projects, and daily operations on-the-fly from a continent away, more and more businesses are reconsidering the necessity of the traditional office and opting to do away with it entirely, trading permanent brick and mortar for shared workspaces and digital connectivity. We’ve come too far with the technology, especially with the inception of autopilot and various other mechanisms that have surfaced. So advanced has technology become that there even is a job scheduling software for plumbers and other service men.
But, in order to really get the most out of a virtual office space, companies should be sure that they have arranged the following:
1. A Publically Listed Phone Number with Voicemail
Phone service is the lifeblood of most businesses, and without a stable, publically listed phone number no business will long survive. Fortunately for those exploring the virtual office model, digital phone service allows companies to use the internet to remotely host an entire phone system which can be implemented to point callers to specific employee cell phones, allowing an organization to continue operating as normal even without a true land line.
2. A Business Mailing Address
Despite the name, a virtual office is actually a very physical arrangement. By arranging a private, secure mailbox with a virtual office provider businesses can continue to receive correspondence without the expense of permanently leasing or purchasing a traditional office space.
3. A BYOD Policy
Bring your own device is a modern movement that allows employees to select, purchase, and use their own technology for official business work. There are a number of advantages to this system, including reduced cost, increased customer satisfaction, and reduced IT training requirements. However, virtual office companies using BYOD should have a policy detailing what devices are acceptable and what security programs or software must be maintained on employee devices.
4. Standard Office Spaces
Virtual offices provide companies with all the standard office spaces they need—including workspaces, lounge space, and meeting rooms—all available on demand in a communal co-working / office center.
5. Secure, Hi-Speed Wired and Wireless Internet
The one technology that makes a these remote offices possible is the same that can make it vulnerable to disruption: high speed internet. In a virtual office, almost all services are hosted online in the cloud, and if the local connection goes down all business functions grind to a halt. Therefore, they should make sure they have the connectivity (and backups) they need to be successful.
6. Networked Printers, Copiers, and Scanners
Even in the digital age, paper still has a place. Virtual offices should have ready access to high quality business printing technology in order to deal with routine office tasks.
7. Virtual Phone Support
Live virtual receptionist services featuring a local, professional, and highly trained receptionist is a powerful solution for maintaining a brand’s reputation and managing light to heavy call volume across a highly mobile workforce. From answering calls quickly to transferring callers, taking messages, scheduling appointments, and collecting caller information, a good virtual receptionist team can be key to helping this type of office perform as well and better than the traditional version.
Reliable Receptionist is a high performance virtual receptionist service based in Walnut Creek, CA and is associated with the Laptop Lounge virtual office and co-working center. To learn more, or to schedule a free virtual receptionist demonstration for your business, please call us at (925) 627-4200 today.
