A Better Virtual – USA Virtual Offices

What do you get when you cross a white hot business trend with a poor economy and an innovative business model? A winning company called Davinci Virtual office solutions.

The business world is taking notice. In fact, Inc. magazine just announced its 29th annual Inc. 500 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. Davinci Virtual, a leading provider of global turn-key virtual office solutions, ranks number 141 on the list. I suspect Davinci could climb even higher in next year’s list.

“We’re thrilled to have been named by Inc. magazine as one of the nation’s top 500 entrepreneurial companies. It represents tremendous validation of the consistent hard work, innovation and relentless commitment to customer service,” says Davinci Virtual’s CEO Bill Grodnik. “We’ve experienced continued significant growth over the past five years and we are on track to double revenues again this year.”

Davinci Virtual posted an amazing three-year revenue growth of 1,899.5%. The complete Inc. 500 list will be available in the September 2010 edition of Inc. Magazine. Davinci Virtual provides virtual office solutions to over 7,000 companies and entrepreneurs throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Central America, Asia and Australia.

“The 2010 Inc. 500|5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2006 through 2009. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by June 30, 2006,” writes Jim Melloan as he explains the methodology behind the Inc. 500. “Additionally, they had to be based in the United States, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2009.”

Davinci Virtual provides turnkey virtual communications and virtual office solutions. Davinci’s virtual offices and services include local or toll-free telephone and fax numbers, digital voicemail, electronic fax, email, online command center, unified messaging, voice and video conferencing, voicemail to email, fax to email, professional live virtual receptionist services, virtual office assistance, live call answering, screening and forwarding, find me, follow me, surveys, live web chat, outbound calling, customer service, appointment scheduling, order taking, and much more.

“It is great to see Inc. magazine recognizing our company,” says Martin Senn, COO of Davinci Virtual. “We continue to launch new services, exceed our milestones and expand our presence. This award is a great tribute to our hardworking staff.”

When PC Magazine calls your name, it’s something to brag about. And 8×8 Virtual Office Pro is doing just that. The cloud communications solution has won PC Magazine’s coveted Editors’ Choice Award. PC Magazine Labs’ expert analysts give the recognition given to products and services that stand out from and above similar products in their categories.

“8×8′s Virtual Office Pro has all the ingredients of an excellent cloud communications business tool,” says PC Magazine analyst Samara Lynn. “It’s incredibly easy to use, requires little to no VoIP technical knowledge to get up and running, and it delivers hosted PBX, chat, online meetings, Internet faxing, and more.”

Here’s how it works: You can tap into 8×8 Virtual Office Pro from any Web browser. The hosted PBX Voice over Internet Protocol phone service offers a cadre of features and functions, including:

• Unlimited calling
• Web conferencing with video
• Internet fax
• Call recording and archiving
• iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad mobile application
• Presence management
• Chat

8×8 also offers a visual overview of all communications activity including point-and-click access to inbound and outbound calls. Customers can use a desktop IP phone, soft phone and headset, or mobile device to place and receive calls over their 8×8 Virtual Office phone service. When you dial out, the person you are calling will see your company phone number no matter which device you are using.

The complete 8×8 Virtual Office Pro bundle sells for $50 per user. That’s way less than the cost of purchasing the services separately from different providers.

“The main component of Virtual Office Pro is enterprise-class VoIP service,” Lynn says. “I’m talking the works–auto-attendant, hold music, ring groups, unlimited and international calling, call forwarding, extension dialing, and more. These features can lend your SMB a polished, professional appearance. On top of those business-class phone features, users have a friendly Web dashboard for making and managing calls. Internet faxing, chat, Web audio and video conferencing, and call recording round out the offering.”

This is cool stuff. Avila Business Center in Lisbon is developing a virtual office application for the iPhone. I recently tried Siri Virtual Assistant, which is pretty cool, but Avila is proposing something far more robust. Let’s take a look.

The virtual office application is dubbed myOffice. Avila is billing the virtual office application as a first-of-its-kind because it’s being developed exclusively for the iPhone and specifically for the needs of virtual office users.

Avila Business Center isn’t undertaking this effort alone. The company partnered with a software developer called SwipeTwice to produce the free iPhone app that will be available to its clients through Apple’s App Store when completed. SwipeTwice is a small software design and development company focused on creating distinctive iPhone, iPad and iPod touch applications.

Here’s how it works: myOffice will let busy professionals tap into real-time information, like telephone contacts, e-mail and text message notifications that are still being analyzed at Avila Business Center. The company is also developing a mobile site that will allow BlackBerry and Android users to tap this same information.

Why is Avila going to all this trouble? Simple. Customer demand. Avila did a study among its 250 business center clients. It turns out that 82 percent have a favorable opinion of iPhone apps. Avila hopes to give its virtual office customers even more mobility than they already have with the new iPhone app.

I’m not sure how much it’s costing Avila to have the software developed or the mobile site built. Probably not an arm or a leg, but surely a pretty penny. But it’s a smart and innovative move that you would typically expect from much larger business centers. At the end of the day, this type of innovation could be a differentiator for Avila. Technology often is, if you can get ahead of the curve.

Is the whole world going virtual? Seeing an opportunity to build on its live virtual receptionist services, Mclean, Va.-based Call Desk just started offering virtual full-charge bookkeeping services to small business and non-profits.

Call Desk made a name for itself with live virtual receptionist services, but the company has always offered more than that. From its offices in Mclean and Portland, Call Desk also offers virtual staffing, from administrative support to customer service support—and now virtual bookkeeping services.

“The Call Desk bookkeeping service will be a great convenience for small businesses and non-profits that often have little or no time to keep track of their books,” explains George Mwangi, co-founder of Call Desk who calls himself a “reformed CPA.” “Keeping the books current can reduce a business’s exposure to theft and fraud and reduces tax preparation expenses”.

Call Desk is marketing value with its just-expanded suite of services. The company points out that it can offer a virtual team that functions as a natural, professional extension of any organizations staff—for a fraction of the cost of hiring and training full-time employees. That’s a valid statement. Call Desk would provide all the worker’s comp or insurance, but likely many of its employees are independent contractors that take care of those issues on their own. No hidden fees here.

What exactly will Call Desk’s new virtual bookkeeping services offer? Plenty. These virtual bookkeepers will set up charts of accounts and general ledgers, perform data entry, manage accounts payable and accounts receivable, handle account reconciliations, take care of payroll processing and monthly financial reporting. Depending on business size, the bookkeeping can be done daily, weekly or monthly.

This is a nice addition to the virtual services suite that targets small to mid-sizes companies and non-profits. Call Desk probably already has a built-in customer base that would naturally migrate from its virtual receptionist and virtual staffing solutions to the virtual bookkeeping. But the new service also opens the doors to attract new customers who may not need a virtual receptionist—or at least not know they need one.

Next question: How much is this virtual bookkeeping service going to cost you? And what if you want to add a virtual receptionist to the mix? Monthly fees start at $69.00 for bookkeeping and $99.00 for receptionist services. Oh, and here’s a bonus. All clients get free QuickBooks Online Plus, which allows them access to their financials 24/7 via their computer, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android device.

RingCentral is heading north of the border. The cloud computing business phone system company just launched RingCentral Office Canada. The virtual PBX service brings a low, flat, fixed monthly fee phone system with no contracts and no set up costs to Canada—and the company is hoping to replicate its success with the product stateside.

Vlad Shmunis, CEO of RingCentral, says RingCentral Office changes the rules of the office phone system, and that small businesses should expect more from their business phone system than what traditional PBX systems offer.

“Small businesses are not doing business the same way they were five years or even one year ago,” Shmunis says, “yet they have been saddled with legacy phone systems that are not only expensive and do not meet distributed and mobile needs, but on top of it they incur expensive and unpredictable monthly charges.”

Canada’s New Virtual PBX Entrant
RingCentral did its homework before entering Canada’s virtual PBX market. For example, RingCentral learned that 97 percent of businesses in Canada employ 50 or fewer workers. That’s the sweet spot for RingCentral’s virtual PBX system. RingCentral makes virtual PBXes affordable for these smaller enterprises.

In case you aren’t familiar with RingCentral Office, it was built from the ground up with the specific needs of small- to mid-sized businesses in mind. RingCentral Office combines a virtual PBX system with advanced voice and fax functionality, unlimited calling and full-featured phones delivered to your doorstep pre-configured and ready for use.

RingCentral Office offers four key components: (1) a complete hosted phone and fax system with multiple extensions, multiple voice mail boxes, call management and call routing for real-time call control, internet fax and more; (2) unlimited local, long distance calling and faxing – anywhere within the US and Canada; (3); Polycom IP phones delivered ready-to-dial; and (4) a simple pricing model. RingCentral Office prices start at $99.99 a month.

Kudos from Canada
“Our CEO has been using RingCentral for over eight years, so when he started Atlantic Wind and Solar he was set on using the service for our office phone system because of its valuable and reliable performance,” says Jill Hardy, office manager at Atlantic Wind and Solar, a renewable energy company with headquarters in Toronto.

“With RingCentral Office, we have one phone system that works seamlessly for our multiple offices and our mobile employees. We’re saving thousands of dollars a month and have the most efficient solution to improve our operations and grow our business.”

Listen up Garden City, New York. Your virtual office world just expanded—all over the world. That’s because two leaders in their respective industries have just inked a partnership that will give you freedom to travel from city to city without skipping a business beat.

Champion Office Suites announced it entered into an affiliation agreement with Davinci Virtual. Davinci Virtual is the leading virtual office provider, with more than 750 locations around the world. And Champion Office Suites clients can now freely roam from Davinci virtual office location to Davinci virtual office location, using virtual office services, day offices and conference rooms.

Davinci Virtual clients also get something out of the deal: the opportunity to use Champion Office Suites’ facilities in Garden City, New York. This gives Davinci Virtual two different Garden City locations. The other one is at Garden City Office Suites at 1225 Franklin Avenue. Davinci Virtual customers now have one more option in Garden, while Champion’s clients have hundreds of new options around the world.

“This is a great opportunity for my clients,” says Roger Kahn, owner/founder of Champion Office Suites, formerly an Intelligent Offices franchise. “Now I can offer my clients the ease and convenience of quality offices and conference rooms on an hourly basis all over the world. Business travel just became easier and more profitable for Champion Office Suites’ client base.”

According to Kahn, the deal is already bearing fruit for both Champion Office Suites and Davinci Virtual. He points to an out-of-town company needed an office in Garden City for a meeting. That client rented the office space from Champion Office Suites. Davinci Virtual has also benefited, Kahn says, from a client who was thrilled that she could use Champion in Garden City while her partner in Cincinnati could use an affiliated facility hundreds of miles away.

This deal is an example of how Davinci Virtual continues to build out its network: one serviced office operator at a time. Davinci Virtual doesn’t limit itself to executive office suite partners that have multiple facilities, but embraces high-quality single-facility operators as way to expand its coverage all over the world.

What’s based in Utah, growing faster than any other company of its kind, and driving virtual office innovation around the world? In two words, Davinci Virtual.

Davinci Virtual has an annual habit of making its way onto the Utah Business 2010 Fast 50. In fact, this is Davinci Virtual’s third consecutive year being selected as one of the Emerging Eight companies.

Here’s the official run down on the significance of the award: The Fast 50 program recognizes companies for their entrepreneurial spirit, innovative business tactics and dramatic revenue growth. The Emerging Eight are companies that are less than five years old, but are sending off sparks.

This is more than a feel-good award for Davinci Virtual. It means brand recognition, publicity, and could lead to even more growth. As part of the award, Davinci Virtual will be featured in Utah Business Magazine’s September 2010 issue and honored at an awards event on August 26th, 2010 led by Utah Governor Gary Herbert.

Bill Grodnik, CEO of Davinci Virtual, says, “This award represents a testimonial to our innovation, continued aggressive growth and dedication. We are in an exciting space, at the right time, offering superior virtual office solutions for a global market place.”

Clearly, Grodnik is not shy about singing the virtues of Davinci Virtual. You can’t blame him for being proud. In less than five years, he’s grown Davinci Virtual from nothing to a leading virtual office provider around the world. Davinci offers what entrepreneurs increasingly want: turnkey virtual communications and virtual office solutions.

In case you aren’t familiar with Davinci Virtual, here’s what you can get from the virtual office company (and it’s much more than virtual office space):

• Local or toll-free telephone and fax numbers
• Digital voicemail
• Electronic fax
• E-mail
• Online command center
• Unified messaging
• Voice and video conferencing
• Voicemail to e-mail
• Fax to e-mail
• Professional virtual receptionist services
• Virtual office assistance
• Live call answering
• Screening and forwarding
• Find me and follow me
• Surveys
• Live web chat
• Outbound calling
• Customer service
• Appointment scheduling
• Order taking

Davinci offers virtual office has over prime 750 locations, and also offers mail forwarding, lobby and directory listings, access to conference rooms and day offices, catering, administrative services, virtual assistants, business support centers, resident agent services, license hanging and more.

“It is great to see the Utah business community recognizing our company for the third year in a row,” says Martin Senn, COO of Davinci Virtual. “We continue to launch new services, exceed our milestones and expand our presence. This award is a tribute to our hardworking staff.”

Voxtopia thinks your phone number is stupid—or at least not as smart as its virtual PBX service. The virtual PBX start-up is challenging you to “get a smarter phone number.” And, of course, the company is ready and willing to serve one up.

Voxtopia offers enhanced, international virtual phone numbers in over 60 countries. The key word is enhanced. What exactly does this virtual PBX provider mean by enhanced? Voxtopia promises to let you control where your calls are sent to and who your calls are coming from. You can make cheap international calls, send voice mails and faxes to e-mail and more.

Let’s take a closer look at what Voxtopia makes possible in its virtual PBX utopia:

• Make international phone calls starting at 3 cents a minute
• Let friends, family or clients call you from Facebook, your blog or Web site
• Get a virtual fax number and voicemail-to-e-mail feature
• Screen and block unwanted callers or send all callers to voicemail
• Create an international PBX with an auto attendant, PBX extensions, music on hold and more
• Create conference bridges that let you manage your conference room online, invite, block and mute callers
• Get an enhanced Web dashboard that lets you manage your feature settings, access call details and other specs anytime from anywhere
• Bring your Grandstream, Linksys, or X-Lite SIP phones to the service

Voxtopia is vying hard for the business virtual PBX market with a list of 10 reasons to choose the company. Most of the reasons—no expensive equipment required, no maintenance required, reduce your calling costs—are generic to virtual PBXes.

But this is virtual PBX company is making a splash. KillerStartups said, “A service like this one will be of use to just everybody…It will provide anybody with a much bigger degree of connectivity.”

I would agree. There are virtual PBX providers and then there are virtual PBX providers. Lots of start-ups are getting into the game. Voxtopia is getting into the game with competitive differentiators that are sure to turn heads.

Check it out. You can sign up free or take a tour. The company already has 1,300 fans on Facebook. That’s more than some major players in the virtual technologies industry, so they must be doing something right.

What’s better than Onebox’s cloud-based communications services? A free month of Onebox’s cloud-based communications services.

Onebox this week announced a new free trial offer that gives businesses up to 30 days risk-free to try out its services. During that month, you can tap into the power of a virtual phone system that offers voice, fax, e-mail and conference calling in one cloud-based package. Onebox positions it as a “suite of business-critical communications services.”

Here’s the Onebox advantage: You don’t need any hardware because Onebox offers a virtual PBX. You don’t have to spend on maintenance and support that accompanies installed PBX systems because Onebox offers free 24/7 customer support. And you still get the benefits and features that big corporations with fancy PBXes brag about because Onebox offers a laundry list of cloud-based services. Even better, you don’t have to sign a long-term contract with Onebox, and you get free activation.

What features, exactly? More than a handful with this virtual PBX system:

• An auto-attendant and a customized, professionally-recorded greeting.
• Multi-level menus and extensions
• Voicemail
• Voice-to-Text transcription
• Online faxing
• Call recording
• Conference calling
• Web conferencing
• Administrative tools for tracking usage and managing users
• Free apps for the iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry mobile phones

When you look at it that way, it’s even better than a traditional PBX system because it becomes portable with the free smartphone apps. That’s part of the power of the cloud.

If you are just getting started, try the Onebox Receptionist. You’ll pay a starter price of $49.95 a month (after your first month of free service, that is). This package includes a selection of toll-free or local phone numbers. You can choose from a 2,000-, 3,000- or 5,000-minute plan for each month. And you can get up to 20 extensions per account.

Looking for a virtual assistant? Need virtual secretarial support? Want to add online administrators to your talent pool?

Kathie Thomas thought you might. That’s why she launched the VA Directory. This free online directory helps you find a virtual assistant in three ways.

You can fill out the job request form. Virtual assistants who match your skill requirements will contact you directly with their quotes and turnaround time. Alternatively, you can scroll through the list of virtual assistants in the location list drop down menu and browse VAs in your area. Or, you can enter a requirement in the search function, like “Internet Research” or “Word Processing,” and you’ll get a list of virtual assistants that can handle the job.

Unlike sites such as ELance and Guru.com where it seems anybody and everybody looking to pick up a few bucks list themselves as virtual assistants, the VA Directory specializes in helping bona fide virtual assistants connect with people who need sharp skills.

Where ELance charges a fee once a job is completed, the VA Directory does a better job of vetting virtual assistants by charging a membership fee. Virtual assistants subscribe to receive leads at a cost of $110 for six months or $187 for a year. With members in 11 countries, you can leverage local virtual assistants when you need location-specific tasks handled or want to play against time zone differences.

What’s perhaps most interesting is Kathie Thomas is herself a virtual assistant. Her ability to run a network demonstrates her entrepreneurship. Rather than trying to horde every job for herself, she realizes there’s plenty of virtual assistant work to go around and has tapped into a passive revenue stream that undoubtedly serves her well.

The directory web site serves the industry well. Thomas offers up plenty of articles that educate people about the value of virtual assistants. But, of course, she doesn’t waste any opportunities to offer testimonials from her own clients, making her one of the first virtual assistants for consideration to site visitors. Ms. Thomas, you are one smart cookie!