A Better Virtual – USA Virtual Offices

On many fronts, smaller is better. There’s a move toward smaller electronics devices that you can carry in your pocket without losing any technology power. And the nanotech revolution is all about shrinking atoms to for breakthroughs in everything from medicine to stain-resistance in clothing.

But smaller is not always better, especially when it comes to the perception of your small business. Indeed, small businesses and entrepreneurs can find often make a better impression on clients and prospects by, well, looking a little bigger than they really are. Let’s face it. Larger corporate clients are typically more comfortable thinking you have a team behind you. And what does it matter if that team is in-house or working from a virtual office in a remote location? These days, it really doesn’t.

“Clients are more comfortable with a business that seems substantial,” says Yori Galel, CEO of Opus Virtual Offices. “An entrepreneur may have great credentials, but if their business appears insignificant, clients can be lost by choosing to go with a larger company. It isn’t always fair but perception is important, and a business card and residential address won’t inspire confidence. Virtual offices solve this problem for only $99 a month.”

What is a virtual office? Again, people use this term loosely to describe many different variations on remote office space. For its part, Opus defines a virtual office as a complete business system that leverages state-of-the-art technology to create a flexible online workplace that enhances a company’s professional image allowing it to compete with bigger companies for very little cost.

So, with all this in mind should your small business opt for a virtual office space? Galel suggests asking yourself some questions to determine the answer:

1. Does your business have a prestigious address in a well-known location? A premium virtual office program lets you choose from hundreds of prestigious corporate addresses in large metros across the nation, like New York, Miami and Los Angeles.

2. Does your business use the latest digital technology to make communication fast, reliable and convenient? Limited features may signal to a customer that the company may be run on a shoestring. A virtual office offers a corporate phone and fax line, voicemail boxes that convert to e-mail audio files, and call transferring.

The bottom line: Customers want to know that a business is staffed with live people they can reach and talk to during a wide range of business hours. Quality virtual offices always include trained professional outsourced receptionists to answer calls and take messages.

So, does size matter when it comes to small business? Not really, but making a small impression could keep your business smaller than you’d like.

An industry trade magazine is giving kudos to Voice Carrier, a provider of hosted VoIP PBX business communication systems. TMC has dubbed Voice Carrier Office with its Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award.

Voice Carrier markets Voice Carrier Office to the small/medium business (SMB) market as complete and cost-effective. The hosted VoIP PBX system offers features in line with what small business owners expect from a enterprise-class business service.

“Voice Carrier was chosen to receive a Product of the Year Award for exceptional advancements in data communications,” says Rich Tehrani, CEO of TMC. “Voice Carrier Office has shown benefits for its customers and provides ROI for the companies that use it. Congratulations to the entire team at Voice Carrier. I look forward to more innovative solutions from them in the coming year.”

The Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award recognizes the vision, leadership, and thoroughness that are characteristics of the award. Winners of the Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award include product innovations and services which made their mark in the market from March 2010 – March 2011.

“We are proud that the 2010 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award recognizes Voice Carrier’s innovation,” says Gary J. Johnson, president and CEO of Voice Carrier. “Our customers are extremely satisfied with Voice Carrier Office as an extremely easy-to-use, affordable and full-featured hosted VoIP service that runs in the cloud and can be set up in minutes to reduce PBX and phone business phone bills by up to 70 percent. This award acknowledges the Voice Carrier team for providing the best VoIP business systems and service.”

Part of Voice Carrier’s secret sauce is the cloud. As a cloud-based virtual PBX, Voice Carrier Office doesn’t require small business owners to purchase on-premises equipment to tap into the benefits of the system.

Some of the features include multi-phone and extension follow-me, voicemail-to-email and built-in conference bridges. With Voice Carrier Office, small business owners can customize their virtual PBX extension through a Web interface. Small business owners can manage their business communications from the office, home or even on the road using their cell phone.

Congratulations where congratulations are due. Congratulations to Davinci Virtual Office Solutions.

Why are congratulations in order? Because Davinci Virtual has once again managed to make its way onto the Utah Business 2011 Fast 50 awards. The Utah Fast 50 program recognizes companies for their entrepreneurial spirit, innovative business tactics and dramatic revenue growth. I say again because this is Davinci Virtual’s fourth year straight making the list. This year, Davinci Virtual lands at 21.

“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,” says Bill Grodnik, CEO of Davinci Virtual.

Utah Business magazine holds the annual contest. And it’s no small matter. Utah Business magazine may not be Time or Newsweek, but it’s a big name in Utah business. Utah Business magazine got some heavy hitter sponsors, too, like Kirton & McConkie, CBIZ, Mayer Hoffman McCann, and Oracle. Together, they are shining a light on 50 of the fastest growing companies in the state of Utah.

“It is great to see the Utah business community recognizing our company for the fourth year in a row,” The Utah Fast 50 program recognizes companies for their entrepreneurial spirit, innovative business tactics and dramatic revenue growth. “We continue to launch new services, exceed our milestones and expand our presence. This award is a tribute to our hardworking staff.”

Davinci offers virtual office locations and virtual office services worldwide. With professional business addresses in over 850 prime locations, mail forwarding, lobby and directory listings, access to meeting space including conference rooms and day offices, administrative services, virtual assistants, business support centers, resident agent services and more.

With limited budgets in a tough economic climate, small businesses often find themselves in a difficult position trying to keep pace with major players in any given market. Implementing cloud computing virtual office services is a resourceful way to manage a small business infrastructure because they offer robust and innovative technologies at a lower cost without sacrificing scalability.

The Customer
Vacation Holdings provides vacation rental homes in the United States and the Virgin Islands. All of the property listings are owned by the 10-year old company and are well-appointed by Vacation Home Interiors, the design arm of the company.

The Challenge

Lisa Strauss, managing partner of Vacation Holdings, and her husband run a mobile company, literally. Their offices are maintained in a Recreational Vehicle or RV, giving them the freedom to work with clients and properties anywhere, anytime. However, Lisa realized that there was one drawback to this set-up.

Working primarily on her cell phone, Lisa struggled to maintain an office as inviting as her properties and to deliver the same individual attention she provides to her visitors. On a moment’s notice, Lisa needs to respond to a query, act on a request to rent one of their properties, or address a location’s maintenance issue. In addition, contract agreements need to be sent and received to lock in lease dates and rates.  With minimal resources and assistance, Lisa needed the right services to instill the same sense of luxury and professionalism her clientele expect when vacationing at one of her properties.

The Solution

Lisa discovered eVoice, which quickly helped solve her phone issues. eVoice offered several features and benefits that would transform the quality of operations of the company to the same level as her properties and provide the flexibility and efficiency she needed to get ahead of the competition.

Lisa set up separate phone extensions for each property to connect with her directly. When the phone rings, she knows exactly who is calling and which property will be part of the conversation. This allows Lisa to begin the call with a personal touch by greeting her customer by name.

Multi-tasking with eVoice is an additional benefit.  She can read the transcribed voicemails when she is on another call or in a meeting.  This was particularly useful when she was on a call with one client and received a voicemail from another client. Without missing a beat, Lisa is able to read the transcribed message about hurricane damage to a property in the Cayman Islands and send the transcribed message to the appropriate staff member who could make repairs.  She had a solution already in the works by the time she called her worried client.

eVoice also helps save time with maintenance requests. Lisa’s renters leave information on the designated message line, which is transcribed by eVoice and sent to Lisa and the maintenance crew. This streamlines the process and eliminates the time she needs to take to manage the maintenance issue.

Lisa was so impressed with eVoice that she added its sister brand, eFax to her operations. Although they don’t have a typical office, eFax enables Vacation Holdings to operate like a brick and mortar office with far less equipment. Always on the go, Lisa conveniently sends and receives faxes via e-mail and her cell phone.

The service helps solve Lisa’s document management problems as well. “eFax’s Large File Sharing feature is extremely helpful with managing our vacation rental contracts,” said Lisa. “Now we don’t worry about emails bouncing back because the files are too large.” Features such as digitized signatures and searchable fax save the time and money normally associated with using a traditional fax machine.

The Result
Both cloud computing services provide Lisa with a big business feel even though she is actually a business of two. She is now able to manage her business more efficiently and professionally. Lisa’s high regard for eVoice has resulted in several plan upgrades that scale with her growing business. Adding eFax for her contracts and oversized documents has similarly increased the efficiency of operations.

“I am so pleased with the way eVoice enabled us to change the way we do business. eVoice has made a positive impact across operations from  guest arrivals, hospitality details and property upkeep,” Lisa stated. “And by using eFax, I can manage my business more efficiently and professionally. eVoice and eFax are invaluable services.  Even during the recent recession, these tools have contributed to the overall growth of Vacation Holdings.”

Lisa figures that eVoice and eFax have helped increase revenue by 10 percent. In fact, both services have saved them so much money, that Lisa views them as practically free.

So this is really cool… especially for those who use Internet fax services and Google Docs.

InterFAX is working to bridge the gap between the virtual office and the bricks-and-mortar office with Google Docs integration. Google Docs is a web-based software that lets you create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. It’s a free alternative to Microsoft Office in Google’s cloud.

“We believe that our new support for Google Docs faxing will open up new avenues of communication and efficiency for users and will add a valuable and flexible tool to their set of productivity options,” said Avi Tessler, CEO North America of InterFAX.

I would tend to agree. The virtual nature of Google Docs provides a unique platform for businesses of all sizes that want to upload and access their important documents from the cloud. It is a cost effective and flexible option for businesses and allows companies more freedom for collaboration. InterFAX’s new Google Docs faxing feature leverages this flexibility to allow small business to connect the cloud to the hardwired world of faxing.

The Google Docs integration also saves time. Previously, InterFAX users had to download files from Google Docs and convert them into a faxable format. Now users just need to click one button to fax. What’s more, the integration is extremely helpful for Gmail users, who can now view e-mail attachments and fax them with just a few clicks.

Here are some other cool features: InterFAX will recognize names from users’ contact lists and auto-complete their contact information. You can choose to use Google’s Optical Character Recognition technology if you want to automatically transcribe faxes.

Setting up Google Docs faxing is a two-step process that takes just a few minutes. Just turn on the feature on the InterFAX Control Panel and then add a single bookmarklet to your browser. Once your have accessed the Google Doc you want to fax, just click the bookmarklet to prepare the document to fax, enter a phone number, and send it virtually.

Most small business owners—especially entrepreneurs who work at home—don’t have a receptionist. But if your phone rings as much as mine, you probably wish you did on some days.

Indeed, even home-based businesses could benefit from a virtual receptionist, someone to answer the constantly ringing phone while you are focusing on your important tasks. But it’s usually not realistic to have a receptionist working with you in a home virtual office, much less shell out a salary for it.

Opus Virtual Offices just published a survey that aims to prove that outsourcing receptionist services can be an affordable, convenient option. Although the survey was more anecdotal than scientific, they are not surprising.

“There’s basically no reason for most businesses to throw away thousands of dollars a year on in-house receptionist staffing, especially in a down economy,” explains Yori Galel, CEO of Opus Virtual Offices. “We know our outsourced receptionist program saves hassles and lots of money, and our recent survey of existing and potential virtual office clients confirms this.”

Beyond cost and convenience, the greatest benefit of using a virtual receptionist is avoiding the need to hire and train a receptionist. You don’t have to purchase or lease telecommunications equipment, either. It’s all included in the price of outsourcing.

Every Opus Virtual Office package includes a virtual receptionist. Of course, there are also plenty of competing services out there, including more robust solutions like Call Ruby. But the point is this: having a courteous professional receptionist answer your calls and take accurate messages for less than $100 a month can be a boon for business, especially if you are the type with a phone that never stops ringing. Missing a few sales could cost you more than $100.

Executive Offices Group is among the executive office suites providers tapping into the virtual office trend with style. That’s because the United Kingdom serviced office space provider sees the potential.

Executive Offices Group is reporting that virtual offices are more popular today than they were a year ago, with 33 percent more entrepreneurs and small business owners choosing virtual office space in Central London.

“A significant annual increase in business activity from virtual office users can only mean one thing for the London economy,” John Drover, CEO at Executive Offices Group, told FreshBusinessThinking.com. “With more new business start ups, greater confidence among the established smaller business community and companies conducting more meetings and taking advantage of our London office sites, 2011 is becoming a solid year.”

Executive Offices Group is helping the momentum along a little with a new virtual office e-commerce site designed especially for the needs of businesses owners exploring the concept of virtual office services. The site aims to make it fast and easy to book a virtual office online.

But that’s not where Executive Offices Group stopped. Beyond the new Web site, the company is also offering customers an additional incentive to buy online—six hours of free meeting room usage when you buy any virtual office service on initial terms of three or 12 months. The offer is good through Sept. 30, but be sure to check into the fine print. Executive Offices Group noted that “terms and conditions apply.”

So what do you get when you opt for an Executive Offices Group meeting rooms? A discreet, professional place to hold meetings, offer presentations, conduct training and do recruitment interviews. You can even opt for catering menus and a range of additional services.

Intelligent Office is a dominant player in Canada’s virtual office market—and it just spread its virtual wings a little bit farther. With its new location in Edmonton, Alberta, Intelligent Office now has 13 locations north of the U.S. border.

The company has done a fine job there of educating entrepreneurs, small business owners and others about the benefits of working smarter, faster and more efficient—or, as the company likes to say it “working more intelligently” with virtual office space.

As companies seek to cut overhead costs in a turbulent economy, Intelligent Office reports that the demand for its services has grown exponentially. And it’s not just hyperbole. Intelligent Office has driven the expansion to prove it. In the last three years, the franchise operator has seen strong growth in Canada with five new virtual office ventures in Ontario and the West.

But Intelligent Office Canada is now pushing the virtual office envelope with a new philosophy that aims to get the attention of a broader audience. The virtual office provider boldly stated, “New technologies and economic change have made the traditional office model impractical for many companies.”

That statement is true, and perhaps truer in recent weeks as S&P downgraded America’s credit rating and Europe’s debt crisis started sending ripple effects through world economies.

Intelligent Office’s solution is virtual from A to Z. The company offers virtual office space, as well as virtual assistants, telecommunications, and upscale temporary office space at a significant cost reduction. And the firm is attracting everyone from startups to Fortune 500 companies with its virtual office model.

With Wall Street floundering again, talk about how to ride out an economic storm has resumed. No one knows what comes next, but you can prepare yourself by making smart decisions about how you use office space.

One of those smart decisions may be choosing a virtual office space over traditional office space. In an erratic economy, it could be the wisest move you can make for your small business. That’s because you don’t have to make any long-term commitment and the cost is much less than traditional office space. Well, those are two of the many advantages of using virtual offices. But they are front and center during turbulent economies.

“These are tough times for everyone; households and individuals as well as entrepreneurs and big and small businesses,” says Yori Galel, CEO of Opus Virtual Offices. “The best advice we offer businesses is don’t panic. It creates unnecessary anxiety. Opus can suggest strategies to weather the economic storm successfully and profitably. Virtual offices, at only $99 a month each, are a great start.”

If you’ve never explored the concept of a virtual office—or if you aren’t clear on what a virtual office really is—here’s a definition from Opus: A virtual office is a complete business system that utilizes the latest technology to create a flexible online workplace. A virtual office enhances a business’s professional reach and image allowing it to compete with much larger companies.

Packages vary from virtual office provider to virtual office provider. Some offer more bells and whistles than others. In terms of Opus, a virtual office gets you a prestigious corporate mailing addresses with local phone and fax numbers nationwide, advanced digital technology that converts voicemail and fax to e-mail, premium call forwarding, and professional live receptionists.

A virtual office also helps you establish a professional business image where a home office could give the wrong impression. You can get a virtual office mailing address in just about any city in the world in some of the most high-profile locations in the world for pennies on the dollar of traditional office space.

Are you concerned about the security of your virtual office? If so, check out the latest article in a series from MIT for some tips.

Robert Lemos penned an article entitled “How to Secure the Virtual Office.” In his article, Lemos contends that employees using such gadgets to connect remotely to company servers and e-mail accounts can boost efficiency; but the practice also creates security challenges—and that companies will have to learn how to overcome those challenges for the distributed office of the future to succeed.

I agree. With so many data breaches making news headlines lately, security is a major concern for companies large and small—even for individual entrepreneurs using virtual offices. The rise of cloud computing and cloud-based services is an open door of opportunity for malicious hacking if security measures aren’t in place.

Lemos goes on to offer information on various solutions for securing the virtual office, including Symantec, Websense and Zenprise. I decided to take a closer look at some solutions to secure the virtual office with its distributed workforce of mobile device users and how it might help secure a virtual office.

Zenprise just rolled out a solution called Zencloud, a cloud-based mobile security and device management solution with a 100 percent SLA. The solution promises to secure the entire mobile enterprise.

“To protect the entire mobile enterprise, Zenprise has built solutions from the ground up to offer products that are scalable, fault tolerant and resilient,” said Jayaram Bhat, Zenprise CEO. “Since any outage can potentially create security vulnerability, today’s announcement of our new cloud based solution and 100 percent SLA demonstrates our uncompromising level of service and support while backing it up financially.”

Symantec also has a take on the issue. While offering improved security over traditional desktop-based operating systems, both iOS and Android are still vulnerable to many existing categories of attacks. Users of both Android and iOS devices regularly synchronize their devices with 3rd-party cloud services, such as web-based calendars, and with their home desktop computers. This can potentially expose sensitive enterprise data stored on these devices to systems outside the governance of the enterprise.

“Today’s mobile devices are a mixed bag when it comes to security,” says Carey Nachenberg, Symantec Fellow and Chief Architect, Symantec Security Technology and Response. “While more secure than traditional PCs, these platforms are still vulnerable to many traditional attacks. Moreover, enterprise employees are increasingly using unmanaged, personal devices to access sensitive enterprise resources, and then connecting these devices to third-party services outside of the governance of the enterprise, potentially exposing key assets to attackers.”