The recent developments in the Covid-19 pandemic have impacted all of humanity in every sphere of life, whether it be socially, professionally, mentally, or physically. This has changed the course of official work and desk jobs historically. Like all the world’s offices switched to allowing their workers to “work from home,” a concept rarely heard of or acceptable before now, became the most common way to work by far and “Virtual offices” were established to allow the workers to practice social distancing but still attend work from the safety of their homes.
What Is a Virtual Office?
A virtual office is a service allowing business owners and employees to establish a workplace on the internet at any location of their desire (referred to as the “virtual address” of the office) and offers a wide variety of business tools so everyone can continue to work without having to show up at a location physically.
Important Services
Mail Scanning and Forwarding Service
A mail scanning service enables you to check your mail virtually. Instead of waiting for days for your mail to come in real-time, you can view it virtually. Once your mail enters a secured mail facility, mail technicians scan it and upload it to your virtual mailbox, where you can see it. From there, you can decide if you want to have the mail shredded and discarded or delivered to your address. If you choose to have it delivered, mail forwarding services send it to you.
Phone Answering Service
Running a business, you can often be quite busy, and with your office phone number usually being blown up by clients, there is a big chance you might miss some calls here and there. This can decrease client satisfaction and costs. you more money and time. This is where a phone answering service comes in. It filters and answers all your calls so you can pay more attention to work without having to worry about missing calls. It also increases your business productivity as it secures every chance to get a client by phone.
Important Requirements
- Registered Office Address
A registered office address is a local address legally required by a company to put down as their official work and correspondence address.
- Proof of Address
Proof that the registered address belongs to the company is also required before correspondence can officially begin.
- Local Phone Number
All offices must have a local phone number that any clients or potential business partners can contact to reach the business.
Why Companies Are Increasingly Using Virtual Office
Using virtual offices instead of a local office was a convenient way for businesses to operate during lockdowns. However, even as the world goes back to normal and the hold of the pandemic on our daily lives loosens up, many companies still opt to work digitally instead of in person. Some reasons for this are:
- The cost to maintain virtual offices is far lower than a local office, and the business saves money.
- It can help small businesses appear bigger than they are by their services and locations where they correspond.
- The flexibility of virtual offices allows its employees to be more active and means fewer vacation days are needed. This boosts overall business productivity.
- Time is saved, and since time is money, many companies now prefer virtual offices over traditional ones.
What exactly To Look for When Choosing a Virtual Office?
Some things you need to keep in mind while choosing a virtual office include:
- Flexibility in the membership terms so you can get precisely what you are looking for.
- A convenient location since your place of operation will say a lot about your company to your client.
- Conference and meeting rooms that suit your needs
- The right equipment, tool, and technology your business requires
- A price that can be handled
Top 3 Virtual Office Providers:
LocalOffice24.com – Best in Europe
Opus VO – Best in USA
Regus – Largest provider (expensive)
