Virtual Office Services in Richmond
Thanks to virtual offices, businesses no longer have the option of just renting or buying office space. Virtual offices are great news for organizations looking to expand. Instead of having to pay thousands of dollars in rent or hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy property, they can create virtual offices with employees who cost a fraction of the cost of in-house workers. This is possible because you can outsource to other countries and find employees from places with a lower cost of living.
Virtual Assistants
Essentially, virtual offices are extra communications arms of your organization. This means that you need to set up communications services. One of the most common methods of doing this is by hiring a virtual assistant and giving them the task of answering your phone calls and performing other minor, time consuming but important tasks. Your assistant will be able to give you information about the callers or forward the calls if necessary. In the United States, a virtual assistant can often cost $25 or more an hour but in countries like the Philippines, the same job can be performed for $6 an hour or less.
Forward Your Calls
Another way in which virtual offices are used is for phone and email forwarding. You can set up calls so that they go directly to your phone. You can also utilize the services of virtual offices to sort out your emails, saving you time by removing the junk mail you don’t want to read.
Telephone Answering Services
Virtual offices also offer answering services which may be an ideal solution for companies that receive an extremely high volume of calls. Customers have complained about such a service however. The main problems consumers have is the impersonal nature of these centers. Do not use an answering service that is based abroad as these services often lose a caller’s queries in translation and give off a less than professional image of your company.
Straight To Voicemail
Virtual offices with voicemail is one of the cheapest options but also one of the least effective. There is little that angers a customer more than having their call answered by a machine. In fact, it is estimated that over 70% of callers immediately hang up if their call is answered by a voicemail service.
There is no doubt that virtual offices offer a convenient and cost effective method of expanding a business. However, it is important not to alienate the consumer while doing so. After all, cutting costs is futile if it also leads to a cut in revenue.
Join Us at Business Center International
Rent fully furnished Office Space, Meeting Rooms and Virtual Offices in a professionally staffed Serviced Office Business Center. BCI offers exceptional value and service for all your Work Space needs.
Angela Abbasi is Vice-President of Business Center International and the Virtual Office Center
BCI is a family owned and managed business center with 21 years experience in the executive suites industry. Contact us today to Book a Tour.
1-800-519-1350