Virtual Office Services

According to Business Week magazine, it costs a business approximately 50 percent less to utilize virtual office services than to hire a full-time employee to take care of those services. One of the biggest cost savings comes from being able to use virtual services when needed instead of paying a full-time employee. In any business model, paying for services only on an "as needed" basis is always cheaper and that is just one of the advantages to virtual office services.

Secretarial Services

One of the more common types of virtual office services would be secretarial services. The ability to hire a virtual secretary can be especially helpful to small businesses that may need the service, but cannot afford a full-time secretarial staff.

In 2014, the Indeed.com employment website estimated the median virtual assistant salary to be $45,000 per year. But a virtual assistant could work for several companies at the same time, which makes the costs easier for businesses to handle. It can sometimes be difficult for secretaries and administrative assistants to find full-time work, which makes the idea of being a virtual assistant who works for many companies an attractive work option.

By using call forwarding, a virtual secretary can answer company calls and take messages. The virtual secretary can also type out transcribed letters, create business emails, and even monitor the company mail. A virtual assistant with a post office box can offer to accept the company's mail and then relay important pieces to the company itself. All a virtual assistant needs is an Internet connection and they can work for any company in the world.

Translation Services

Virtual office services have helped to make some tasks easier, especially for companies that do international business. A virtual translation service can take scanned or digital documents and translate them from one language into another. Prior to virtual office services, translation services were expensive and took a very long time to complete. Now the costs have dropped and a document can be translated in a fraction of the time.

Satellite Offices

Thanks to cloud storage and other technologies that allow companies to share information all over the world, it has become very easy for small businesses to establish networks of satellite offices that all run on the same network. When it comes to the most significant ways that virtual office services have changed the business world, the ability to create satellite offices for very little cost is near the top of every business owner's list.

A company with a cloud storage account and a cloud VoIP phone system can tap any satellite office into the company phone system and computer network with just a single Internet connection. The company no longer has to pay to have phone lines installed and the pace of virtual office work has been increased significantly.

Outsourcing Work To Freelancers

Does your company need a new logo? It used to be that you would have to hire an expensive marketing firm to get you the logo you needed. But with virtual office services, you can simply reach out to a community of freelancers who can bid on your job and give you the results you want for a price that will not break your budget.

The idea of outsourcing was taboo in the corporate world when American jobs first started to go overseas a couple of decades ago. But with virtual office services, anyone can freelance for the corporate world and make a good living in the process. There are specific platforms for everything from technical writers to business process consultants.

Collaborative Work

Another area where virtual office services have made huge strides is in allowing companies to collaborate with each other on projects. Collaboration used to require hours of phone time, expensive expedited shipping charges for documents, and even travel costs for extended and intense collaborations.

Thanks to the convenience of virtual office services, companies no longer need to worry about the barriers that used to slow business down. Companies can now collaborate on projects in real time through video teleconferencing and other collaborative tools.

Any business that wants to be able to save money while still getting the job done should look into virtual office services. Virtual services allow a business to save money on secretarial services and collaborate with partners all over the world without ever leaving the office. The business world is becoming more virtual and future Internet innovations will only make virtual office services more efficient and available.