Get a ready made, customized business solution, complete with all the facilities of an office without actually having physical office space! - BY MONALI GAIKWAD
The most basic requirement of a sucessful business is good office infrastructure. This includes the location, service, staff, technology, and so on. No doubt, a considerable amount has to be spent to set up the office. How w
ould you like it if you could have all this, without spending a lot of money and without actually having an office? Welcome to the world of virtual offices, where you are provided with a fully furnished space complete with a business address, receptionist, boardroom, courier service, fax, and all your other business needs. Virtual offices as a concept involve shared services located in major cities around the world. They operate on a pay-as-you-use model, which is very cost effective and affordable. In simple words, it is renting the office for just the time you require it.
What’s on offer?
Virtual offices can be an excellent option for entrepreneurs, traveling executives, project-based clients or organizations who want to start a venture in a new location. It gives you the option to start your business with a fully functional offi ce without having to make a fi nancial commitment for a physical space. To enjoy the benefi ts of a virtual office all you have to do is sign up, choose a package according to your needs, pay and then book and use the facilities.
The highlight is that you can do all these things over the internet. Once a member of the service, you can avail of facilities such as a prestigious business
address, a dedicated phone number, voice mail, call forwarding to any number
you want, a receptionist and secretarial services, courier management and a array of high end features. As a member, you get a personalized number and all the calls to this number are answered in your or your company’s name and promptly forwarded to your personal number or a voice mail. The use of IP telephony technology makes sure you receive all your important calls even while travelling. The mail and packages received at this address are also forwarded to you, as per your requirement. You also have the option of customizing the script used by the receptionist who answers the phone in the company’s name, exactly the way you want her to. You will be provided with a personal assistant who will take care of almost all your business requirements at any time of day.
The main benefi ts of a virtual office are fl exibility and low cost. Since you pay for only the services that you use, you don’t waste money on resources you don’t need. You don’t have to worry about maintaining the offi ce, the house keeping, setting up the computers and servers or even the pantry. You also don’t have to worry about hiring people to take care of things for you or maintain a payroll system. All the staff members at virtual offi ces are highly trained and can provide multi-lingual assistance.
Global Solutions
Servcorp is a leading international company in the virtual office business, and K Raheja Corp has entered an exclusive franchise agreement with them to provide these facilities in India. Servcorp has around 40 offi ces located around the world and as a member you can use any of them. In India, they are located in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Their offering, called Hottdesk, is an Internet-based platform that allows you to check mail, book boardrooms, use remote desktops
and also use a licensed copy of Microsoft Office while you’re there. Once in the office, you can use the Internet and print documents. Hottdesk also allows you to print to any of the 40 Servcorp locations across the globe. For example, if you are in Mumbai right now and want to send a document to New York, all you need to do is log on to Hottdesk and directly print to the New York office. After that, have the documents delivered where ever you want them in the city. This will save a considerable amount on international courier costs as you’ll pay for only the number of prints you make, and the local delivery within New York. You also have the option of using translation and use remote data storage services. The remote data storage allows you to store important business files and view and use them whenever and wherever you want!
Videoconferencing is another service that has made the world a smaller place. People across the globe can talk to and see each other from various parts of the world to hold meetings and discussions. This is also one of the facilities provided by virtual offi ces. All of this is plug-and-play, so you don’t have to worry about confi guring IP addresses and other technical requirements. In case you have any technical problem, the service locations also have teams of specialized IT professionals who will take care of them for you. This solution is cost effective because you are only charged for the time you use the services or the number of printouts your take. At the end of the month you can view your invoice and make the payment online. These offices also maintain a consistent look across all their locations, so if you work out of the space in Mumbai for some time and then visit the office in Singapore, everything will be familiar and you won’t have to spend any time setting things up.
So there you have it. A fully furnished offi ce, an IT team, reception, business lounge, printing, remote storage, email, fax, boardrooms, all this without paying more than a subscription fee! You can also make a good impression on your business partners by using these services. What more can you ask for? In this growing fast paced economy, virtual offices can provide an edge to entrepreneurs who can’t afford the upkeep of a full-fledged office. Now, if only we could have virtual assistants to do all our work as well!
The most basic requirement of a sucessful business is good office infrastructure. This includes the location, service, staff, technology, and so on. No doubt, a considerable amount has to be spent to set up the office. How w
ould you like it if you could have all this, without spending a lot of money and without actually having an office? Welcome to the world of virtual offices, where you are provided with a fully furnished space complete with a business address, receptionist, boardroom, courier service, fax, and all your other business needs. Virtual offices as a concept involve shared services located in major cities around the world. They operate on a pay-as-you-use model, which is very cost effective and affordable. In simple words, it is renting the office for just the time you require it.What’s on offer?
Virtual offices can be an excellent option for entrepreneurs, traveling executives, project-based clients or organizations who want to start a venture in a new location. It gives you the option to start your business with a fully functional offi ce without having to make a fi nancial commitment for a physical space. To enjoy the benefi ts of a virtual office all you have to do is sign up, choose a package according to your needs, pay and then book and use the facilities.
The highlight is that you can do all these things over the internet. Once a member of the service, you can avail of facilities such as a prestigious business
address, a dedicated phone number, voice mail, call forwarding to any number
you want, a receptionist and secretarial services, courier management and a array of high end features. As a member, you get a personalized number and all the calls to this number are answered in your or your company’s name and promptly forwarded to your personal number or a voice mail. The use of IP telephony technology makes sure you receive all your important calls even while travelling. The mail and packages received at this address are also forwarded to you, as per your requirement. You also have the option of customizing the script used by the receptionist who answers the phone in the company’s name, exactly the way you want her to. You will be provided with a personal assistant who will take care of almost all your business requirements at any time of day.
The main benefi ts of a virtual office are fl exibility and low cost. Since you pay for only the services that you use, you don’t waste money on resources you don’t need. You don’t have to worry about maintaining the offi ce, the house keeping, setting up the computers and servers or even the pantry. You also don’t have to worry about hiring people to take care of things for you or maintain a payroll system. All the staff members at virtual offi ces are highly trained and can provide multi-lingual assistance.
Global Solutions
Servcorp is a leading international company in the virtual office business, and K Raheja Corp has entered an exclusive franchise agreement with them to provide these facilities in India. Servcorp has around 40 offi ces located around the world and as a member you can use any of them. In India, they are located in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Their offering, called Hottdesk, is an Internet-based platform that allows you to check mail, book boardrooms, use remote desktops
and also use a licensed copy of Microsoft Office while you’re there. Once in the office, you can use the Internet and print documents. Hottdesk also allows you to print to any of the 40 Servcorp locations across the globe. For example, if you are in Mumbai right now and want to send a document to New York, all you need to do is log on to Hottdesk and directly print to the New York office. After that, have the documents delivered where ever you want them in the city. This will save a considerable amount on international courier costs as you’ll pay for only the number of prints you make, and the local delivery within New York. You also have the option of using translation and use remote data storage services. The remote data storage allows you to store important business files and view and use them whenever and wherever you want!
Videoconferencing is another service that has made the world a smaller place. People across the globe can talk to and see each other from various parts of the world to hold meetings and discussions. This is also one of the facilities provided by virtual offi ces. All of this is plug-and-play, so you don’t have to worry about confi guring IP addresses and other technical requirements. In case you have any technical problem, the service locations also have teams of specialized IT professionals who will take care of them for you. This solution is cost effective because you are only charged for the time you use the services or the number of printouts your take. At the end of the month you can view your invoice and make the payment online. These offices also maintain a consistent look across all their locations, so if you work out of the space in Mumbai for some time and then visit the office in Singapore, everything will be familiar and you won’t have to spend any time setting things up.
So there you have it. A fully furnished offi ce, an IT team, reception, business lounge, printing, remote storage, email, fax, boardrooms, all this without paying more than a subscription fee! You can also make a good impression on your business partners by using these services. What more can you ask for? In this growing fast paced economy, virtual offices can provide an edge to entrepreneurs who can’t afford the upkeep of a full-fledged office. Now, if only we could have virtual assistants to do all our work as well!
News Feature- Chip Magazine, September 08
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