The Bottom Line. Every start-up knows its importance, and any edge up is worth fighting for. That’s where virtual offices can make the difference. Free up your bottom line and opt for a virtual office service that includes two must haves: conference room access and live answering services. Grab a few indispensable business apps, and the transition can be painless.
Conference Room
Let’s face it, there are times when the local coffee house just won’t cut it. A private and well-equipped conference room can increase your client trust and rapport. Making conference calls, pitching projects and even interviewing potential employees in a state-of-the-art conference room provides your clients and employees a viable experience that a fancy address alone simply cannot.
If you find your employees need more physical face-to-face interaction, a virtual office service that offers access to a conference room can provide a comfortable, private, professional space to host luncheons, meet-and-greets or brainstorming sessions.
Live Answering Service
When it comes to phone etiquette, impression is everything. Having a live answering service ensures this impression communicates a legitimate, brick-and-mortar company with all the amenities. Most virtual offices provide a variety of live answering services with numerous options to cater to your business’ needs.
Essential Apps for the Start-Up
Transitioning to the virtual office doesn’t have to be complicated. And with the right tools to keep employees connected, your business can take full advantage of the new opportunity:
Yammer
Yammer provides a free, private social network for any size team, allowing efficient collaboration throughout the company. Keep your work schedule and schedule your work with ease.
iCall
Saving phone plan minutes can be a great tool to minimize your small business expenses, and iCall provides a unique feature to do just that. Receive a call while on a wireless internet network and switch the call with this app to save your minutes.
Skype
Skype makes it easy and quick to share information of all kinds. With voice plans, video chat, messaging and the ability to share any size video, your employees will have no excuse to be “out of the loop”.
A few more must-haves: Beluga, Free Conference Call, Ideapi, iNvite and Dragon Dictation.