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| Making the most of a virtual office |
| Author: | Regus |
| Date: | Friday, 5th Mar 2004 09:36 |
| Views: | 1,367 (excluding Digests and RSS feeds) |
| Category: | Product announcements | | URL: | http://www.vivavip.com/go/w141 |
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Growing firms need virtual reality check
Established companies are missing out on a smart solution to their growing needs because they don’t understand what a virtual office is or how it works.
That’s the conclusion of a recent survey conducted by international marketing specialists tmaglobal, which revealed widespread confusion about the service.
tmaglobal director, Sue Wharton said: “The results were conclusive – there was a huge lack of understanding among the companies surveyed about the virtual office and the value it provides. It’s been around in various guises for years, but is one of the best kept secrets in business.”
So what is a virtual office? Depending on the provider, it’s a messaging service, an administrative assistant, a hot desk, a meeting place and a business address – everything a company needs to set up in business without the actual office.
The wealth of different offerings may be one reason why there’s confusion but the Federation of Small Businesses believes there is another explanation.
Spokesman David Bishop said: “Small firms find it difficult to grasp ‘management speak’ and nothing is more likely to turn them off than terms like ‘blue-sky thinking’ and so on. There might be an element of that in ‘virtual office’. But the virtual office can bring genuine benefits to owners especially of start-ups and growing businesses, where these services come in extremely useful. Any method of ensuring a small firm can manage resources better will benefit them.”
One of the best-known providers of virtual office services is Regus, the world’s largest operator of fully serviced business centres.
David Ford, chief executive officer for Regus in the UK, says businesses that don’t embrace the virtual office are losing out on several benefits, not least the ability to test new markets without stepping outside their head office.
He said: “A virtual office gives companies a genuine local presence without making a risky lump-sum investment or stepping outside their HQ. Our product, for example, gives them a prime address and telephone number in the area they’re targeting and administrative services to back them up while they test the market. They can even extend their reach abroad by having an operator greet potential clients in their own language or gain a multi-site presence in the UK by having a virtual office at one or more new office locations.”
Although tmaglobal research shows companies are failing to take up such advantages there are signs that things might be changing albeit slowly. In a recent screening of TV’s Boss Swap one of the temporary managing directors was quick to suggest using a virtual office to dip the company’s toes into a new market.
Contact
Stephen Jolly
Group Communications Director
Regus
3000 Hillswood Drive
Chertsey
Surrey
KT16 0RS
+44 (0) 193 289 5138 |
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| • | Making the most of a virtual office | | Growing firms need virtual reality check
Established companies are missing out on a smart solution to their growing needs because they ... |
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Regus |
05/03/04 09:36 |
141 |
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