NEWS

Technology for the virtual office

Perhaps the best advantage of a virtual office is its cost and time saving abilities. The physical office has many benefits, but in some cases businesses can do without the use of a static location - and save themselves a small fortune in time and money along the way.

However, where the virtual office steps in, so does the need for new methods of communication to keep the workforce in synch. Without being in close proximity to one another, employees or business partners can feel isolated. But as ever, a solution is never far away. Here at virtualofficeworld.com we look further into the communicational options on offer that make a virtual office really work.

Aside from the most common methods of communication, including telephones, fax and email, there are huge amounts of other facilities available - most of which are free, or operate on low monthly costs. In a recent article by David Spark of sparkmediasolutions.com, several key technologies were brought to light as a solution to virtual office communications. Having attended a talk by Stephen Jagger, CEO of Ubertor, Spark noted the benefits of the virtual office and how relevant technology can help businesses run a successful, cost-effective virtual network.

According to Spark, Jagger previously ran a physical office for his business, but handed it over to a new tenant once his lease expired. "Instead of searching for some new office space, Jagger and team all decided to go virtual. While they saved a fortune on rent and maintenance, they needed to adopt some Web 2.0 technologies in order to stay in touch and conduct business."

If you're thinking of going down the virtual office route, but you're concerned how to stay in touch with your team, here's a few suggestions.

Communicating with clients, customers or suppliers

To stay in contact with external parties such as clients or customers, there are several low-cost solutions on offer that give a professional touch to your correspondence.

Skype provides calls, video calls and instant messaging over the internet - all for free. For businesses, Skype's video conferencing facilities are particularly beneficial. Take surfing company Rip Curl for example. They use Skype video calls to show new designs to colleagues and manufacturers from different locations all over the world, perfect to avoid miscommunication or lengthy trips across country. You can use it to communicate with clients or suppliers, and to hold meetings or quick updates with colleagues.

A live chat system, such as WebsiteAlive, is a tool developed to help businesses answer their customers' questions. Customers type their question into a web dialog box and the receiver gets an audible ringing tone from their PC. Once they 'answer' the call, they're able to communicate with customers in real time. There are several options available, but Jagger currently uses WebsiteAlive at 40$ a month per user - that's around £25 in today's currency conversion.

Communicating with employees or colleagues

Internal communication can take many different forms. The ones you choose will depend on your business culture and how well your employees or colleagues can adapt.

Instant Messaging is used in many businesses large or small. Most applications are free, and it's widely used in project teams and individual departments to allow colleagues to fire quick questions, links or documents across to each other. There are usually status buttons to show others whether you're on the phone, away from your desk or busy. This is especially useful when overly chatty colleagues get a little carried away.

An intranet site or wiki is an effective way of keeping tutorials, company stats or 'How to' guides all in one place. Google Sites is a free tool that allows you to create a website for a specific group, and as access is controlled, all documents will be kept private.

Other tools including Yammer help keep employees connected. Yammer is a free micro-blog similar to Twitter, that gets employees to constantly answer the question "What are you doing now?" The tool encourages employees to update their status every time they start a new task, or reach a milestone on their current activity, to help management stay in tune with what their employees are working on. It's also a good way of sharing knowledge and educating new starters.

Promoting your brand

There are stacks of social media websites, and it's fast becoming a popular way for companies to advertise their services or promote their brand.

First and foremost, a good website is an essential part of any business. In fact, the BBC News website quoted Gordon Brown as saying that fast internet is now "an essential service, as indispensable as electricity, gas and water".

There are several free tools available to create websites, but to get something that your clients want to visit time and again, it's worth hiring a professional to create an attractive website that is ultimately user-friendly and ad-free. Try putting up notices in a local university to attract some help - students are often keen to practise their skills for a much smaller fee than the average web design agency.

When your website is up and running, take advantage of the likes of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to advertise your wares. You don’t have to maintain a stiff corporate image - in fact, as these sites typically appeal to the younger generation, the more informal the better. For keeping track of your external brand website, use Google Analytics to monitor visitor's activity - you can use the data to help establish which page users visit the most, and what time of the day is most popular. Again, the service is free and simple to use.

Blogs are also a useful way to maintain a steady link with the outside world. Run it alongside your website as a great way to show the human side of your business. In fact, adding links back to your site from your blog, Facebook or YouTube page helps increase that all-important search engine value, so make sure you keep it updated in order to use it to its full advantage.

Finally, if you have experiences of these products which you'd like to share with us, or you can recommend other tools to help the virtual office run more smoothly, please get in touch by commenting below.

For help and advice finding your perfect virtual office, visit us at virtualofficeworld.com to perform a search and to speak to one of our experts.