Online Virtual Assistant

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Samantha & Spring Pascal

You may be wondering what a Virtual Assistant is and how one can help you.  Well, a Virtual Assistant is essentially a PA/Administrator/Secretary who works from a different geographical location.

Recently, I have realised that there are many small businesses that would like some assistance with various office duties but in the current economic climate would prefer not to employ someone.  This is where a virtual assistant can help.

Services which a VA can offer  include:

• Helping you with your to-do list
• Deal with all your admin and paperwork
• Secretarial services
• Take orders, bookings & enquiries
• General office duties

It might be that you just want a couple of hours help a week while you catch up on other things.  It might be that you are finding all the paperwork too much to fit in.  Whatever your reason, we can find a solution.  So, if you would like to spend less time on boring paperwork, free up some time to develop your business or have extra support around the office then a Virtual Assistant may just be the answer your looking for.

Clare Axon-Saunders is an an experienced, versatile and friendly Virtual Assistant based in St. Albans, Hertfordshire.  If you are a small business in need of an extra pair of hands, then contact Clare at clare@onlineva.co.uk to see how she can help.

Clare is particularly interested in assisting small businesses within the local area.  She is also keen to work with people involved with animals, holistic & alternative therapies, yoga & pilates.

www.onlineva.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ulysses_N._Johnson

A virtual assistant and answering service are really different types of service however they can be complementary. When you’re trying to decide which type of service to employ, you really need to consider what type of company you are and how you plan to interact with your customers.

For example, a virtual assistant really refers to a real person, whether he / she is in the same city, state or even country or not. The term virtual really means that the person is not physically located in the same place as you. So, a virtual assistant truly is “virtual”, but can he / she do many of the things that a person in the same physical location can do, except, of course, make coffee and greet clients at the door.

My company uses a number of virtual assistants. We don’t have any physical office, so a virtual assistant makes a lot of sense. These assistants make and receive calls, schedule appointments, “file” documents, do research and many more tasks.

The filing portion of the business is quite unique. All of our documents are truly digital… proposals, invoices, spreadsheets, powerpoint, bills, etc. Our assistants file these on Google Docs. This process is such a timesaver because everyone in the company can share the documents and they’re all easy to find. And, the beauty of Google Docs is that it is free.

Virtual assistants are also great resources for research work. Because the Internet is so ubiquitous, it is the often the first place that people go to find information. This is perfect work for a virtual assistant because they can reach the Internet from practically anywhere.

An answering service is basically just that. The service will answer and route your calls to you wherever. The service will also take a message if they are so instructed. But, from a productivity perspective an answering service is pretty limited. Yes, you can have them “find” you hours by calling a specific phone number, but your options are obviously very limited.

Generally the cost of an answering services ranges anywhere from about $50 per month all the way up to $200 per month or more. A lot of the cost will depend on the number of messages the service is requested to answer. A virtual assistant, on the other hand, is generally in the range of $800 – $1,500, depending on the number of hours, dedicated or share resource and other factors.

Now, there are also automated answering services, such as RingCentral PBX. It is truly a great services for $49.99 per month for unlimited minutes, routing, call forwarding, conferencing, etc. You can set up all types of rules, depending on what phone number you will be at between certain days or hours and even define holidays for example. In this example, is much better than hiring a dedicated answering service, except, of course, for the live operator component.

In my company, we use both virtual assistants and RingCentral PBX to get the BIG company feel on a small business budget. The RingCentral PBX can answer automatically when needed and go to a live operator when we need it to. It in an incredibly functional “answering service.” The combination of virtual and answering service truly makes our company an efficient organization.

The occurrence of modernized business such as outsourcing has contributed to the developments and further growth of economy and society as well. The needs of people are catered instantly because of the many advanced solutions and improvements in the many fields of business endeavors. In fact, as the demands of needs arises and the demands of works are getting higher, the presence of these modern solutions and overwhelming populations of modern technologies and improved communications somehow have helped uplift the status of people to handle day to day tasks efficiently and in organized and easy manner. Even their unfulfilled needs have right answers and solutions just to fix and accomplished the desired work they want to have and no worries at all. Indeed, busy people are always stress by these backbreaking tasks and piled up works which they can’t fully handled all by themselves thus they go for outsourcing.

Most especially people who want an assistant to their jobs has even got little ideas on how to outsource their office works to these assistants who are capable of handling outsource office tasks and works efficiently without worrying about the actual office to work on and other operating expenses. Well, I’m referring to virtual assistance which now on its overwhelming population to dominate the web in terms of outsourcing virtual assistance services.

Others might say that they can save money out of handling their virtual task to these certified and professional service providers who are endowed with skills and talents in the field of virtual assistance.

Furthermore, you can save money by hiring a virtual assistant. In fact, you’re worth to have an assistant with less spending of money because some of these VA’s are affordable and far cheaper than the actual employee. In the battle of cost-effectiveness, what happens is that virtual assistant always wins and you can save tens of thousands of dollars if you know how to deal and manage them properly.

If you want to have a service provider only for few hours per day then you must stick with virtual assistance for your business needs. The only answer to your problem on how to save money is to hire a virtual assistant anytime of the day and can be found on the Internet. They have lots of expertise in terms of virtual assistance works and you’re sure of their performance suitable for accomplished tasks.

In fact, most modern businesses can benefit from delegating work even if they want to have few hours per day to work on their tasks regardless of the size and revenues they have in their business enterprise.

Even if you are starting a small business, you can have the chance of delegating these tasks to virtual assistant and can save time, effort and money as well. Plus handling these tasks to VA’s will help you focus on some money making tasks on the net and other business endeavors. Virtual assistance really helps you save money at all times.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stuart_Michael_M

The Problem

Entrepreneurs want to spend their time making money and building value. However, they often find themselves spending a disproportionate amount of their valuable time and energy on administrative tasks and other routine responsibilities. That leaves less time for relaxing with friends and family and friends, as well as opportunities for increasing revenue.

While entrepreneurs and small business owners may one day have a revenue stream and volume of business that justifies an executive assistant, most are so overwhelmed with administrative issues that they are not even able to grow their business to this point. Hiring an Executive Virtual Assistant (EVA) is a cost effective solution. When paperwork, logistical arrangements and an endless to-do list block growth and progress, Executive Virtual Assistants provide a low-cost solution.

What to Expect from your Virtual Executive Assistant

Executive Virtual Assistants typically charge anywhere from $10 to $75 per hour, depending upon their experience and skill set, which can be considerably less than hiring an in house employee. It is now possible to find EVAs who are native English speakers from top American and European Universities with experience at Fortune 500 companies. Quality companies that offer Executive Virtual Assistant services conduct comprehensive screenings and then thoroughly train their Executive Virtual Assistant.

The Benefit of Working With a Virtual Executive Assistant

Whether your Executive Virtual Assistant works around the corner or across the globe, you may never actually meet them face-to-face. While this can initially be daunting, it is not only viable in the 21st Century business environment, but also has its perks.

1. By having an Executive Assistant who works remotely, you are not responsible for overhead costs, such as office expenses and other HR costs.

2. Through the application of a range of Internet tools, your Virtual Executive Assistant can work, as if they were sitting right outside your office. This isn’t limited to scheduling or making calls; it can include sending hand written notes to clients, helping manage your household and more.

3. Having someone in a different time zone has its benefits. While there are certain hours of your work day that your Executive Virtual Assistant may not be available, think about how great to it would be to wake up to an clean email box and a memo offering an breakdown of your schedule and to do’s for the day.

4. Your Virtual Executive Assistant is there only when you need them. You don’t have to pay someone for hours you do not need, nor do you have to deal with having someone around all the time. This can be a real cost savings for people who work from home offices.

Business managers and owners are devoting all their time and energy these days to protecting themselves against the global economic downturn. This has an overall effect on their lifestyle because they are spending the majority of their time working towards the success of their company, resulting in no time for themselves. There should be a balance between your professional and your personal life, which could mean that business owners need a helping hand with some of their basic business activities.

A Virtual PA (also commonly known as Virtual Receptionists, Virtual Assistants or Remote Receptionists) is an excellent way forward in helping you receive that extra help in day to day business activities. Virtual PAs will meet deadlines, complete all the work in the office, arrange appointments at your convenience, or cancel appointments at your beck and call, thus leaving you at total ease knowing you can now dedicate all your time concentrating on achieving your business goals and objectives.

There are some tips that will maximize the benefits of your Virtual PA, these will be discussed shortly. You should develop an understanding – a working relationship with your Virtual PA, this way you can ensure that you extract the maximum benefits from your virtual assistant. Don’t forget that your virtual assistant will perform the majority of tasks for you on a daily basis which will cover all aspects of your business.

These tips will maximize the benefits of your Virtual PA…

Select a Virtual PA that meets your needs

It goes without saying that you will need a Virtual PA that will suit your business needs and ticks all the boxes in relation to meeting your company’s requirements. You will need to ensure that you approach a company that employ skilled PAs or receptionists from various fields.

Effective Communication

Even though your Virtual Assistant is not physically present at your office, they will still be assessable at all times. You must ensure that the communication lines between you and your Virtual PA are always open and accessible. If anything arises you must ensure you are able to contact your Virtual Assistant there and then.

Give detailed, clear instructions to your Virtual PA

In order to gain perfect results from your Virtual PA it will be a good idea to meet with them in person or over the phone once you have selected them. During this time it would be beneficial to provide your Virtual PA with clear instructions of what you expect from them, and clear instructions on completing different tasks. It is important not to assume that your Virtual Assistant will know actually what is expected from them. They can then be responsible for these duties and tasks that you have assigned to them.

A Virtual Assistant can provide a consistent means of contact for your customers which doesn’t tie you up on the telephone. They will ensure you never miss another call, they can transfer important calls straight to you based on your specification and can perform a range of tasks at your request. Your small business will look instantly bigger with a Virtual Receptionist and you will find the cost very reasonable compared to hiring your own member of staff – and less stressful too!

In the present business world, the importance of hiring a virtual assistant is becoming more evident. Why? Consider this; you can get them to accomplish a lot of tasks without costing too much. In fact, virtual assistants are considered to be one of the most efficient workers out there.

Outsourcing work loads to an online virtual assistant will allow your company to save a lot of time and money. Most transactions are done with the aid of the internet technology. This means that there would be less operating costs such as electricity and transportation expenses. Even if you are separated y miles or even countries away, works can be done and sent in a click of a mouse. This faster and innovative working method allows your company to get a more efficient service than usual.

The importance of hiring a Virtual Assistant can also be gauged with the amount of work that can be accomplished at a short period of time. When you hire a virtual assistant, you are only getting him to do a specific task. And you will only have to pay him depending on the task that he is given. Unlike having full time employees when there are inevitable times of idleness, this per-project basis allows your company to utilize a more efficient workforce.

Perhaps the greatest importance of hiring an online assistant is the avoidance of expenditures used for employee benefits. This is because an online assistant does not require additional benefits such as insurances, paid vacations and other privileges a conventional employee receives. This explains why companies are still able to save a lot despite assistants receiving higher payment. Some companies implement additional bonuses to further motivate the assistants.

This new trend in business process outsourcing really is a big step in today’s corporate world by creating a multitude of possibilities even to the smallest of companies.