What is a virtual office?

The whole world has gone digital in the last decade, and virtual offices are just the next step. 

Thanks to a combination of a number of factors, including more accessible tools and the COVID-19 pandemic, more businesses than ever are operating remotely. And while remote work offers plenty of benefits like decreased commute times and greater worker satisfaction, it just doesn't look as professional when you're business address is your own home and calls are being answered on your cell instead of by a receptionist. 

Virtual offices can grant businesses all the perks of having an actual physical office without actually physically having that office; you and your team can work remotely and reduce overhead while still presenting a professional and established image to customers, vendors, and investors. 

In this guide, we're going over everything you need to know when you're considering a virtual office for your business, including what they are, advantages, disadvantages, and the services they offer.

Virtual Office

1. What is a virtual office?

A virtual office is a service that gives your company an official business address at that location even though you'll work remotely, as well as a list of office-related services as part of your "rent." It operates as a single office unit with a physical mailing address, but it doesn't necessarily exist in a single location; you can still work primarily from home, or even take advantage of services from multiple locations.

The concept first came from the Executive Suite Industry after being launched by Ralph Gregory in 1994 when he termed the idea "The Virtual Office, Inc." 

These services may include phone answering, access to meeting rooms if you ever do want to impress a client, mailing services, and more. The development of virtual office software offering communication and collaboration tools such as screen sharing, video conferencing, and messaging services has led to a stark increase in the popularity of virtual offices. 

Virtual offices are appealing to brands who love the convenience, flexibility, and significantly lower overhead that comes with having their team work remotely. There are no long leases, you don't need to employ additional administrative or janitorial staff, and the cost of renting a virtual office is significantly lower than renting, furnishing, and paying utility bills on an entire physical location. 

While the virtual office is typically a less expensive option for business, some services like phone answering and videoconferencing might have limited accessibility depending on the office and the membership plans they offer. 

Since virtual offices allow for more flexibility, they can increase job options for employees and hiring options for businesses.

2. How virtual offices work

Virtual offices are exceptionally straightforward. They operate as a single unit to offer service to their members and customers, but they don't necessarily exist in a single fixed location. 

You can pay a membership fee (some companies may call this something like "virtual rent"). This is significantly lower than traditional rent and commercial leases.

As long as your membership lasts, you'll gain access to the following:

1. A business physical mailing address at a specific location, where you can go to pick up important documents 

2. Services including the following:

   • Mailing services. You can receive and send mail from these virtual offices. Some virtual office locations may even package up your items for shipment, and many offer mail-forwarding services so that packages sent to the office can be redirected to your home.  

   • Answering services with live receptionists. These services will answer incoming calls to your business, often around the clock, as if they're members of your own team. They can forward calls, greet customers, answer basic questions about your business, and book appointments. 

   • Onsite receptionists. These team members can greet clients, vendors, or investors who arrive in the physical office location and show them to the meeting space, creating a professional appearance. They may also be able to help you with standard administrative assistant duties. 

   • Virtual assistants. These are contracted workers who can help you complete tasks in-person receptionists can do, including emailing clients contracts, data entry, and booking appointments.

   • Flexible meeting spaces. These meeting spaces can be used for client, vendor, investor, or team meetings as needed, and you may be able to schedule meetings at different locations depending on the virtual office you choose. 

   • Onsite professional amenities. Think fax, printing, and SaaS tools and equipment that you may not have access to in your home office. Virtual offices typically come equipped with full business suites that you can use according to your membership plan. 

Virtual offices could theoretically be anywhere, but you will want to choose a location that's at least within a reasonable driving distance that you can access as needed. This is for several reasons, including the following:

• You may need to go into the physical location to pick up mail or hold occasional meetings

• You want to have your business's mailing address in the same state and ideally country of operation that your business license is for, or it can complicate matters like taxation

3. What does a virtual office provide?

There are a number of different services that virtual offices may provide, though these vary wildly depending on the actual virtual office that you choose to work with, or which package you select if there are multiple options. 

The services commonly offered by virtual offices include the following:

Physical office space as needed 

Want to hold a meeting in a gorgeous conference room to wow an investor? Or do you need a small office space once every few months to hold a rare in-person meeting with your team, or with clients? 

Most virtual offices will offer some options for physical space within their locations. This might include access to conference rooms that you can book, a floating desk you can reserve, or small office spaces that you can use on occasion. Make sure you check to see what exactly your virtual office offers and consider if it will be what you need as you start to grow. 

Mail receiving & forwarding services 

Most virtual offices have expansive mailing services. They'll receive and sign for deliveries and mail. They'll either call you to come to pick up the items or forward the mail directly to you. They're also typically happy to ship out packages for you so you don't need to wait around to have them picked up or drop them off somewhere.

Some even have envelope-opening and scanning services. In this case, they'll scan your letters and email them to you so you don't need to wait to receive them. 

Live answering services

Live answering services (also known as "virtual receptionists") help you stay on top of every phone call your business receives. Customer service agents will answer the phone and follow a loose script created by your business to further direct your calls and help customers. They're typically able to answer quick questions like "where is the mailing address" and to book appointments, and can forward any further calls to the appropriate team member or take a message. 

Live answering services help your business to seem extremely professional, and it keeps your team from being interrupted all day every day with phone calls. This can be a huge asset when you want to stay focused and increase your productivity. 

Teleconferencing or video conferencing services 

Teleconferencing and video conferencing can be complex, depending on how you're going about it. It always looks best to have professional, high-quality, and reliable equipment in a quiet, professional environment as opposed to the terrible lighting from your laptop on Zoom while your dog knocks over everything in the background.

One of the most common services offered by virtual offices is teleconferencing and video conferencing, and in most cases, the virtual office's staff will help you set up the equipment before your calls. 

Printing & fax services 

Some virtual offices will offer printing, fax, and photocopy services. Sometimes they'll have someone on-site who can handle this like a receptionist would, while other times this just means that you have access to these tools. You may be limited to how many copies you can print or create, but make sure to read the terms of your agreement and make sure it aligns with what you need. 

Either way, the option to have instant access to high-quality printers, photocopiers, and a fax machine without having to purchase them yourself is incredibly convenient. 

Photography studio or services 

While this is slightly less common than some of the other services on this list, some virtual offices will offer spaces for you to take pictures. Some will even hire a photographer for a day to photograph clients in the office, or to photograph your products. If this isn't something that the virtual office offers, you can always ask if you can bring your own photographer onto the premises for photographs if needed. 

Virtual assistants 

Virtual assistants can help your business's productivity improve dramatically. They can do everything from check your emails to submit invoices to clients to schedule and attend meetings. They're often highly experienced, and can quickly knock out any tasks that you assign them.

Ask about how many virtual assistants you'll gain access to or how many hours per week you could expect to utilize their services. This will help you assess if you need to hire an assistant of your own or if the virtual assistant included in your virtual office membership will keep you covered for the time being. 

A virtual phone number 

It's not uncommon for virtual offices to help businesses set up virtual phone numbers, or to even keep them included in the membership plan. These can typically be accessed through desktop and mobile apps on your existing devices, but allow you to have a business line instead of using your personal number. 

Virtual phone numbers are easy to acquire and often relatively cost-effective. One thing to keep in mind, however, is to make sure that your business phone numbers can be ported to other providers or that you'll keep access to it (even if it means you pay) if you ever have to leave the virtual office. Avoiding changing your business's primary phone line can be a good call. 

Access to some Cloud-based tools 

Some virtual offices will allow their members to access a suite of Cloud-based SaaS tools. This may include Microsoft Office, project management tools, file sharing tools, or communication tools. Ask what your access level is and how many team members you can add if this is something that is offered. 

4. Advantages and disadvantages of a virtual office

The advantages of a virtual office address

The most significant advantages of acquiring virtual office space include the following:

• Flexibility. You still work predominantly or entirely remotely, and your team can, too. This means that none of you are necessarily restricted by geographic location, and you can hire the best people for the job no matter where they are. You can also keep your working hours as you see fit, and still choose to work from home in your pajamas if you want. 

• Lower costs than renting a conventional office space. You're not renting an entire office that is large enough to hold your entire staff on a daily basis. This means you also don't need to furnish an office, worry about commercial renter's insurance or utility bills. You also gain access to some services like assistants or receptionists, which is much more affordable than employing someone full-time.

• Access to additional services. We mentioned this already, but one huge advantage of virtual offices is the services that they offer like virtual assistants, answering services, in-office receptionists, and teleconferencing. They might also offer mailing services and can receive physical mail for you. This means that you're never going to miss a delivery that needs to be signed for, and ideally every customer call will be answered by at least a virtual receptionist for a personal touch before they're sent to your voicemail. It's much easier to gain all these services through one source instead of trying to pay for and manage them through unique individual services or contractors, so if you need these benefits, a virtual office is a great choice to consider. 

• Established and professional appearance. Startups and solopreneur businesses are more common than ever before, and it's also in some cases harder to gain client trust and demonstrate credibility as "everyone owns their own business." Having a physical business address in an established building and a place where you can meet your staff is about established as it gets, and it helps to instill client confidence in your brand.

• No maintenance concerns. You don't need to replace those creaky chairs or worry about what will happen to the building during a major natural disaster. Maintenance of the building itself isn't an issue for your business, so you can just focus on growing your brand.

• An added layer of privacy & security. Many startups and small businesses that work remotely don't have a true physical office. This means that the business owner's home address is often listed on everything from public business licenses to online business directories and even client contracts. This may pose a privacy and security issue, as people can easily find your home address with a quick Google search with your business. With a virtual office, you get a physical mailing address that you can list on all official documents, making it harder for people to find your personal home address. And if you're using their virtual answering service as your primary business line, you can prevent customers from having access to your personal phone number, too (though getting a virtual business line is often a good call).

• Fixed address with low overhead costs. A fixed, permanent address can be an enormous asset when you're running your business. Did you know that in some states, you need to pay to update your business license paperwork if your business address changes during the year? This might be an extra few hundred dollars depending on the state. It's quite the hassle to update every single client, financial institution, and business service every time you switch apartments or living locations. Having that single fixed address while you move around is an asset, especially if you're just moving around the same city and want something more stable. 

The disadvantages of a virtual office address

While there are clear benefits to renting virtual office space, there are some disadvantages that business owners will want to consider as well. These include the following:

• Use of the offices requires planning. Your virtual office space is not automatically equivalent to a coworking space, where you pay a set fee and reserve a single desk or even a conference room months on end. If you want to have a meeting in-office, you may need to plan ahead to reserve that conference room or to make sure that it's available. This can be difficult if one of the biggest draws for your business is having a place to meet clients on a regular basis.

• There may be limited services available. Just as conference rooms sometimes aren't always available, there may be limited teleconferencing and videoconferencing services available at any given point in time. Planning ahead is possible, but it can be an extra challenge for fast-paced businesses.

• There could be restricted access. It's possible that your membership only grants you access to the office a few days a week, or during certain hours. It's fairly common for virtual offices to at most give access during standard working hours and weekdays only.

• You aren't working in the same place as your team. Working remotely doesn't work for every team, especially if it's happening full time with no in-office days. Some teams are most effective in-office if their jobs are difficult to collaborate on a virtual basis, and it prevents teams from getting to know each other well and establishing more personal relationships. While plenty of teams are just as productive working remotely (if not more so) than in-office, that may not be true for all teams.

Conclusion

Virtual offices won't be the right fit for every business out there, but for small businesses, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and growing brands who primarily work remotely but want access to occasional office space and impressive traditional office benefits, they're a great option to consider.

The ability to have a professional work environment for yourself, your team, and your clients without the overhead associated with a commercial lease can be an enormous asset, especially once you factor in the business services that typically come with virtual offices. 

There are plenty of virtual offices available all over the country, giving brands plenty of options to choose from. Make sure that you've considered what you want and need out of a virtual office before you go looking to ensure that it will meet your needs both now and several years down the line.