A company that does not have a physical location is called a virtual company. Rather, it is more like a collection of individuals that each work from their home offices. You would have a home office, as would all of your employees, but your company would have a single business address.

In addition to standard office equipment, a computer, and an Internet connection, you may also need specific software to coordinate scheduling, access central files, maintain a contact manager, and meet in chat rooms etc.

Virtual Company Software

There are online management services that provide these types of services on the Internet for access with your browser. These are fairly simple to use. They offer many features to promote coordination of information between members of a team, client interactions, or simply communication and share files with co-workers. They typically charge a small monthly fee per user, or a larger flat rate for unlimited users.

Some of these management services include free limited versions. Below are some of these services available on the Internet:

VISTO
Visto Mobile Enterprise Edition is a server-based software that is installed inside the corporate firewall and integrates with either Microsoft Exchange or IBM Lotus Domino to provide mobile workers with instant and secure access to corporate data, all from their mobile phone. Price varies greatly among different phone providers and with different functionality.

VIRTUAL OFFICE
AfterOffice’s Virtual Office is an Enterprise Portal service targeted at the SME business community worldwide, offering a wide and comprehensive range of integrated scheduling, business communication and collaborations, and information management applications. It provides a secure space on the web where you and your team can easily access and share documents, calendars, and conduct online meeting and discussion anywhere, anytime, from any web-enabled devices. $180 per year.
VIRTUAL OFFICES WEBSITE

OFFICECLIP
OfficeClip Premium Suite provides a complete business management solution. It includes Timesheet and Expense Tracking, Contact Manager for your Marketing and Sales Team, Issue Tracker for tracking development and related issues and Collaboration Suite (web calendar, web document sharing, etc). OfficeClip Premium Suite can be purchased for $80 per user.

NOODLE
Noodle provides a mixture of serious business application and people-centric social-based tools. It has an easy-to-use interface and offers flexible deployment options, such as local server installs or software. Noodle costs between $39-$125 per employee.
NOODLE VIRTUAL OFFICES SOFTWARE

Your software needs will vary greatly depending on the type of work you are doing. Check with similar businesses or your industry association to find out what programs are preferred by your peers.

Virtual Office Policies

If you have employees in several different locations, having a set of office guidelines will help your workflow. You may want to consider:

• Procedures for logging in to the system will help you manage the security of your system.

• Procedures for accessibility during business hours will help the communication between one another.

• Procedures for forwarding calls or emails if an employee is unavailable will help keep the business flowing smoothly.

• Procedures for client interactions will keep your business on a professional level. This includes email protocols, traditional correspondence protocols, and any other interactions typical in your business.

I’d like to hear what you’ve got to say about different business settings and formats. Please leave a comment…