Virtual Offices
ABC News Chronicles Rise of Virtual Offices
Published March 11th, 2010 by Jennifer LeClaire
More media coverage about virtual office momentum. Eric Thomas, the weekday co-anchor of ABC7 Morning News in San Francisco, has covered everything from plane crashes to political campaigns. This week, he’s taking a look at the virtual office in a well-written article.
As Thomas so aptly puts it, “Working from home is nothing new, but managing a business with employees scattered across the country has only recently become possible with new software and management techniques.”
The article points to Department of Labor statistics citing that between 13 million and 19 million Americans do most of their work at home.
Thomas interviews a man named Dan Guillory, CEO of a consulting firm named Innovations International, who works from home. Guillory didn’t always work from home. Thomas reports that he used to rent expensive office space in San Francisco, but he ditched it for a much more affordable virtual office. His staff is spread out across the country.
“Rent alone was $60,000 a year. In addition to that we also had hard line phones that we used; we also had servers that we used. There are a lot of hidden costs that you don’t necessarily think about,” Guillory told ABC.
Guillory said the benefit of the virtual office is that “you have more flexibility, but at the same time our expectations are a little bit different so there’s a price for that freedom to some extent.”
This is a great example of virtual office use – and I’m sure it wasn’t hard for Thomas to find a prime example in the San Francisco area. These days, you can go to any major city and find a stellar portrait of an entrepreneur who is taking advantage of the cost-savings, flexibility and efficiencies a virtual office can offer.
Expect to see more media coverage of virtual offices this year as companies like Davinci Virtual, United Virtual Offices, CESVirtualOffices and others continue making their value proposition known to the entrepreneurial world.
Related posts:
- RingCentral Chronicles Rise of Virtual Offices There is a continuing shift from the traditional on-site centralized...
- Davinci Virtual Explains Virtual Office Benefits to AP The Associated Press is the latest major media outlet to...
- Serviced Office Use on the Rise in Los Angeles Area Looking to rent office space on a budget? That’s the...
- Managing Virtual Workers in Virtual Offices I read an article from Entrepreneur.com about virtual office management...
- The pros and cons of virtual offices Virtual offices can be the most professional officing option for...
- Davinci Virtual Scores 100 Virtual Office Partner Davinci Virtual is on the move in the United Kingdom....
- Forbes Features Davinci Virtual Offices Forbes magazine is extolling the virtues of virtual offices. You...
- Inc. Magazine Editors Explore Virtual Work OK, so this isn’t exactly directly connected with executive office...
About the Author
Bill Brookshire March 11th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Great find. I wonder if they broadcasted the bit about virtual offices as well, or if it was just a print story. I bet they did both. I noticed in the ABC story that they mentioned RingCentral. I’m guessing that the virtual phone company is located in the Bay Area so they gave them props, so to speak. Virtual offices are definitely getting more attention.
Elizabeth Sanchez March 11th, 2010 at 11:34 am
I bet office space does cost a fortune in San Francisco, even for a small space. That’s why serviced offices and virtual offices and even coworking spaces are gaining ground in big cities like that. It’s so cost prohibitive to rent traditional office space. We need alternatives. The Virtual Office is a great alternative.
Gary March 23rd, 2010 at 9:48 am
Virtual offices are definitely becoming much more prominent as technology makes it easier for people to work at home. Working at Grasshopper where our target market is entrepreneurs and small businesses, we see a large number of customers working out of their home office or co-working spaces. Even more so, Trendsspotting just released a new study that showed 50% of all US businesses are based out of the home. I bet we see more and more people doing this in the future.