Virtual Offices
GoVirtual Launches Virtual Office in D.C. Metro
Published January 7th, 2009 by Jennifer LeClaire
GoVirtual. It’s yet another new virtual office upstart. When I say new, I mean brand spanking new. This company was founded in 2009, and we’re only eight days into the year!
GoVirtual bills itself as being part of the Washington, D.C. metro area. That’s accurate enough but may mislead some. GoVirtual’s actual physical address is 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 803 in Silver Spring, Maryland. That’s about 30 miles, a 45-minute drive, from the nation’s capital.
GoVirtual describes itself as a “new, progressive virtual office center which provides its customers not only the ability to have a high profile address in the Washington D.C. metro region with a fully serviceable physical office space, but also supplies free Web URLs to its customers, creating an unique, independent business operation for its customers.”
Reviewing the Virtual Office Laundry List
Like other virtual office services, GoVirtual is promising subscribers the ability to project a professional image at a fraction of the cost of traditional office space.
The company is marketing itself on the free press release wires with a short description of itself that includes an awkward URL to a mostly-complete Web site and a laundry list of features you can opt for when you rent office space from this virtual provider. Here’s the laundry list:
- A high-profile business address in the DC metro region to use as your own office space
- Local phone number and receptionist to handle calls
- Mail collection and forwarding
- Fully equipped conference and meeting rooms and private office time
- On demand administrative support services
- Color and B&W laser printers
- Fax machine if you will need to fax paper documents often
- Scanner if you will need to scan documents or photos
- Desktop PCs with monitors
- Conference and meeting rooms
- Video conference capability
- Free personalized Web URLs
- IT outsourcing
- Corporate compliance services
Who is GoVirtual?
I like the free personalized Web URLs. That’s something I don’t see much on the standard list of features. Corporate compliance services is another I don’t normally see, as well as IT outsourcing, web design and hosting and business development. All rather unique features of a virtual office. One thing GoVirtual is pushing hard is its webcams and flatscreen monitors.
You can see GoVirtual’s pricing and plans online. Basic virtual office plans start at $99 a month. Corporate plans are about twice that. GoVirtual also offers access to a private office for 16 hours a month for $160. And you can rent conference rooms for $35 an hour.
With such a strong tech focus, it makes me wonder who is behind this service. I am doubtful that it’s your typical virtual office provider. There’s no “About Us” page, so it’s difficult to tell who is behind the service. That’s a little troublesome because we can’t trust who we don’t know, especially with something as important as our business.
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About the Author
Marcus Hester January 8th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Great point. The web site isn’t even finished and there is no indication who these people are and why I should trust them with my virtual office space.
I am not saying this is a fly-by-night virtual office provider. But I am scratching my head here. It could just be that this virtual office service is backed by reputable players who neglected to launch with a complete web site. But I wouldn’t venture to sign up for these services without more information on who is running the company.
Maggie Correta January 9th, 2009 at 5:38 am
I think you are right to question this virtual office provider. Not to judge a book by its cover, but judging from GoVirtual’s website this looks a little iffy. Even the URL is strange. The site doesn’t look professional, and it’s not even complete.
It could have just been a poor decision to try to launch a virtual office service as quickly as possible since it’s a really hot trend in the office space market right now. But poor first impressions are hard to overcome and GoVirtual didn’t make a good first impression on me.
Mike Sullivan January 9th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I called the number provided on their website and they had an automated attendant that provided more information about their company. It’s apparently owned by a South African holding company, called Offutt Holding Company and Affiliates (http://www.offuttholding.com/home.asp). I’d stick with proven leaders in the virtual office space the DC area, like Davinci Virtual, Regus, Metro Offices and Office Suites PLUS.
Elizabeth Sanchez January 12th, 2009 at 4:22 am
I agree with Mike. This is a good study on how not to launch a new virtual office service. Even though the list of features is impressive, this company really dropped the ball by launching with such sketchy information.
This is the difference between a company that sees an opportunity and aligns with the talent necessary to execute it for the benefit of the market and an opportunistic company that’s trying to get in on a trend.