News Room

How Virtual Offices Work
by Lee Ann Obringer

But where will you do your work?
Technically, your office is wherever you are. With the technology currently available, you can conduct business from almost anywhere. Your office could be in your home, in your car, in the airport, on the beach, or even on a mountaintop. In typical situations, your office will be based in your home regardless of whether you travel or not. If this is the case then you need to have a good setup. This includes a quiet location away from the distractions that being at home will always have. These include the refrigerator, TV, children, lawn work, dishes in the sink... you name it. It can be a distraction.

If you want to make it work, you have to have discipline and you have to make your office a designated work space -- even if it is in your bedroom or the kitchen. Put it in a place where you like to be. If your basement is dark and dreary, it's likely you're not going to enjoy working there. Bottom line... use the room that will be most conducive to getting work done.

First impressions mean a lot
But, what about your business address? If you're running a business from your home, you probably don't want your home address used as the business address. Depending on the type of business it is, it may just not give the impression you need. In this case, you have a two options. You can rent a post office box, or you can use a CMRA (Commercial Mail Receiving Agency) mailbox service that gives you a corporate-sounding address and a suite number.

Each option has the drawback of requiring you to go somewhere else to get your mail (although there may be services that will deliver your mail to you). Post office boxes have the additional drawback of not allowing you to receive packages because couriers won't deliver to a P.O. box. If you use a service that gives your business a suite number (actually, just another name for a box number), you can receive packages. You also have 24-hour access and can request notification when a package has arrived.

What do I need to make this work?
If your work involves traveling to client locations or other places away from your home base, you should probably consider buying a laptop computer rather than a desktop system. With a laptop you will always have your files with you and won't have any of those embarrassing moments where you left an important document at your office, because...well, your office is with you. While a laptop may seem a bit cumbersome to always travel with, there are many lightweight models out there that are very powerful. Just make sure you get a good carrying case that has a shoulder strap and room for your hard copy documents.

If always working from the keyboard and small screen of a laptop doesn't appeal to you, there are other solutions. Yes, they've thought of everything! To make using your laptop more efficient in your home office, a docking station can be set up that you can simply plug your laptop into. Docking stations make it easy to have a standard monitor, keyboard and mouse, printer, fax machine, scanner, and other peripherals always hooked and ready to use. By plugging your laptop into the docking station, you are able to use it just like a standard desktop system, and you won't have to worry about transferring or synching files to another computer.

If you do not travel, or if you do not need access to all of your files while you travel, you can just get the traditional desktop computer system. Make sure you have plenty of hard drive space, memory for running several programs at once, and a moderately fast processor. If you're doing graphics work (anything involving photo images, illustrations or animations) you'll need a much faster processor and as much hard drive space and RAM as you can afford.

Other equipment and hardware options you might consider include:

A black and white 600-1200 dpi laser printer if your final documents require crisp, high quality black and white output. Laser printers also provide the fastest output, so if you know your volume will be high you should also consider a laser printer.

A color laser printer if your documents need high quality color illustrations, photos, or charts. These are quite expensive so make sure you compare the print quality with a less expensive ink jet printer.

An inkjet printer if you need good quality text, color charts and graphs, or photos. With ink jet printers, the paper that is used often makes the biggest difference in the print quality. Get paper that is best suited for the job you are doing. Also, try to get a test print from different models to compare quality before you buy. Ink jets can provide very good quality but are not as fast printing as laser printers.

A fax machine if you will need to fax paper documents often. There is also the option of online faxing services such as E-Fax.

A scanner if you will need to scan documents or photos. You can also use a scanner along with e-mail or fax software in place of a regular fax machine.
A CD burner (CD-RW) if you need to provide clients with large files electronically, or if you want to back up your files on CD. There are many business uses for a CD writer, not to mention the ability to make your own music CDs.

A DVD writer (DVD-RAM) if you need to provide clients with extremely large files, such as video, electronically.

A removable media storage device. Iomega™ offers the most common drive of this type, called the Zip™ drive, but there are many others like it. Data is written to the disk just like it would be to a floppy diskette. The difference is the amount of data that can be written. Currently, there are 100 Mb and 250 Mb disks available for the ZIP drive. Iomega also manufactures Jaz™ drives that use disks that can hold up to 2 Gb of data.

A modem for accessing the Internet, faxing electronically, and e-mail. This can be either a standard modem that you use with your existing phone lines for dial up access, a DSL modem that also uses your phone line but does not tie up your line, or a cable modem that uses the same cable your cable television is hooked up to. DSL and cable modems are for broadband Internet access and require special connections.

A digital camera if your work requires photos for presentations, reports, a web site, or other documents. While you can also use a regular camera and scanner to get digital photos for documents, you may find the immediate access you get with a digital camera more efficient than waiting for film to be processed and printed. The quality of the digital image is still somewhat better with actually photos that are scanned, but for most business applications digital cameras produce sharp enough images. Images for use in marketing materials may need to be of higher quality.

A multi-purpose scanner, fax machine, copier, printer if your space is limited and quality not as critical. Keep in mind with this type of equipment, however, if one part of it stops working you'll be without the other functions until it can be repaired!

For obvious reasons, mainly because equipment in the technology world changes more often than some people change underwear, we'll not go into the technical specifications for the computer equipment you'll need in your office.

The software side
On the software side of things, there are several options for you to consider. If you work independently and do not have others that you need to coordinate with then fulfilling your software requirements is not so difficult. Here are some categories of software you may need along with links to some of the most popular packages:

an e-mail program -- You can use the e-mail program that your ISP provides, but programs such as Microsoft Outlook Express or Eudora will give you good e-mail functions and you won't have to change programs if you change ISPs.

a word processor -- Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, and Lotus Word Pro
spreadsheet and database programs -- Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Intuit QuickBase

presentation software -- Microsoft PowerPoint, or Astound.

virus protection software -- McAfee, or Norton AntiVirus

a utility program for computer maintenance -- Symantec Norton Utilities, McAfee, or TechTool Pro

Portable Document Format (PDF) reader software - Adobe Acrobat Reader -- This software is very helpful for reviewing formatted documents such as brochure layouts from outside designers or co-workers.

graphics and/or image editing tool -- CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Freehand, Deneba Canvas (Image editing software may also accompany your scanner.)

Internet browsers -- Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer
Many business applications come packaged in "suites" that provide all of the above product categories and then some. Some of the more popular packages include:

Microsoft Office, as well as the less expensive Microsoft Works
Corel
Lotus
AppleWorks

Many programs also have less expensive "light" or "limited" versions that may work for smaller businesses. They are also usually available for both Windows and Macintosh computer platforms.

Group software needs
If you are working with others, and have the need to coordinate scheduling, access central files, maintain a contact manager, meet in chat rooms, etc. then you have more of a challenge. There are programs available, such as ­Lotus Notes or Novell Groupwise, that provide these types of features as a software solution. These solutions may require quite a good bit of computer knowledge and an IT person to manage the system.

As an alternative, there are also 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 file-sharing with co-workers. They typically charge a small monthly fee per user, or a larger flat rate for unlimited users. Some include free limited versions, however. Below are some of these services available on the net:

Virtual Office: Afteroffice
Visto: Web-based scheduling, file storage, and management tools
OfficeClip: Clip your team together
PlanetIntra: Web-based management and communication tools
Punch Networks: The Internet file management platform
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.
Don't forget about shareware too. There are a lot of great programs that may perform all of the tasks you need without the high price tag. Check out Tucows or ZDNet for shareware and freeware reviews and downloads.

Everything else
In addition to computer equipment and software, you'll also need a good telephone. Caller ID helps by allowing you to screen out telemarketers or other calls you can't take at the moment.

A surge protector is necessary not just to give you additional outlets for your computer and its peripherals, but to protect your equipment.

You'll need a desk with plenty of workspace. It should have space for a computer, as well as room to spread out paperwork if necessary. A corner "L" shaped desk works well for this. Make sure the desk has a large keyboard tray that can accommodate your mouse pad and mouse, as well. Many computer desks don't have large enough trays. Don't forget about space for your printer, scanner, fax and other equipment.

Shelves, cabinets, and file cabinets are also necessities that help tremendously by utilizing vertical space and keeping things organized. You may also be able to use the tops of these shelves and file cabinets for your printer, scanner, fax machine, etc.

Also, don't forget to invest in a comfortable chair that offers good back support. It should have as many adjustable parts as possible to help it fit your body. Arms on the chair will also make it more comfortable, particularly if you will be doing some work other than that on a computer. For more information on setting up your home office visit About.com's Home Office Furniture page.

What about client meetings?
Meetings with clients can't always take place in cyberspace, or at the client's location. When you are faced with this situation, rather than having the client come to your home (assuming they are in the same city), look into executive suites or hotels that offer space that can be leased for short periods of time. If you own your own business and this is a common occurrence, you may want to consider leasing an Executive Suite that provides you with a receptionist, voice mail, e-mail, and other services, along with time-limited access to private offices, a reception area, and a meeting room. If you don't need this type of arrangement on a regular basis, you can also rent spaces on an hourly basis at a fairly reasonable rate.

For example, using Offices2Share.com, a meeting room at The Blake Building in Washington, DC with a seating capacity of five, reserved for three hours would be $75. A room for 15 for the same amount of time would be $120. These types of services can often be reserved online and maps, written directions, contact information, photos and information about additional room needs is also provided.

Of course, there are also always the other standard meeting place options that include hotel lobbies, restaurants, golf courses, etc.

What are the advantages?
While the advantages of working from a home/virtual office may seem obvious to you -- more freedom, more flexibility, the opportunity to be at home with your kids -- there are probably even more benefits that you haven't thought of. Here are a few.

Environmental benefits from not driving a motor vehicle in slow-moving traffic and polluting the air

Reduction in traffic congestion

Reduction in stress levels from not having to drive in congested traffic to and from work

Time saved not commuting to an office

Monetary benefits from savings in gas, wear and tear on your car, business clothing, and lunches out

Benefits from being able to manage your time more effectively
Productivity benefits from being able to work when you are most productive

Health benefits of being able to eat a better diet that includes less fast food

Opportunities to get physical exercise when needed mentally
Reduced stress benefits

Benefit of living a more balanced life

A more relaxing work environment

More opportunities to hire part-time or contract workers

A larger pool of employee applicants because location isn't as important