September 5th, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
The advent of the internet has opened a new universe of possibilities for modern businesses, large and small. One such possibility is utilizing the skills of virtual assistants to help with business travel arrangements .
Need to make travel arrangements for that sudden business trip on Wednesday, but don’t have the time to do it yourself, what with the preparations for the trip? Hand it over to your virtual assistant, who can take care of it in no time at all, airline tickets, hotel arrangements, maybe even the car service to pick you up at the airport.
And don’t forget, your virtual assistant can often help out with creating or preparing presentations, too. I don’t know about you, but my Excel skills aren’t what I’d like them to be, and I’d find it a huge relief to be able to hand over the data and know that the virtual assistant can return it to me in Excel format, quickly, efficiently, and – most importantly – accurately.
Another way your virtual assistant can be a great asset when planning last-minute business travel is that when she’s in charge of your calendar, she’ll be able to take care of rescheduling any appointments for you, saving you time and energy that you can instead focus on business trip preparations.
Virtual Assistants Tip: A virtual assistant helps keep your office running even when you’re out of the office.
Relevant Tags:virtual assistant, virtual business services, Virtual Receptionist

September 5th, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
For many “clients” and viewers, Pam Beesley the receptionist is the face of fictional Dunder-Mifflin on television. But what if your company needs your own Pam but doesn’t have the space or funds for a full-time receptionist? A great solution for your company is the virtual receptionist.
A virtual receptionist can handle an enormous number of office tasks while not actually being located in your office. Fielding incoming phone calls, faxes, mail sorting, making business travel business arrangements, these are all tasks that can be handled by a virtual receptionist.
Having such a person to help run your business is particularly helpful when the company is based out of your home or even your car. A significant number of small businesses in the service industry today find that they need not lease office space in order to conduct business. A virtual receptionist can act as a professional business presence for your company without the added expense of office space.
However, you should not assume that you may call your company’s virtual receptionist Pam, especially if that’s not her real name.
Virtual Receptionist Tip: In general, businesses employing a virtual receptionist find that they are seeing major cost savings over hiring a traditional receptionist.
Relevant Tags:virtual assistant, virtual business services, Virtual Receptionist

September 4th, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
More and more these days, when customers call a doctor’s office, accountant, or other professional office, they are greeted – unbeknownst to them – by a virtual receptionist. The caller has no idea that this receptionist is not sitting at a desk in the front room of the doctor’s office.
Yet the virtual receptionist who has answered the customer’s call is fielding any and all issues or questions, perhaps even making appointments or taking messages, and give every appearance and assurance to the customer that it’s all part of the office. Hiring a virtual receptionist for your business or company isn’t outsourcing to overseas, like you often hear about (or even experience yourself) with many customer service call centers. This is smart business today. Companies that need a professional, courteous, and knowledgeable phone presence get exactly that with a virtual receptionist, but without having to provide office space or even health benefits for that employee. A virtual receptionist can work for most any company you could think of, one that takes up numerous floors in a skyscraper office building or one that has two employees that work out of their homes.
Relevant Tags:virtual assistants, virtual business, virtual office services, Virtual Receptionist

September 3rd, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
Odds are, if you’re a small, growing business, consultancy, or firm, you may be exactly who would benefit from having a virtual receptionist on staff. If your company call volume doesn’t justify the hiring of an on-site assistant but it’s clear that a professional phone presence is key to the continued growth of the company, then your company woulc most likely be very happy in choosing a virtual receptionist.
We’re not just talking about answering phones, by the way. Answering company phone lines is a vital part of doing business, but when the calls aren’t coming in, the virtual receptionist can do a number of other business tasks for your company. A virtual receptionist is capable of handling customer service inquiries or taking orders, making sales calls, screen and/or announce your calls, just to name a few.
In addition, with a virtual receptionist, you can see your incoming call history online and in real-time, as well as easy online management of emails and faxes. Best of all, virtual receptionist service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Weather, illnesses, or personal issues won’t keep a virtual receptionist from answering your calls.
Virtual Receptionist Tip: Huge calling capacity lets every caller or fax get through – no busy signals!
Relevant Tags:Virtual assitant, virtual business services, Virtual Receptionist

September 2nd, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
Perhaps you’ve scheduled an important discussion or teleconference with a business associate at twelve-thirty exactly, but when you dial the office number, it goes directly into voicemail, with no discernable way to reach your business associate. Why did this happen? Because your business associate’s receptionist went to lunch and no one was left to cover the phones.
With a virtual receptionist, this simply doesn’t happen. A virtual receptionist is there to answer your customer’s calls during business hours – from breakfast meetings to business lunches right on through to a business dinner. No matter the time of the business day, the virtual receptionist is there to answer calls and properly direct them.
Aside from never taking a long lunch or calling in sick for three days straight, a virtual receptionist also benefits your business’ budget. How could that be? Most of the time, the cost of a virtual receptionist is a portion of the cost of hiring, training, and keeping a receptionist in benefits. You’re also not paying for a receptionist’s office space or business equipment. These are all business expenditures that you might think are required, but the new reality is that, through the use of a virtual receptionist, these expenditures are far from necessary.
Virtual Receptionist Tip: A good, professional virtual receptionist will answer your calls in your company name, answer questions about your company, and transfer callers to you or take a message.
Relevant Tags:virtual assistants, virtual business, virtual office services, Virtual Receptionist

September 1st, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
Each time someone interacts with your business it leaves an impression. Your prices might be lower or your product top notch, but if you appear disorganized or unprofessional it can hurt your business. On the other hand, the small details of a well-run office can offer a customer experience that can leave a good impression on your customers, partners, and clients.
A virtual receptionist can make a good impression for your business at a fraction of the cost of employing a receptionist. The professional image and consistency is one reason Davinci Virtual is growing with everyone from small businesses to large businesses. You’ll be surprised at how many lawyers, doctor’s offices, and even online businesses use our services.
Instead of getting an answering machine, voicemail, or a rushed business owner, your client will speak with a live person. You can also establish a presence in multiple markets and have a local phone number for each. There are so many benefits to having a virtual receptionist.
Relevant Tags:virtual assistants, virtual business, virtual office services, Virtual Receptionist

August 29th, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
As a new solo-practitioner financial planning firm, Denise Wilcox was looking for a way to maintain a professional image on a new-business budget. Signing on with Davinci’s Suites virtual receptionist services was a decision that she would not regret.
With Davinci’s virtual receptionist services your company can have an impressive office setting, an expert receptionist, and many other support services that allow you to maintain a professional appearance with limited expense. Your clients won’t even know that your office is not on-site. In fact, they’ll appreciate how nice the building is as well as compliment you for hiring such a great receptionist!
Having the Davinci virtual office can free you from worrying about maintaining an office and managing staff. This will allow you to concentrate on building your business and serving your clientele. That should be the goal of every business owner.
Relevant Tags:virtual assistant, virtual business services, Virtual Receptionist

August 28th, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
If you’re a small business you may be handing business to your competitors without knowing it. Did you know that approximately 70% of people who call to enquire about a business service will not leave a message if they encounter voicemail? If you’re a small business chances are your time is spent running the business. But if you can’t be there to take the call who will? – Your competition will. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a receptionist who was there when you needed him/her? Well, stop dreaming and get your own virtual receptionist.
With your own virtual receptionist you can have all your calls professionally answered and the messages sent to you as a text and email. You can choose to send calls to your virtual receptionist as often or as seldom as needed. Your virtual receptionist will take a message for you, and then forward the message to you by either email, or text message right to your phone. Virtual receptionists are a great way to capture that business that you might otherwise lose while you’re away from the phone.
Relevant Tags:virtual assistants, Virtual Receptionist, virtual services

August 27th, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
If you have a small or medium business you may not have the need or ability to hire a full time receptionist. However, having someone to field calls, and answer customer questions is surely an asset to any growing business. If you can’t afford to hire a full or part time receptionist, a virtual receptionist may be just what you’ve been looking for. Here are some of the benefits of a virtual receptionist:
- Hold music – If your client must be placed on hold they will won’t get dead space but will hear hold music.
- Multiple Line Phone Systems – Avoid missing calls or getting voicemail. Your virtual receptionist only answers the phone for you and up to four other businesses.
- Live Call Screen, Transfer, Forwarding – we can screen your calls for you and make sure you get the most important calls right away.
- Calendar/Appointment Scheduling – keep organized and one point of contact for your meeting and appointments.
- Order Processing & Customer Service – your customer may have found you through your web site but want to talk to a real person before ordering.
- Live Outbound & Sales Calling – we can actively partner with you to grow your business, finding new clients, and reminding clients of appointments.
- Toll Free Or Local Phone/Fax Number – studies show that just seeing an 1-800 number on your web site or business card instantly builds trust in your company.
- Voicemail & Voicemail To Email – You can get your voicemail via email or on your phone, whichever you prefer.
- Fax To Email and Professional Email Address – get your faxes in your inbox and never worry about having a fax machine again.
- Live Answering Minutes Plans – Like a cell phone plan, you pay for minutes you use.
All of these services provided by a virtual receptionist will help you to manage your time, and your business more effeciently, without the hassle of managing full time employees.
Relevant Tags:virtual assistants, Virtual Receptionist, virtual services

August 27th, 2008 by Stacey Barrus
If you’re a small business wanting compete with larger businesses a Virtual Assistant may be an invaluable tool. Here are some of the benefits of having a virtual assistant:
- Your virtual assistant will be up on the latest technology that you need to make your office run smoothly and efficiently.
- You won’t need to pay payroll taxes, benefits or insurance for a full-time employee. You’ll also save money by not having the phone system, office space, or other tools a receptionist or admin staff needs.
- We manage the employee, so you don’t have to handle hiring, managing an employee, or other issues.
- Our staff is already trained in the latest technology so you won’t have to incur ongoing training costs.
- We make sure your virtual assistant is compliant with federal and state regulations.
- With our professional services your company can operate much like a larger company. You know how much customer service can mean to a business. If you’re answering your cell phone on the road while you’re running your business, you cannot give the level of service your customers expect.
When you have a virtual assistant, you are essentially sharing a secretary or office manager. Your virtual assistant only works with a maximum of 5 clients at a time. They’ll always answer your phone with your business name.
Relevant Tags:virtual assistants, Virtual Receptionist, virtual services
