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How VoIP can create virtual offices | WhichVoIP

How VoIP can create virtual offices

Web 2.0 innovations and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) have given way to a new virtual world of business. No longer chained to brick and mortar, small and midsize businesses are creating virtual offices that allow them to collaborate across great distances, and operate on a more level playing field with much larger organizations.

Many successful small businesses supplement their brick and mortar space with virtual offices, or in some cases, work exclusively through virtual offices with each participant laboring in front of a notebook in a home office, clad in pajamas and bathrobe. Yet the available technology allows them to do business in this way while remaining highly professional, and gaining critical competitive advantages.

Numerous Web 2.0 technologies make up the paradigm of virtual offices, but chief among those technologies is VoIP. The primary need for virtual offices is to have transparent communications between all parties, regardless of location, and to have all parties on the same phone exchange.

This is achieved through a hosted IP PBX service, which connects all parties on a common exchange, just as if they were all in the same office using a standard PBX system. In other words, Joe in San Francisco can dial Jack in New York, or even transfer a call over to him, just by dialing his extension.

The Virtual Office

The virtual offices paradigm can create an environment where everybody is under the same area code and exchange, as though in the same office; alternately, it is possible to create the appearance of multiple "branch offices" in multiple cities, or even multiple countries. One could for example, create a phone number on the hosted PBX with a San Francisco area code, even if no members of the company are located there, just for the purpose of convenience for San Francisco clients.

Before the appearance of VoIP services, the operation of virtual offices was impractical, and small businesses attempting to operate in this manner were at a distinct disadvantage. The aura of professionalism that the VoIP service lends gives those smaller businesses a "leg up" on the competition, and can even create the illusion of a much larger organization.

Additional features and conveniences available through VoIP also contribute greatly to the virtual offices model. For example, because VoIP is not routed through the Internet, and not the traditional, circuit-switched network, it is even possible for one member of the virtual company to simply "take their phone number with them" while traveling on business—creating the advantage of apparent continuity. With virtual offices, VoIP technology unhinges the phone number from a fixed, physical location.

The Virtual Office Advantage

The great advantage of virtual offices of course, besides the ability to operate on an enhanced level of professionalism, is the enormous cost advantage. Freed from having to operate multiple, physical brick and mortar sites, members of the virtual company are free to live and work wherever they like. The cost in comparison to traditional telephony is also substantially less, and users enjoy far more features as well. And in an era where competition is hard, businesses are shutting their doors every day, and facing the recession is the number one priority, any technology that can save a small business big dollars is a winner.

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