Virtual offices are being in demand that is growing during the last 2 years. That means that their number is increasing as well. You may ask as – why they are getting so popular attracting more and more businesses? Over the past decade technological progress made a great step forward having grated a variety of new services and facilities The Internet has given the users a possibility to find answers to any questions and to obtain information or knowledge within moments. People needed a new service that would help to facilitate business process and make it more profitable, secure and productive. So, the idea of virtual offices has been born.  

Actually virtual office is a mobile or remote work-environment equipped with telecommunication links and basic office furniture, but without a fixed office space. In other words it’s a situation when a company's employees do not go to office every day, but instead of that use their computers connected to the Internet to communicate with each other from the different places. Virtual office is a term for shared office services, which normally includes business address, mail and courier services, phone services, fax services, answering services, web hosting services, and meeting and conference facilities. Concerning the date of implementing the idea of virtual office - it is arguable: Servcorp considers to be an originator of the virtual office and serviced office terms and industries in 1978, however Chris Kern claims to have created the term ‘virtual office’ for a magazine article published in 1983.

Certain providers of virtual office services will provide other in-house or outsourced services such as corporate secretarial services, accounting services, or legal services. Professional firms such as law firms and accounting firms often provide registered address services as part of their service offerings. Most of the virtual office providers are located in major cities (e.g. New York, London, Hong Kong) since it is very prestigious to have registration in those cities. However, there is also a great number of providers in industrial parks & science parks around the world, including NETPark Net - a Virtual Science Park which offer's Virtual Office services which attract technology or manufacturing-based companies.

Typically, the users of virtual office services are those who:

•    Seeking a low-risk alternative to renting a conventional office; 
•    Testing a new product or service idea; 
•    Downsizing from a conventional office; 
•    Migrating from using a post office box; 
•    Seeking to establish a business presence in the provider's country or city; 
•    Seeking a business address within an expensive location, for corporate image purposes; 
•    Seeking a business address as its registered business address for complying to government regulation; 
•    Seeking supportive business services such as answering services; 
•    Seeking a proxy for collection or "fielding" of mail and parcels.

Summarize that we can say that the potential users of the virtual office are those who target to get all the conveniences and benefits from their business with the minimum losses. One of such benefits is Speed, which is necessary to act on opportunities without useless delay that may result in loss of business or income. Another is Image that reflects business appearance and its activity. Time is one of the key factors in business. Sometimes a single minute can influence the success of the whole corporation. With virtual office people may save a lot of time since they will not need to waste time to reach the office, to look through the correspondence in the sealed envelopes and etc. And finally it is Efficiency to carry out the functions in a way that can strengthen business during the cooperation with partners and competition with rivals.  

Popularity of the virtual offices is statistically growing up. Today about seven to ten percent of employees work in some form of virtual offices. But why virtual offices haven't been accepted or noticed by most businesses? That's because of the certain human reasons: some of businessmen feel uncomfortable with the impersonal communication between management, service providers, and customers, other ones believe that virtual office employees are not controlled enough to do their jobs properly. Besides using virtual office system businesses can modernize their communications systems and technology. Many small and big businesses trend to have multiple offices across the country or abroad. The installation of a voice-over IP system within a virtual office can save companies time and money instead of the big expenses for incoming and outgoing phone calls within the. The benefits in connecting this system involve reduced costs in intra-office toll charges, expansion in work force, hardware, and voice mail message systems. Employees productivity supposed to be increased as they don't have to spend a lot of time to get to an office, they are able to do their work in a place they feel comfortable and at a time that's better for them. So choosing a virtual office can reduce mental stress greatly.  

However, there are some disadvantages of virtual offices as well. They are as follows: 
•    Big number of companies using the same address; 
•    Lack of government regulation, resulting in fly-by-night providers; 
•    Usage by fraudulent companies due to ease of registration; 
•    Lack of structured training of service staff, as it is a niche industry.

Don’t be scared by that – dealing in any business sphere supposes at least minimal risks. You just should be more careful and cautious, and of course before choosing some company to set up an office – study it thoroughly, estimate all the benefits and risks.  

So you decided to set virtual office up and the first thing you need is to choose the company that will create that virtual office for you. Today there is a variety of such providers that have their own formats and approaches. The most known companies are NETPark Net, CMS (Corporate Management Services), Slashdot, ContactOffice, Office General, Sun, Your Office, and etc. 

Some companies provide the business addresses that allow the users to receive mail, handle shipments and orders, and even to sign up for mailing if it is requested. Other services that can also be rendered by the virtual office providers in addition to the listed ones are telephone, including voicemail and remote access. Just choose whatever is convenient for you and your business. Virtual offices can even have various conference rooms for meetings with clients. These services are also much savvier than having to rent out offices for a small home-owned or starting business. Most virtual offices provide clients with calendars to organize events and dates. Personal discussions in either forums or online messenger systems are available at servers' fingertips. Employees study the contact information that is available for customers, suppliers, and partners. Announcements keep everyone informed of any new information in emails. Clients can also keep their virtual office constantly informed on press releases, policies, any new information that changes their business. Credibility plays a huge factor in gaining more customers by appealing to small businesses, seeking to expand. If a company has an 800 number, associated with their market reach, they are more likely to be believed as a larger and more prominent corporation. The same reigns true with virtual offices and if they provide toll free numbers. Actually a lot of businesses today have virtual offices and find it convenient, profitable and secure, but almost no one confess to having it.  

One more important thing is a price. Naturally it varies in different companies. Most of them offer a package of services that is more profitable than to select the separate ones as discounts are provided. Price also depends on services rendered by the companies, and on stability and position on the market. On average, businesses are paying something between $1.57 - $2.09 per sq. foot, per month, so if for instance a business operates in a 1,900 sq. foot office it have to pay on average $2,983 - $3,971 per month for office rent, and that is for a quite small office. That’s only rent. And you have to pay out more money: for example, the cost of employee social security taxes, bonuses, health care, work comp insurance and office overhead can total over $15,000 added on to just one administrative professional's base salary. Virtual office provider will supply you totally with the services on average just for $25,000 – 30,000 a year, or $2,000 – 2,500 per month. That’s much more profitable as compared with $45,000-60,000 per year you’d have to pay for your brick and mortar business. According to virtuso.com research virtual office allows its owners to save up to 60% on office expenses. So the profitability of setting up a virtual office is obvious. 

Let’s see the prices of the virtual office services by the example of Your Office service provider. It offers you a basic service suit (including Telephone Line and Private Number, Voice Mail, Telephone Answering Service for 200 calls, Additional Calls After the First 200 Calls, Customized Greeting, Calls Answered Away from the Front Desk, Business Address/Mail Receiving Services, Building Directory Listing) for just $150 compared with others who offer it for $225. As for the additional services this company provides the following: Call Screening $50, Day Office $10 per hour and $ 60 per day, Small Conference Room $10 per hour and $ 60 per day, Boardroom-Large Conference Room $30 per hour and $ 180 per day, Additional Phone Calls (after the first 200 calls) $.40 per Each, Additional People on the Account $10 Each, Additional Companies on the Account $25 Each, Email Notification of Voice Mail Received$10 per month, Fax to Email (Incoming faxes to your email in-box) $20, Voice Mail to Email (Voice mail to your email in-box) $20. However, as we have already said prices varies, so for instance the additional services offered by NETPark Net will cost you a little bit more. The company has the following fees: Mail Forwarding Weekly £100, Mail Forwarding Daily £400, NETPark fax number £200, etc. Nevertheless, despite the ranging prices offered by different companies the advantages and profits of the virtual office are beyond any doubts. 
Having chosen the provider it’s time to prepare the personnel. The first necessary thing is to make sure that every office member has a computer connected to the Internet which meets their software needs. Other things such access to fax, copy, and other professional services can also be required. Create a mail drop for any mail that the virtual office would receive, and take the time to hire an accountant and an administrative assistant. Contact your local government to make sure that all of the proper paperwork has been filled out and submitted, and also be prepared to make tax payments to the IRS for all of the employees that will be working from their own home office setups alongside you.

Today many people afraid of working in a virtual office because of the temptation to do things other than work is very strong. Others find that their productivity actually increases once they become accustomed to setting their own schedule and planning their day accordingly. They explain this fact easily: such way of work let them feel themselves comfortable planning their own schedule and choosing the time of day and night that is better for them, when they have the most energy and are more focused on the tasks. The important part of establishing good productivity within a virtual office is that a set of rules and regulations must be created for all employees and freelancers to follow. These rules may include pay-roll policies, timesheet documentation and submission, protocols for client contact and interpersonal correspondence, and the development of rules concerning use of the virtual office website and databases. The important thing is to make sure that the rules which you create are both fair and reasonable, so that they can help personal productivity to prosper instead of causing it to stagnate due to policies which sometimes appear to be too strict.

So there is a number of reasons influence you to set up virtual office. Benefits of choosing virtual office are obvious for all kinds of business: small, medium or big, located in this country or abroad. And you can establish a new business with a virtual office or convert an existing business into a virtual office format - it’s up to you…