1) Why Highly Rated Businesses on Yelp Use Intelligent Office’s Virtual Receptionists
Businesses take advantage of Intelligent Office’s virtual receptionist program to help them achieve their sales and customer service goals. These businesses include law firms, contractors, service businesses, and medical offices.
Read more.
2) Alternative Office Options for Service Professionals, Independent Workers, and Small Businesses
A
new survey by Intelligent Office finds that people are choosing where they want to work rather than being assigned a standard work place location. There is a culture shift taking place in which today’s worker is personalizing and customizing where they work, and they want to be flexible, mobile and independent. The strong trend towards working at home is increasing, and the International Data Corporation forecasts the U.S. home office market to grow by 5 million home-based businesses and corporate offices between 2011 and 2015. The workspace spectrum between a home office and a traditional office, however, includes various other options such as virtual office, executive office suite, and subleased space. Read more.
3) Why Companies are Bringing Offshore Call Centers Back to the US
The percentage of high-tech call centers that are offshore has decreased from 30% to 12% over the past three years, according to an “Insourcing American Jobs” forum hosted at the White House in January 2012.
Read more.
For Attorneys (but applicable to other industries too):
1) How Virtual Office Solutions Can Help Attorneys Overcome Challenges in Marketing, Client Acquisition, and Overhead Costs
According to
Harvard Law School, 35% of US lawyers are sole practitioners. Another study using data from the American Bar Association and American Bar Foundation estimates that 68% of all attorneys in private practice in the US are sole practitioners or in firms with ten or fewer attorneys. A solo practice or micro-boutique provides attorneys with autonomy, flexibility, and independence. Read more.
2) How Virtual Receptionists Can Help Attorneys Overcome Client Acquisition Challenges
A May 2012
billable hours survey by LexisNexis reported that 39% of the time worked by a solo or two-attorney firm is not billed, compared to 8% for larger law firms. Among the various reasons hypothesized for the gap are not using staff for non-billable hours and spending time on networking and business development. While client acquisition can be time-consuming, sole practitioners and small law firms still need a robust client acquisition strategy to generate a good flow of new client business. Virtual office solutions are one answer to some of these challenges. Read more.
3) How Virtual Office Solutions Can Help Attorneys Overcome Overhead Costs Challenges
Managing expenses is a special challenge for sole practitioners and small law firms. Overhead expenses can account for about 35% of gross revenues for sole practitioners, and according to a
Survey of Law Firm Economics by Altman Weil Publications, Inc., they average 44% for small law firms. Read more.
4) Condensed version (PDF) of #1, 2, and 3 published on The Recorder.
5) Office Space: Some practices are best served by alternative workspaces, and there are several viable options for today's attorneys
Thanks to modern technology, working in a traditional office is no longer the only alternative for many attorneys, particularly those operating outside a large law firm. For a solo practitioner or attorney at a small law practice, working from home is more common and accepted today. Many lawyers know of at least one other lawyer who works from home, and this trend is on the rise. But the workspace spectrum between a home office and a corporate office includes other options worth considering, such as virtual offices, executive office suites and subleased space.
Read the reprint of the article published on The Recorder.
6) Running a Virtual Law Office Practice on a Secure Cloud is Ethically Permissible
Formal Opinion Issued by The State Bar of California.
7) Law firms can enter new markets quickly and cost-effectively
Expanding into new markets can be a great way for a law firm to grow, but it can be a daunting task because of market uncertainties, setup and operational challenges, organizational/management issues, and costs. A virtual office, though, can greatly facilitate the process. It is possible for a law firm to have a professional business presence in a new city in one day and at less than the cost of one typical billable hour per month. The law firm can then immediately market and generate new client business. Read the
reprint of the article published on The Recorder (PDF).
