Virtual assistant

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Not to be confused with conversational agent or virtual personal assistant.
See also Virtual Assistance.

A Virtual Assistant (typically abbreviated to VA, also called a virtual office assistant)[1] is an entrepreneur who provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients from a home office.[2][3] With a full range of options to choose from, you can customize your remote receptionist service to meet your exact needs. Your calls can be screened, announced and seamlessly connected to you or your employees anywhere [4]. They usually work for other small businesses, brokers and consultancy groups.[5] It is estimated that there are as few as 5,000-8,000 or as many as 35,000 Virtual Assistants worldwide; the profession is growing in centralized economies[6] with "fly-in, fly-out" (FIFO) staffing practices.[7][8][9]

Common modes of communication and data delivery include the Internet, e-mail and phonecall conferences,[10] online work spaces, and fax machine. Professionals in this business work on a contractual basis and a long-lasting cooperation is standard. Typically 5 years of administrative experience in an office is expected at such positions as executive assistant, office manager/supervisor, secretary, legal assistant, paralegal, legal secretary, real estate assistant, information technology, et cetera.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Unattributed (2002). "Real work in virtual offices". International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 51 (4/5): 266-268. ISSN 1741-0401. 
  2. ^ Starks, Misty (July/August 2006). Helping Entrepreneurs, VirtuallyPDF (2643.3 KiB), D-MARS. Retrieved on 2008-07-27.
  3. ^ Youngblood, Sharon. "Virtual help is on the way" (reprint). Inside Tucson Business 15 (52): p. 11. http://www.youngbloodconsulting.com/pdf/Best_Practices/Virtual-Assistant-Jun-06.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  4. ^ ”Remote Reception Service”. Intelligent Office of Garden City, Roger Kahn. http://www.virtualofficeny.com/services.html.
  5. ^ Finkelstein, Brad (February/March 2005). "Virtual Assistants A Reality". Broker Magazine 7 (1): 44-46. ISSN 1540-0824. 
  6. ^ Virtual Assistance — "A Global Economy… A Local Business"PDF (20.1 KiB.) Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
  7. ^ Outsourcing Comes of Age: The Rise of Collaborative PartneringPDF (548 KiB), PricewaterhouseCoopers. Retrieved on 2008-07-27.
  8. ^ Rose, Barbara (2005-12-21). "Personal Assistants Get a High-tech Makeover". Standard-Times. http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-21-05/l02ca250.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  9. ^ Meyer, Ann (2006-05-22). "Technology links virtual businesses: Advances spur rise in collaborative work" (reprint). Chicago Tribune. http://www.motiontemps.com/index_files/Tribune506.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-14. 
  10. ^ Johnson, Tory (2007-07-23). "Work-From-Home Tips: Job Opportunities for Everyone". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/gma/takecontrolofyourlife/Story?id=2621388&page=1. Retrieved 2008-07-28. 
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