January 2004

Virtual Office Spaces for your Team Members

Sheryl Michilli

by Sheryl Michilli

Working virtually has recently taken on a whole new meaning. Working from home and collaborating with other home-based workers no longer has to mean sacrificing a central location for calendars, files, schedules and work logs. Now you can work with your client or colleague in the comfort of your own office without either of you having to leave your offices, and still have the protection of a secure workplace.

Virtual offices, also known as intranets, are becoming more and more common as the virtual world expands. Project managers use them to coordinate the tasks and people involved in developing their projects and to track budgeting issues. Field representatives of a company can easily maintain all their files and collaborate with their colleagues and supervisors. Virtual assistants use them to share and store files, coordinate the client’s calendar, and keep updated work-related logs. These online filing cabinets are in a central location and allow for review and approval of all documents. Any team member with an Internet connection can access the files.

Other features of an intranet include contacts, Outlook integration, polling, web links, E-mail notification, slide shows, FTP upload, and group discussions. The list goes on and can be adapted to your company’s needs.

Security is a major issue for all companies and the intranet developers know this. All online virtual offices are password protected and many provide the capability of creating a room within the intranet that can only be accessed by certain team members. Administrators of the intranets may also designate which members can make changes to a document and which members are only allowed to read them.

In fact, many Virtual Assistants have their own intranet that they use for all their clients. Each client has their own area within the VA’s virtual office and has access only to their own files and calendars. This allows for convenience for the VA and the client.

There are several companies that provide the security and convenience of having a virtual office workspace. Check out the capabilities of www.same-page.com, www.intranets.com and www.groove.net. They all provide the features that make working virtually easy and painless and at a very reasonable price.

About the Author

Sheryl Michilli is the owner of Kaisana Administrative Support, (www.kaisana.com), a virtual assistance company established in September 2001. Her experience in administrative procedures spans a period of over 20 years working in positions for the government and private sector, including Internal Revenue Service, Soil Conservation Service, Veterans Administration and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.