Virtual office services are becoming increasingly popular as more and more people take the plunge into entrepreneurship and start their own businesses. I have found Pacific Workplaces to be the best overall virtual office service.
It is common practice for freelancers and start-ups to start off with a home office, and this is not a bad choice at all, but it does have its limitations, like not having a professional office to meet-up with your clients.
If you are looking to scale your business and gain the confidence of your clients and investors, it becomes imperative to step things up with a professional workspace.
In this post I review the best virtual office services available in the market today.
So, lets get into it.
What are the Best Virtual Office Services?
1. Pacific Workplaces
Best Overall Service
If you are running a small work-from-home business or just starting off in business and are not ready to commit to a full-time work office, then Pacific Workplaces is an excellent virtual office service choice.
You can enjoy all the benefits of a full-time, traditional office space without the overheads and the headache of maintaining an office.
Do you do a lot of traveling in your business? Even better! With nearly 1,000 virtual offices worldwide, a professional business office awaits you in any major city that you travel to.
For a fraction of the cost of a traditional rented office, Pacific Workplaces offers you access to a virtual office, co-working spaces, meeting rooms, and receptionists who take your calls and screen them before patching them to your mobile.
You can even enjoy collaborating and networking with other entrepreneurs you meet in their organized events and member programs
Their clients rate them a 5/5 on Trustpilot and feel that with their caring and friendly staff, Pacific Workplaces is good value for $$$.
Key Features
- They scan your mail and email it wherever you are.
- Your phone is answered by a receptionist with a personalized greeting.
- Networking opportunities with like-minded people
- Lightning-speed WiFi
- Business mailing address and more
Pricing
Pacific Workplaces offers 4 Paid Plans:
- Mail Plan $49 per month
- On-The-Go-Office: $119 per month
- V-Office Part-Time Office: $169 per month
- V-Office Plus Part-Time Office: $239 per month
For accurate pricing specific to your location visit the Pacific Workplaces website for a quote.
2. Premier Workspaces
Best All-inclusive Service
While you may enjoy the freedom of working from home, maybe you are just tired of the inconvenience of using your dining room table as a desk, or the hustle of meeting with clients in noisy coffee shops.
If your business runs within the borders of the US then Premier Workspaces is a good virtual office service that can come to your aid.
Premier Workspaces offer high-end private office spaces in over 90 prestigious locations. Their service is excellent and pricing quite affordable, which makes them an excellent choice for keeping your overheads low.
Included in their service is all the basics you need in a virtual office, from mail service to professional phone answering. They also offer conference rooms and team spaces for large group meetings.
You could even rent an office just for an hour, a day or a week if that’s what you need; they are very flexible.
Key Features
- Mail collection & distribution, including packages
- Professional phone answering
- Voicemail & voicemail to email
- Free internet access on-site
- Free local & domestic long distance calls
- 24-Hour Access, 7 Days a Week
Pricing
Plans start at $50/month and do vary by location. Contact the Premier Workspaces sales team for an accurate price for your location.
3. Alliance Virtual Offices
Best for Live Receptionist Services
While working from home is great, it’s really not for everyone. If you’ve got little children like myself then you know how hard it can be to concentrate with all that screaming and running around the house all day. You would be far more productive in a more conducive work environment.
Now imagine if you could have a virtual office service that comes with live receptionists that would take and manage calls from your clients while you focus on other aspects of your business. How convenient would that be?
Well, you can stop imagining because Alliance offers you just that- a professional work environment that will help you regain focus and maximize productivity.
With offices in all the major cities, they’ve got you covered with a virtual office service that will give you credibility with clients, investors and banks wherever your business takes you.
Alliance is a great option for most people because their service comes with the entire package – from live receptionists and virtual phones to meeting rooms and co-working spaces.
You would be hard pressed to find a virtual office feature you need that they do not offer. Many of their clients are especially impressed with how easy it is to set up an office and how exceptional their customer service is.
Key Features
- Recognized business address.
- Receive unlimited letters.
- Mail receipt and local pickup.
- Access to meeting and private space.
- Use for business licensing.
- Use for opening a bank account.
- Use on website & business cards.
- Lobby receptionist to greet visitors.
- Live receptionists to answer calls 7 days a week.
Pricing
Alliance Virtual offers 3 Paid Plans that are inclusive of the live receptionist service
- Live Receptionist 50: $95/month
- Live Receptionist 100: $145/month
- Live Receptionist 200: $225/month
Office prices start from as little as $48.00 per month depending on your location.
For exact pricing for your location simply type in your city on the company website and you’ll get the monthly rate for your location.
Try Alliance Virtual today.
4. Allied Offices
Best For U.S and Canada Based Entrepreneurs
When we talk of Allied Offices the first thing that comes to my mind is flexibility and on-the-go technology for your business. For example, if you earn money working as photographer, and you do a lot of travelling in your work, then Allied Offices is a great virtual office choice for you.
What’s unique about the Allied virtual office service is that they offer you the convenience of running your business straight from your smartphone. Now, can it get more convenient than that?
Using their business app, you can make business calls and SMS messages to clients right from your phone. The app keeps your personal phone number hidden and only reflects your business caller ID.
Furthermore, live receptionists are at your service 24/7, literally! So if you have a pressing deadline to meet then they’ve got you covered with around-the-clock service.
Key Features
- 24/7 access
- Receive Faxes Right to Your Email
- A professional company address with mail forwarding.
- Office and meeting spaces
- Copy and print services
- LCD TVs and Projectors
- Receptionists sign for deliveries and, accept documents from your clients on your behalf
Pricing
Allied Office plans start from as low as $38 per month but do differ based on location. Contact the Allied Office sales team for an accurate price.
5. Regus
Best for Business Networking
For a more high-end office that offers you the opportunity to collaborate with people in your industry, then Regus private office space is your best bet.
Through their range of well-organized networking events, Regus gives you a great opportunity to scale your influence and open new doors for your business by collaborating with other like-minded entrepreneurs.
This is a great opportunity given that millions of business owners from diverse industries use Regus office spaces worldwide.
Regus offers full package virtual office service with flexible terms, allowing you to rent office space from an hour to months depending on your requirements. Their reach is far and wide as they have over 3,000 offices in 150 countries across the globe.
Key Features
- Professional reception team to greet your guests
- Regular networking and personal growth events
- Shared breakout areas for meeting others and collaboration
- Live receptionists
- Business-grade WiFi
- Access to printers and scanners
- Manage your account and make office bookings via the Regus app
Pricing
Pricing is customized as per your unique requirements. Contact the Regus sales team for a quote.
Factors Considered When Writing this Review
The factors I took into consideration include:
- Features
- Customer support
- Price
- And More
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Choose a Virtual Office Service?
These are the five basic features to look for in choosing a virtual office service.
Customer Service
For me, customer service is a deal maker or breaker when it comes to choosing the best virtual office for my business.
I think of the virtual office company staff as your staff because they will be serving you and your clients directly. If they fail to impress you when you book an office with them, you can be sure that the next time you meet with your clients at their offices your clients won’t have a good experience either.
So what key features should you look for to test the quality of their customer service?
Assess if the staff is friendly and professional. How do they deal with customer complaints? Are the receptionists able to establish rapport when answering client calls?
If you have booked a conference room for a presentation do they have everything in place? The projector, whiteboard, water for your clients and so on… is everything as you ordered? Or is the staff busy running around when you and your clients are already waiting on them?
Consider all these factors before you decide to settle with any one virtual office service company.
Pro Tip: Reading customer reviews online can give you honest and transparent information quicker. I recommend Trustpilot.
Location
Consider your customer profile. Who is it that you serve? Your virtual office must first and foremost suit your clients. In my opinion, your convenience and personal preferences come second. You are there to serve the client after all, not the other way round.
Even if you are not happy with certain aspects of the location, if the client is happy, you can always adjust. On the contrary, if it’s the client who’s not happy they will leave, and you’ll lose their business.
So, choose a location that is most convenient and agreeable to your clients. If you offer accounting services for instance choose an office that is in the area where most of your potential clients are located. Do not make a client drive for an hour to meet with you at your office when they could have reached you with a 10-minute walk down the block.
On the other hand, you don’t want to kill yourself in the name of serving your clients either. Consider how often you’ll need to use the office space and the distance from your home.
If the office is a 3 hr drive from your house and you have to commute every day then it makes no sense at all to get an office that far. All that time on the road could have been spent on actually serving your clients or finding new ones instead of just driving to the office.
What’s the bottom line then?
Try to find a balance between what works for you and what works for your clients as well.
The customer comes first but you also matter; it’s your business after all.
Makes sense?
Consider The Nature and Demands of Your Business
What kind of business do you run? Do you travel a lot or do your operations run smoothly from one location?
If you are a wildlife photographer and spend most of your time traveling to exotic places around the world then the best virtual office for your small business is one that has facilities in multiple cities around the globe.
Pro Tip: Another factor to consider is how many days a week your potential virtual office service provider is open.
Are they open only on weekdays or on weekends too? If you’re a freelancer and you do most of your office work mainly on weekends or even late into the night, the best virtual office for your small business is one that is open 24/7.
Extra Amenities
Think about this for a moment.
On your way to the office to meet with your client, would you rather have to go via Starbucks to get coffee or would you prefer to get it at your office?
What about coffee for your client? Wouldn’t it be great if you would both get your coffee at your office, instead of having the poor guy sitting there drooling at your coffee because catering for clients is not included in your plan?
Hahaha… just kidding! But you get the point.
Well, it’s obvious what the best choice is right?
The best virtual office service will put both your needs and those of your clients first.
Networking Opportunities
Your small business will grow through strategic connections and relationships that you build over time. Virtual offices are some of the best places to meet like-minded entrepreneurs that you could collaborate with.
If you are a blogger like myself, you could meet with other bloggers in a collaborative virtual office and build a mutually beneficial business relationship.
Who Has The Best Virtual Office?
I have found Pacific Workplaces and Premier Workspaces to be the best virtual office services with all the features that most people need.
They have multiple offices around the globe making them an excellent option even for traveling entrepreneurs. They also have high user ratings on Trustpilot, 4.8/5 and 4.7/5 respectfully.
How Much Does a Virtual Office Cost?
Virtual offices are usually charged based on location as they usually work in multiple locations around the world. Prices can start from as low as $38 per month for basic features like access to an office, business address and mail handling.
For more advanced services like live receptionist, personalized call answering and call screening, monthly costs can go as high as $239 or more depending on your location and the company you choose.
Conclusion
This list of the best virtual office services is certainly not exhaustive but it will jog your mind and guide you in your decision-making process. So, take some time to reflect on what really matters to you and your business and then do some fact-finding to find the best match for your business.
I sure hope you found this article helpful.
Which virtual office features are the best for you?
Let me know in the comments below.
To your success!
