Mr Banerjee was keen to expand his Kolkata operations to Delhi, but that would take him at least six months to get off the ground. First, he needs an office space on rent. After days of hunt, he spotted a tiny shop in a popular mall. He bought a professional computer, along with essential furniture. He then started looking for a trustworthy person to take care of the office, attend telephone calls and receive once-in-a-blue-moon visitors. He sounded out all friends in Delhi for the right guy, to no avail. Nobody was ready to sit all alone in an office doing practically nothing all day. If one came forward, Banerjee had no guarantee that the guy was trustworthy.

What Banerjee didn’t know was that a virtual office could have taken care of all his needs at a fraction of the cost, sparing him all the pain. It would also have given him the option of dumping the office if things do not work to his plans. Many wannabe businessmen make the same mistake as Banerjee did. Scores of SME entrepreneurs lose out lucrative opportunities in international markets because of the formidable cost of setting up an office abroad and running it, little knowing that they could have managed everything from the comforts of their home or office here by hiring a virtual office. In fact, a virtual office is the best way to test the waters for any business or would-be entrepreneurs.

A typical virtual office (VO) offers you a prestigious city business address, a local telephone number and a dedicated receptionist answering calls in your company’s name, a network of professional meeting rooms/boardrooms together with facilities like videoconferencing, and a trained support team.

Broadly, the VO functions fall into two categories; communications services and space services. Communications services will include a ?remote receptionist?, a ?virtual assistant?, answering services, voice mail (not a preferable option, as studies show that up to 75% of callers simply hang up when their call is answered by a machine), ‘virtual’ office space (a high profile reputed address in a city) and the like.

Space services will include a professional address (you don’t have to be in fear of ransom calls), a receptionist to receive and sign for incoming document deliveries, business meeting space?conference rooms and offices for meetings?on hourly, daily or weekly basis on short notice, a casual workspace (just to avoid the distractions of co-working or the interruptions of a home office) on a ?drop-in? basis and an executive suite.

Any full-service virtual office will provide onsite amenities like broadband Internet, fax-copier-printer, advanced phone features, conference calling, video conferencing, kitchenette and a lobby/waiting area.

Though all these services are available at the click of a mouse, unfortunately, many small entrepreneurs in India, especially those operating from small cities and rural areas, are unaware of the existence of virtual offices and the unlimited possibilities offered by them.

Common virtual office users in developed countries are home-based entrepreneurs, accountants, law firms, mobile sales people, trades, doctors, business consultants, frequent travellers, chambers of commerce, real estate & mortgage companies, stock brokers/financial planners and the like.

Though the trend is only catching up in India, a host of local players are already there in the VO space. In fact, the entry barriers for the communications services are so low that a VO can be run as a home-based business.

International players like Regus and Servcorp Virtual Office are also present in India. Global players can offer Indian entrepreneurs virtual offices in any part of the world, with reliability. Regus, for instance, has over 1,100 offices worldwide and 24 in India alone.

Service charges for a foreign office can be expensive (see sample menu from a US player), but it would still be a fraction of what would otherwise have cost you in terms of office rentals and wages, along with the hassles of making several trips abroad to set up an office. VO receptionists can keep you off the associated burden of health care, records, payroll, insurance & rent as well as time-off (sick days, vacations, personal leaves). Moreover, a VO will set an entrepreneur free to focus on his core business than getting caught in the trivia of running an office. You don’t even have to commute daily to attend office!

Another advantage is that a VO client can do low-cost expansion with no long-term commitments, while it provides him with the flexibility to match expenses with revenue fluctuations immediately, as the costs are usually variable.

It doesn’t mean that hiring a virtual office is the end of all troubles for you. Many users lament security issues, impersonal staff with high turnover, language barriers, translation errors and a less-than-professional image. Many of this can, though, be avoided through a careful, word-of-mouth selection of the service provider.