Australia: 21/05/2013 – More and more Australian firms are swapping their static offices for virtual ones.
Many firms are realising that their traditional office is expensive to run, and largely unnecessary. With home working and modern meeting techniques, most firms are no longer using their physical, permanent offices in the same way. Much of the time, their offices are half-empty. Many smaller firms end up with nobody in their office at all for most of the week. As a result, demand for a virtual office from thecluster.com.au has grown steadily.
The virtual office service is easy to set up and use. It allows firms of all sizes and types are provided with a prestigious address. Their customers, suppliers and other contacts can send mail to that address. This mail is posted on, or opened, scanned and e-mailed on.
Most virtual offices also allow firms to receive faxes, which are also forwarded on via e-mail. Naturally, customers believe that the firm they are buying from is physically based at the address of their virtual office. It is even possible to set up a dedicated phone line that is answered by a real person, who uses the right company name and takes messages or forwards calls.
International firms also want Australian virtual offices
The majority of Australia’s 640,000 registered companies provide services rather than physical products. In addition, a significant percentage of them are small businesses that employ less than three people. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that there is such strong demand for virtual offices in Australia. This kind of office provides the low-level admin support that firms need at an extremely low monthly cost. There is no need to employ a receptionist or even someone part-time to open and deal with the mail.
However, it is not just Australian firms that are turning to The Cluster for a virtual office. Firms from across the globe see having a presence in Australia as beneficial, so they are opening them too. Firms, who have a global customer base, find the time difference useful. Those that sign for the telephone service can forward their calls during the late evening to Australia. This ensures that their customers from across the globe can talk to a real person, day or night.