You have0 free article left this month.
Register for a free account to access unlimited free content.
You have 0 free article left this month.
Register for a free account to access unlimited free content.

Lawyers Weekly - legal news for Australian lawyers

Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
lawyers weekly logo

Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA

Goodbye job applications, hello dream career
Seize control of your career and design the future you deserve with LW career

The virtual office – how does it work and how can you benefit from one?

The online world is fast disrupting the legal fraternity and the way work is competed for and completed for clients, and it is not going to stop, writes Garth Brown.

user iconGarth Brown 07 April 2017 SME Law
Garth Brown
expand image

For hundreds of years, bricks and mortar offices have been the corner stone of legal practices – they have dominated how clients interact for the provision of legal services.

The Uber effect is now here and some firms are reducing stress on overheads, harnessing the online word and starting to use “virtual offices” complemented by websites, apps and cloud computing.

How does a VO work and how can it complement or assist you to live a more balanced life with less stress over income and expenses, and reduced work travel time to and from work?

A virtual office is a complex located in the CBD or a regional centre where a group of professional offices with meeting rooms and number of secretaries are taking phone messages, collecting and scanning mail to a practitioner working from home, on a cloud-based legal practice management system connected to the internet.

A client will then contact your phone number that is redirected to the VO and a VA (virtual assistant). The VA deciphers who is calling and where they are from as well as the purpose of phone call, places the call on hold and contacts you via telephone to find out what you, as the practitioner, want to do with the call.

Another fantastic feature is the ability of your VA to message, then email the message and contact details of a caller if, for example, you've taken a half-day or  a week's holiday from work. The VA's work will allow you to scroll through your messages that are now in the order of which is the most important and who to return the call to.

All mails are directed to your VO, where your VA emails the physical mail to you. It also allows clients and couriers to deliver any documents if needed.

If you need to meet with your client in the office, a small fee can be arranged at the VO in one of their professional offices. It makes you look and feel professional while avoids you having to fit out a new office, a new expensive phone system and employing staff and their entitlements.

In fact, some firms have all their staff/partners working under this VO arrangement, whereby telephone calls are diverted to different numbers around the city.

To start down this track is scary, but I've kept at it and now have been operating like this for almost 10 years.

Success is taking calculated risks, visualising where the future is heading and making adjustments now before it is too late.

Garth Brown is an award-winning conveyancer and founder of Brown and Brown Conveyancers, based in Sydney. Mr Brown has published conveyancing apps for consumers - "Ask Conveyancer" - and written a series of successful eBooks - "Step by Step Guide to Operating a Successful Conveyancing/Legal Practice". He offers highly professional consultancy services to the industry to assist practitioners ‘how to’ operate their practice more efficiently, profitably and successfully by working less hours and enjoying a satisfying work/life balance.

Tags
Comments (5)
  • Avatar
    I am a big supporter of using virtual office addresses for many reasons. That said, a virtual office address does not qualify for a "Google My Business" listing. The main focus of an GMB listing is to provide local searches with a list of businesses which can be found open and present at their respective listing address.
    I found that there was one Seattle office provider who I have found an expert provider of virtual office space worldwide and am happy to share there website, bscofficespace.com/. That said, please consider how a virtual office address is used in Google search and search results by considering the Google My Business guidelines. Guidelines for representing your business on Google [can be found online].
    6
  • Avatar
    Of course virtual offices in retrospect do increase your business potential growth. Virtual offices these days are becoming more popular as it provides the necessary environment needed for a small or a large business. To outgrow you business competitors these days it's important that you stay updated with current market trends and strategies. Booking a meeting room or conference room are a way to increase your business growth as you don't want to invest big in a financial way. There are many service providers for rented office spaces or meeting rooms on rent or virtual offices or you can search them online for further clarification. Whichever business it may be, they can be considered as best options to glorify your business.
    0
  • Avatar
    It's great that you mention the use of a virtual assistant for legal professionals. I myself have established a stand alone virtual assistant business specialising in legal support. I've felt that there is a slight hesitancy in utilising this sort of service, perhaps out of fear of the unknown? It's a really fantastic business model simply because, such as in my case, you get the assistance of a highly skilled legal PA with more than ten years experience working for and with senior barristers and law firm partners to hep relieve the administrative burden of running your practice. And you can work to a budget, based on the actual level of support that you need - why pay someone to sit in an office for 8 hours if your work can be done in 2? It's exciting to think of all the ways that we can support legal professionals in their journey through digital disruption.
    0
  • Avatar
    Virtual offices - long favoured by corporate criminals. If you run a legitimate business, this isn't the way to go.

    0
  • Avatar
    Recently, virtual offices are becoming very popular as they provide the extra services and the sophisticated atmosphere that it needs to increase its productivity and profitability of any business. Even booking a meeting space has become very popular with many of the companies (both large and small companies). There are many reasons to this, why companies are switching to virtual offices services as they offer a lot of benefits compared to a traditional set up, particularly for new businesses that are on a limited budget.
    0
Avatar
Attach images by dragging & dropping or by selecting them.
The maximum file size for uploads is MB. Only files are allowed.
 
The maximum number of 3 allowed files to upload has been reached. If you want to upload more files you have to delete one of the existing uploaded files first.
The maximum number of 3 allowed files to upload has been reached. If you want to upload more files you have to delete one of the existing uploaded files first.
Posting as
You need to be a member to post comments. Become a member for free today!