Virtualization Technology » Small Business Owners

Confidentiality Between You and Your Virtual Assistant

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:23:16 +0000

Confidentiality has a big relevance to small business owners in this inconstant technological society. Everyday, many secrets are revealed, online to off, through harmful content and carelessness. Trust and confidentiality became major issues in outsourcing work of any kind.

I have repeatedly heard the questions, “How can I know that you are not going to sell the information that I am giving you to someone else?”, and, “How can I know that you will be cautious about protecting my information from being exploited?” These are valid kinds of questions which should be inquired of any assistant, whether they’re in or out of your office.

Virtual Assistants are owners of small businesses who worked hard to take their businesses off the ground. They have had spend many hours researching their industry, making a website, logos, and marketing just as the one that you have. It could be months perhaps years before their businesses will start thriving, and they’ve invested a lot to get that result. It is not just a job for them but it is also their passion, their life, and livelihood. No thinking owner of a business will endanger their work over an issue as relevant to the customer as confidentiality. If a Virtual Assistant is careless about confidentiality, they might get a warning or lose their work. And, they lose much more because they are dependent on their reputation to make safe additional work, there are no rules which say you can’t tell an individual exactly why you have terminated them.

Information should be protected from unintentional loss, as well as from being careless and threats from the outside. A virus in the computer is expensive to the Virtual Assistant and client but the VA has the most lose. They will lose time, they may also have to spend more money for repairs, and if important information is lost, they should make compensation to the client. Anti-virus and etc. are essential components on the computer of any VA. A firewall, security passwords and encryption software are the basic elements that a VA installs and uses.

Printing information is just as susceptible as the technological info. The simple safety measure of shredding and then destroying all sensitive documents when the job is done guarantees that the info is destroyed in a way that it can’t be reconstructed. Sensitive documents can be protected throughout the project, by storing them in a secured cabinet and the key is kept by the Virtual Assistant.

If you have concerns about confidentiality on hiring a virtual assistant, here are a few questions that you can ask them:

1. How do you make safe of the confidential information on your PC?

2. How do you make safe of the confidential documents that are printed?

3. What are you going to do with the confidential documents as the conclusion of a project?

4. What are your policies in regards to sharing information among clients?

5. What information you consider to be confidential?

The answers to these questions will produce you important information in regard to picking a diligent and cautious Virtual Assistant so that you can start to build a long term bond with an individual who is going to aid you throughout your business.

“Written by OnDemandVA.com , the best place to hire a virtual assistant. OnDemandVA.com is the global leader in providing Virtual Assistant Services to busy professionals and SMB. Visit www.ondemandva.com and Hire your Virtual Assistant straight away at the price which no one in the industry can touch.

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Skype – ondemandva

Email – Sales@ondemandva.com”

By: On Demand Virtual Assistant

Virtual Office Pbx Phone Service

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:17:47 +0000

For small business owners, virtual office PBX phone service is a real blessing as regards handling their business calls. With its sophisticated features, this system acts as a convenient business communication tool, helping businessmen to stay in constant touch with their business associates and clients. Easy to ImplementThe implementation process of virtual office PBX phone service is quite simple. The service providers guarantee you all the functions of a premise based PBX system through dedicated telephone lines. It is not necessary for you to maintain any of the expensive PBX equipment in your premises. Regarding the charges involved, you need make monthly payments only for the utilized services. Incorporated with Advanced Technology In order to manage the calls efficiently, the virtual office PBX phone service is provided with auto attendant, fax mail, voicemail, find me follow me call forwarding and more. The auto attendant incorporated in the system acts as a bridge between the callers and the business owner. It is also featured with a menu of options such as dial by name, dial by extension and zero out to operator. The auto attendant assists the callers in establishing connection with the right extension. In addition, through the virtual office PBX phone service, you can operate your business from any location using the same set of phone numbers. It is also provided with Automatic call distribution (ACD) system for efficient handling of the incoming calls. The ACD system helps to evenly distribute the calls to your official numbers among your call representatives, which considerably reduces the waiting time of the callers to get connected with your call representative. By availing of the virtual office PBX phone service for your small business, you can offer your callers the same sort of professionalism they experience while calling a well-established business organization. With the use of advanced technology, present models of virtual office PBX phone systems are VoIP compatible. So it is possible for business establishments to make use of the internet for making and receiving calls.

Virtual Cio Tips For Helping Your Clients Understand Your Role

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:59:38 +0000

Are you trying to set yourself up as a trusted Virtual CIO for your clients’ businesses? If so, you need to know how to convince small business owners that signing a long-term service agreement is in their best interest. You have to know what small businesses will need from you. As a Virtual CIO, you provide an outsourced Virtual IT department for your clients and become an extension of their businesses. You will have to give them the continuity of knowing you will be there every week, every month and over the course of several years (at least!) to oversee their IT needs. You will help with strategic planning as well as execution of technology plans, management, supervision and training, as well as coordinating all different types of IT vendors. An on-going service agreement solidifies your role as a Virtual CIO and formalizes your relationships with your clients. Use these 3 steps to get clients to understand your role so you can build long-term relationships. Establish Yourself as the Main Technology Contact. Your small business clients are not going to have the patience to deal with a lot of different technology vendors. As a Virtual CIO, you need to have the attitude of the-buck-stops-here, and be able to take care of everything IT-related, soups-to-nuts. Use Strong Prospect Qualification Strategies. To attract clients that will be receptive to your role as a Virtual CIO, establish effective strategies to make sure they are a good fit for your services. A prospect survey is a good way to ask important questions that will weed out those prospects that will not be interested in long-term relationships. Ask important questions about the size of your prospects’ businesses, where they are located, how many PCs and servers they have, and which type of industry they are in. You can fax, e-mail or mail this survey directly to prospects, or establish an area on your Web site that allows them to fill it out online. Leverage Your Rate Card. If you want to be a Virtual CIO offering on-going service agreements, you need to have a one-page rate card to show qualified customers the difference between “pay-as-you-go” and service contract rates. This rate card is both a marketing document and a reference for your existing clients. It outlines the unique benefits you provide as part of your service contracts and defines your company as their outsourced Virtual IT department. Stress benefits such as better rates, waiving some premiums, better response time and proactive monitoring to help show customers why they need to sign service agreements to protect and grow their businesses. In this article we talked about 3 tips to help you sell yourself as a Virtual CIO to local small businesses. Learn more about how you can attract great, steady, high-paying clients as a Virtual CIO now at http://www. VirtualCIOKit. comCopyright (C), VirtualCIOKit. com, All Rights Reserved

Technology and 21st Century Small Business Owners

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:26:11 +0000

When I received my marketing degree 10 years ago, the coursework did not include classes for the types of marketing media that are available today. Having a website then was not as important as it is today. Although we had computer classes, how to design and build a website wasn’t included in the syllabus. How to create effective e-mail marketing campaigns and design e-newsletters were not being taught. The choice of marketing strategies 10 years ago included distributing fliers, word of mouth, radio and television advertising, posting ads in newspapers, Yellow Page listings, and sales letters. Technology has changed how 21st Century small business owners (SBO) market their products and services, as well as their options of communication tools.

Nowadays, 21st Century small business owners marketing strategies include e-mail marketing campaigns, e-newsletters, Google AdWords, writing articles and blogs, participating in target markets forums, and online networking, to name a few. However, word of mouth is yet the most effective and efficient marketing medium. If a small company has a large enough budget, some of the marketing strategies and media of yesterday can still be used. Technology, however, has leveled the playing field. Small business owners have the option of online marketing, which is less costly than the traditional offline methods.

Technology has also changed how businesses communicate. Ten years ago, the only choices were snail mail, fax machines, and telephones. Now, a 21st Century small business or large corporation choices include Skype, e-mail, digital computer camera (webcam), teleconference or virtual meetings, video e-mails, Instant Messaging (IM), GoToMeeting, and GoToMyPC. Skype is software that allows you to use the Internet, headset or speakers, and a microphone to place phones calls around the world. With e-mail software, documents can be sent between recipients as e-mail attachments. Webcam and the Internet are used to perform teleconferences or virtual meetings between two or several people. Webcam is also used for creating videos for video e-mails. IM is real-time conversation between two or more people using typed text and the Internet. Yahoo and MSN provide the software for instant messaging capabilities. 21st Century small business owners have the ability to schedule and attend online meetings with GoToMeeting software and the Internet. Using GoToMyPC, a business owner is able to access his or her PC from anywhere with a web browser or wireless device. In addition, if the owner has a virtual administrative assistant who needs to access his or her desktop to perform certain administrative tasks, the assistant would be able to with GoToMyPC software.

Thus, technology has made it possible for SBO to have administrative assistance without the person being present in their offices. These administrative assistants are known as Virtual Assistants. Technology allows administrative assistants to provide their services virtually. Virtual assistants are business owners also; therefore, they are able to anticipate the business owner’s needs, which make the working relationship beneficial and viable.

Technology has provided 21st Century small business owners with the ability to operate similarly to large corporations. Now SBO can afford to market their products and services. In addition, their budget can accommodate retaining the services of a Virtual Assistant, which will cost less than hiring an onsite administrative assistant. In the last 10 years there have been a lot of changes in how 21st Century small business owners conduct marketing, as well as the choices of communication tools that are available due to technology.

By: Rita Cartwright

The Virtual Assistant and the Confidentiality

admin — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:20:06 +0000

When we say Confidentiality, this has a very huge importance to the small business owners in this technological society. Everyday, there are a lot of secrets that are exposed in online or off, through carelessness or maybe harmful intent. And confidentiality and trust have become the major issues in outsourcing work or almost any kind.

I repeatedly heard the questions, “How will I know that you will not sell the information that I gave to somebody else?”, and “How will I know if you will be careful in protecting my information from exploitation?” These are some valid questions that should be asked by any assistant, weather they are staying in your office or maybe outside your office.

In Virtual Assistants there a re small business owners who really worked hard to get their business off the ground. They are spending hours and hours in researching their industries, in creating a website, creating logos, and marketing just like what you have. And it may take months or even years before their business is thriving. And they also have invested heavily to get the result. This is not just a job for them. This is their passion, their life, and their livelihood. And no thin king business owner will risk the hard work that they did over an issue as important the client as confidentiality. And if an in-house assistant is very careless about the confidentiality, they will surely receive a reprimand or they may lose their jobs. And if VS is very careless, they will surely lose a lot, because they are the most dependent upon the reputation to always secure additional work. But there is no law which says that you cannot just tell to someone that you have fired them.

The information must be protected from the financial loss, and also from becoming very careless and outside threats. A computer virus is very costly for the both of the clients, the virtual assistant, but the virtual assistant will surely lose the most. They may lose time, and they will spend a lot of money just for the repairs, and they will also lose their credibility, and if ever the important data is lost they are required to make restitution to the client. Anti-malware, Anti-virus, and anti-software, software are very essential component in the computer in any virtual assistant. A firewall or an encryption software and security passwords are also the basic elements that the Virtual Assistants installs and uses.

In printing information it is just vulnerable as the technological information. The simplest precaution of shredding and burning all the sensitive documents when the project is finished, it ensures that the information is totally destroyed in a way that it can not be reconstructed. Like sensitive documents can be protected during working a project, for example by storing them in a locked cabinet. The key is kept by the VA.

If ever you have a confidentiality concerns about hiring a VA. Here are some questions that you can ask them:

1: How can you secure confidential information about your computer?

2: How can you secure confidential printed documents?

3: What do you usually do to your confidential documents at the conclusion to your assignment?

4: What can be your policy in regards of sharing the information to you clients?

5: What do you usually consider to be confidential information?

The answer of these 5 questions that you asked will give you very valuable information in regard on selecting a diligent and a very careful assistant. So that you can begin now to build a ling term relationship with a professional who can aid you in growing your business.

By: On Demand Virtual Assistant