Going Virtual With Davinci

Virtual office services give small businesses and sole proprietors the resources of a large business space, including receptionist services, a business address, and live web chat capabilities. One of the most comprehensive virtual office solutions comes from Utah-based Davinci, which offers live and auto receptionists, virtual office, meeting rooms and live web chats. Here’s a close-up look at some of their services, features, locations, and pricing.Auto receptionist: Davinci has four auto receptionist plans: the start-up package runs $59 per month; auto & email, which includes a corporate email, is $69 per month; auto plus, which includes up to four line extensions, is $99 per month; and auto plus 10 is $229 per month, which includes up to 10 line extensions.The auto receptionist service has a lot of features, including toll-free and local numbers for phone and fax lines, up to 10,000 long distance minutes per month within the U.S. and Canada, advanced call routing, customizable greetings, iPhone and Android apps, online faxing, audio conferencing, and voicemail management. Contracts for auto receptionist services are month-to-month, and there is no set-up fee.Live receptionist: There are two tiers of live receptionist plans, business plans and premium plans. Within each are a set of features – the business plans all include call forwarding and screening, voicemail management, local and toll-free numbers, advanced call routing, audio conferencing, unlimited long-distance calling (up to 10,000 minutes per month within the U.S. and Canada), auto receptionist services, and online faxing. The premium plans include all of the business plan features and also offer appointment scheduling, outbound calling, order processing and customer care, bilingual receptionists, administrative tasks and work (including travel planning, scheduling deliveries, or providing meeting support), and handling of complex call flows.Business plans start at $149 per month for 50 live answering minutes per month, and go all the way up to 10,000 live answering minutes per month for $7,499 per month. Premium plans have the same increments, and run from $199 per month to $9,499 per month.Live web chat: Live web chats are a way to answer customers’ questions, provide support, or help with sales transactions. Live web representatives can talk with web visitors by inviting them to chat or by visitor-initiated chats, and can offer in-depth customer service by answering questions. Davinci’s live chat sessions also send relevant chat info to your smartphone or email instantly, and are recorded in a chat history log.Web chats are priced by each chat, not by the length of time that chat spans. Plans start at 25 live web chats per month for $59 per month to 200 live web chats at $299 per month.Virtual office: Fewer people are working traditional 9 to 5 hours in a static location; instead, more people are working from multiple locations, using technology to connect and interact. A virtual office is a way to have access to business necessities like meeting and work space, while still having the flexibility to work from remote locations.Davinci has 1,000 virtual offices in all 50 U.S. states and in 30 countries. While features vary from location to location, they usually include the choice of mail receipt and forwarding, conference rooms, day offices, a lobby directory listing, lobby greeter, business support, catering, and high-speed Internet and presentation tools. All virtual office spaces also give an individual or a business a professional business address.Pricing for this service varies depending on location and add-ons. For instance, a virtual office space in downtown Austin runs $75 per month. That includes the business address and use of that address for business cards, licensing and website; mail receipt; lobby greeter; and access to a network of more than 4,000 meeting spaces worldwide. For an extra fee, you can rent private day offices or conference rooms. Add-ons range from mail forwarding ($6 per month, $22 per week, or $36 per day) to lobby listing ($45, a one-time fee).Depending on the city, the base office price varies; an office in Central Paris costs more than one in downtown Boston. You can get as much physical office time or conference room access as you like each month. In most locations, you can pay by the hour, half day, or full day. Unlike Davinci’s phone and chat solutions, which are on month-to-month contracts, virtual office space requires a six-month commitment. After the six-month term it rolls over from month to month.