Online Tools You Need For Setting Up A Virtual Office

As members of an online office do not have face to face interaction on a daily basis, they need a wide range of online tools in order to carry out day to day office affairs smoothly without facing any coordination problems. Here is a list of the some of the most important online tools and web services that are required to help the virtual office workforce to stay connected with each other and the company's clients.

- Email and Calendar-Google Apps is something that one essentially requires when running a virtual office as this suite provides calendar, email facility and a web-based Office suite for each of the virtual office workers with adequate storage capacity.

- Instant Messaging-Services such as Google Talk, Skype and other chat-based online software programs are required to be installed to support chat and video conferencing in addition to audio, video and text chats. If you want to host voice conference calls with several employees simultaneously then you can make use of the beneficial online tool called SkypeCasts that can easily moderate discussions.

- Online File Storage-You will have to maintain a repository of official files, PDFs, video clips, records and all important documents at a central location that can be accessed by workers of your virtual team anytime and from anywhere they want. Office Live Workspace (Microsoft), XDrive (AOL), Box.net, Adobe Share and Google Drive are some of the key players in the online file storage business.

- Tools for Technical Support-As it is not possible to have a proper IT staff to look after technical problems when setting up a virtual office, one can use remote desktop sharing solution called CrossLoop to fix up technical defects. There is no charge required for using this online tool. If any member of the virtual office faces problem with a computer, the issue can be resolved by taking control of the machine using CrossLoop.

- Screen Sharing-One of the most effective online tools designed for virtual workplaces is the Microsoft SharedView. With the use of this free of cost screen sharing application, as many as 15 virtual office workers can connect and collaborate with their fellow teammates and their clients. The free screen application allows online office team members to work together on the same document and transfer files as well as important documents. SharedView is also a preferred choice for business people who want to deliver a lecture or provide some training class online to a number of participants.

- Setup Network Folders-If you need to share not just files and folders on your computer but also drives and printers with virtual team members working from a remote location then make use of the Leaf networks. It functions like a virtual LAN with the help of which you can share folders and invite other virtual teammates to connect to your device.

- ConceptShare-With this online tool you can discuss designs with other virtual office teammates sitting in some other part of the world. You can share project layout, prototypes with clients for approval.

These online tools are some of the most useful equipment for virtual workplace as they save precious time, money and also a lot of effort.