I’m on the road this week, in the process of taking my son to college while investigating options for a move to North Carolina this fall.  One of the things I’ve come to appreciate the most about being a virtual assistant is the ability to leave my home office and travel when and where I want or need to.  With a traditional in office job one has the option of taking vacations, and unless you’re lucky enough to have accrued a lot of vacation time its generally just a week or two.  The rest of the year, you’re required to stay at home and be in your place of business every day.  As a virtual assistant I have the ability to work from any location where I have an internet connection.  That means I can travel anytime throughout the year and still get my job done.

As I prepared for this trip, one of my clients was skeptical.  How would I complete all the tasks that I normally did from my well outfitted home office from a simple hotel room?  What about faxes?  and phone calls?  Would I be taking client files from my office on the road with me?  and if so, what about confidentiality?

As virtual assistants these questions are easily answered and working from the road is a piece of cake.  The virtual receptionist system that I use, Onebox, not only delivers faxes to my e-mail but allows me to send faxes from my Onebox web interface.   And since all of my client file information is electronic, there is no need for me to carry paper files with me on the road.  When on the road, my computer is always with me and I have several passwords and safety features to protect sensitive information. My virtual receptionist can also be set up to deliver phone calls to my cell phone, or it can be programmed to simply take messages, which are then delivered to my e-mail and I can use my cell to return calls.

Not only is this a great perk of being a VA, our clients can breathe easy knowing that their work is being completed in the same manner they are accustomed to. But don’t forget, it’s important to make sure that as a virtual assistant you actually take a vacation as well.  Just because you can be always accessible doesn’t mean you should be.