Creating an ofice with image

Creating an ofice with image

I. Christianto, Contributor, Jakarta

Every day Hardi Hadianto works from his rented house in the
Setia Budi area in Central Jakarta, Deni Darmawan sells and
promotes satellite transponders for an American satellite company
from his home in Tangerang, and Shinta Sofyan works in Jakarta as
a managing director of a Singapore-based software company.

They all use virtual offices to create a corporate image in
the marketplace.

All of them boast a prestigious address in high-rise office
buildings in the capital's prime business district. All three
have their telephone calls received by a virtual office. None of
them actually occupy office space at the building. But from there
the similarity ends.

Hardi runs his one-man-show advertising firm and has watched
it grow steadily. He has successfully eliminated the image of the
small, self-run company associated with no receptionist or
secretary, meeting room or secondhand answering machine.

Instead, he has the use of a conference room to meet his
clients, a receptionist who takes calls for him and an accountant
and a modern telephone system.

The telephone system is computerized, with a wealth of
information, including a variety of telephone contact numbers and
Hardi company's services.

A receptionist takes Hardi's calls, answering the phone by
first identifying the company. In most cases, the calls are
diverted to his house or mobile phone without any indication that
he is not physically present at the office.

"This is very helpful in improving and maintaining the image
of my business. I now get compliments from my clients about the
new office," said Hardi, "I'm delighted with the new image".

Hardi says he created the new image of his firm in a short
period and plans to take advantage of other services offered by
the virtual office provider.

"In addition to using the meeting rooms and presentation
facilities, I'll soon take advantage of other services and
facilities, including the Local Area Network (LAN) and the
professional IT technicians to prepare and run my homepage, high-
speed Internet access, videoconferencing, bookkeeping and
accounting and recruitment," he said.

Deni, a regional director of a telecommunications company
based in the U.S., has virtual office space for his business to
put across the same image as that of the American parent company.

"I usually meet with prospective or existing clients at their
offices. I rarely receive customers at my office, but when I have
to, my company needs to portray a very good image. Under such
circumstances, I can use the meeting rooms," he said.

He says the virtual office provides very good service in
taking calls and receiving facsimiles as well as mail.

"I can still answer calls on my mobile phones. But now when
I'm unavailable my calls are answered by someone who knows how to
deal with any circumstance," he said.

Shinta, an American IT graduate, recently returned to Jakarta
after working for a couple of months for a software company in
Singapore.

"I can't live in Singapore for personal reasons. But my
employer wouldn't accept my resignation. So now I am working for
the same company but in Jakarta. As the company doesn't have any
representative office in the city, it allows me to use a virtual
office, which, to some extent, puts across a good image for the
company," she said.

Thanks to sophisticated technology and a growing number of
virtual office operators, the physical presence of a
representative office is not necessary, she added.

Hardi, Deni and Shinta are examples of professional workers
and companies utilizing virtual offices to present a good
business image or a well-maintained postal address and telephone
numbers without the expense of a traditional office.

The number of people using virtual offices in Indonesia has
grown considerably in recent years, especially since the economic
crisis first struck Indonesia in 1997. Due to the crisis, many
companies have been forced to move to areas outside of the
central business district to save on rental. Other companies went
bankrupt. But many need to create a good corporate image or
maintain contact with their customers, clients, business partners
and need a permanent address in a prime location.

By using virtual office providers, they can create an image of
an office without the expense of permanent office space. Virtual
office clients may be far removed from the business center, but
they receive all of the benefits necessary to create a
professional business image.

There are a variety of virtual office clients, such as those
in need of office space, those working from remote locations,
entrepreneurs and corporate representatives of overseas
enterprises, newly established local businesses or international
companies that want local representation.

Virtual office providers often attract home-based workers. Key
components of the concept include the ability to deliver a
prestigious image, administrative and technical support services
as well as permanent or part-time office or conference room space
for small companies and remote representatives of larger
companies.

Virtual office operators also provide a variety of services,
including executive suites for professional workers in need of
office space or business image without the high expense of
permanent, rented office space.

Maya Kandou, general manager of CEO SUITE, says that since its
establishment in 1997, the company has significantly expanded.
"We are offering virtual offices and full-time office services.
Now we have two locations in Jakarta, at the GKBI building and
Jakarta Stock Exchange building," she said.

Occupancy rates reach 70 percent at the Jakarta Stock Exchange
building and 100 percent at the GKBI building, she added. Each
location has some 1,600 square meters.

Rosaline Mayapada of the Executive Center says there are some
60 clients for virtual offices at her company.

"We serve more local companies, which account for about 70
percent of the total clients for virtual offices. This may be due
to our rates, which are in rupiah," she said, adding that her
company offers three attractive packages to lure prospective
clients.