Office Evolution appeals to smaller firms

BOULDER — A new virtual office space has opened offering services to home-based and small businesses that make them appear as professional as the big boys.

Office Evolution provides live telephone answering services, workstations and conference rooms, office support and a business address to help small companies look and feel more professional and run more smoothly.

The virtual office is located at 4845 Pearl East Circuit, Suite 101.

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“With Office Evolution, we make it inexpensive and easy for home-based businesses to have the amenities of a larger business,´ said Dave Downey, founder and chief technology officer of Office Evolution.

“Most people who work from their homes enjoy that flexibility, though they still welcome a professional receptionist who answers, screens and forwards their calls,” he said.

The company’s primary feature is its sophisticated, live personalized answering service. Instead of investing in an additional business line, business owners can sign up to receive a business telephone number along with a receptionist who answers all calls during the workday.

The receptionist answers the phone by announcing the business’ name and transfers the call to the business owner.

Downey said this service keeps business owners from missing an important phone call, having children pick up the phone at the wrong time, or having the business look too home based.

“You choose only the services you need,” he said. “If you only want our live telephone answering service or the use of our business address, you never have to step foot in the office.”

Auxiliary services

Similarly, a client can take advantage of Office Evolution’s auxiliary services since it is located in a professional office building in central Boulder.

“This makes it easy for you to pop in and out to get your mail, use the fax and copy machines or high-speed printers,” he said.

Downey said the company opened its doors April 1 and now has about 27 clients.

“We have the technical capacity to handle 200 clients, but many of those are virtual clients. They just get mail here, and we answer their phones,” he said.

The company can accommodate up to 15 actual clients using workstations and conference space, he said.

“We’re signing up clients everyday. Many are home-based businesses, and there are some small businesses that don’t want to answer the phone. They’re out in the field a lot and want us to patch calls through to them,” he said.

“We’re perfectly suited for a new business. We’re also getting a lot of people who have worked in their house a long time and are ready for a more professional appearance,” he said.

Downey also owns 6-year-old Boulder County Communications, a telecommunications and computer consulting company. He has been consulting for virtual office companies since 1995.

Even though his other business is home based, Downey said he has never used a virtual office himself although he has built them for clients. His other company performs the information technology work for many of the Intelligent Office franchises, including the one in Boulder.

Virtual offices growth

Despite the growth in virtual offices in recent years, Downey said the Boulder market is far from saturated. Most people are unaware that these services are available, he said.

“Our big goal is not to battle the competition but to educate the market,” he said.

Downey said the startup business represents about a $100,000 investment, mostly for telecommunications and furniture.

“Almost every single thing here was bought used from a dot-bomb or on eBay,” he said. “We have a couple new computers from Dell, but almost everything else is used.”

Along with telephone services, the company also offers mail-reception services so packages can be delivered to a location other than the home-based business.

The workstations and conference room space can be rented by the hour, day or month.

A basic membership package includes reception services, mailbox and access to conference rooms, cubicles and the auxiliary services for $50 per month.

For $75 per month members also get one private business telephone number.

Conference rooms rent from $12 per hour for members and $20 per hour for nonmembers. Workstation rates range from $5 per hour for members to $10 per hour for drop-in nonmembers. That includes a phone and high-speed Internet.

The company also charges $15 for a full day of workstation space to members and $30 a day for nonmembers.

Downey partnered with Mark Hemmeter to start Office Evolution. Hemmeter now serves as president of the new virtual office company.

Hemmeter is a real estate developer and operator, and he has been a frequent client of virtual office companies since 1996.