virtual office

An arrangement with a phone answering and mail receipt company that may or may not also provide meeting rooms, administrative support, and telecommunications services. The practice is popular with small entrepreneurs and with large-corporation employees who live and work in markets that do not need, or will not support, traditional office space with rent, furniture, equipment, and support staff personnel expenses. A step up from the virtual office, but less demanding than conventional office space, is the relatively recent phenomenon of the business center.