Question 1

Can my VA take calls on my behalf?

Accepted Answer

We'd recommend that you use a call-answering service such as Moneypenny.

Depending on what's needed, a call-answering service can simply take messages for your VA alone and/or your business more widely. Your VA can then pick up the messages and return the calls when they are in a position to do so. This works very well for many clients at Virtalent.

Alternatively, you may wish to look into a joint voicemail box that you can both access.

More information on this topic can be found here and here.

Question 2

Can I meet with my VA in-person?

Accepted Answer

At Virtalent we have a deliberate “remote-first” culture that we’re incredibly proud of. This means that everyone, from our Client Engagement Manager (Wirral) through to our accountants (Stafford) work together 100% online. We haven't had an office since we launched the company in 2014 and it's still rare our own internal staff meet each other.

However, that said, we do appreciate that you might like to meet your Virtual Assistant in person at some point, especially if you have worked with each other for some time.

We don't openly publicise this to potential new clients, however if you have already started working with your Virtalent VA and you feel meeting with them would be beneficial to you both, we are happy for you to arrange this together.

Please remember, however:

Your VA must be happy with this arrangement. Meeting with you is in no way compulsory or something they "must" do - it is optional and we ask that you please respect their decision, if they do not want to do this. It is no reflection on how much they enjoy supporting you or their commitment to your team!
The time your VA spends traveling (door to door) and meeting with you will be logged to your account. Ultimately, this travel time is time that they can't spend working on other tasks for other clients they support or attending to other commitments, so we feel this is a fair approach.
You will be asked to reimburse any reasonable travel costs incurred by your VA. They will try to estimate these in advance of your meeting. The expense will be added to your next invoice from Virtalent.
Your VA should not be meeting with you regularly. This should be a casual coffee chat to say hello, not a regular weekly meeting!
Your VA should not be "working" per se. They shouldn't be reorganising your filing system or distributing flyers, for example. The emphasis is on meeting with you.

Please speak with your Client Success Manager about the meeting if you are unsure.

Question 3

I've just created an account. How should I get started?

Accepted Answer

Welcome to Virtalent! Exciting times ahead.

**Activate your account. **First, you'll need to activate your new account within our Task Portal at virtalentportal.com.
Explore the Task Portal. Once you have done this, you'll be able to see the tasks your VA is working on, the time they are logging, check your account balance and manage your billing preferences.
Plan ahead. Your new VA will be in touch once you have activated your account. Most clients like to start with an initial 'kick-off' call to plan out how your first few weeks together will look. If you prefer them to just make a start on your to-do list, that's also OK!
Grant access. Make sure your VA has access to all of the systems you need them to. Most clients also like to create an email account under their own company domain, so as to work together even more seamlessly!
Learn and understand. We'll begin emailing you a few help articles and guides to help you get started, over your first few months with us. These are optional, but you might find them useful!

You might also like to read through our articles below to further understand how to delegate and define a role for you fantastic new VA.

I'm Struggling To Delegate
How To Define A Role For Your VA

If you need any help or advise along the way, do contact your Client Success Manager who will be very happy to help you stay on track!

Question 4

Can my VA make outbound calls?

Accepted Answer

Your Virtalent VA will always be happy making a reasonable but limited amount of calls from their mobile, as part of their day-to-day work in supporting you. However:

• We don’t expect your VA to call internationally

• We don’t expect them to make more than a few calls "here and there".

• Your Virtalent VA cannot act as your Virtual Receptionist, and cannot handle significant volumes of incoming calls for you.

Alternative Solutions

If you anticipate that you will need your Virtalent VA to make international calls for you, you’ll need to discuss this in detail together first.

We recommend looking closely at the costs involved, as international calls made from mobile phones can quickly become expensive. To avoid high call costs, whether that is large volumes of calls within the UK or otherwise placing calls abroad, we suggest using one of our recommended alternative solutions.

• VOIP. If you don't already use a VOIP system, we would recommend Nimvelo, which we use internally to manage all of our staff phone systems. You can get £20 free credit if you use this link to sign up: referral link. Your VA can then download a mobile app to make any phone calls required. The internal team at Virtalent can help your VA get this set up!

• Skype To Go - your VA can use Skype to call numbers anywhere in the world - we’d suggest that you prepay for Skype credit so your VA has a set amount ready to use, which can be topped up when needed, by you.

• Google Hangouts (the Google Hangouts Dialler app is essentially a VOIP phone call). Calls to an Australian landline are as little as 1p, for example.

• Zoom Phone is also a great option, with audio only available, if suitable.

Question 5

How do I access the services offered as part of AssistYou?

Accepted Answer

In order to access your services, all you need is our Virtalent access codes:

**My Healthy Advantage app **

Available for iOS and Android devices, you can gain access to My Healthy Advantage with the following login credentials.

Employer code: MHA218897

Wellbeing Portal

Username: wellbeing

The Health Assured helpline

A full AssistYou IAP summary including all access details needed can be found in our one pager here.

Question 6

What services are available via the AssistYou IAP?

Accepted Answer

AssistYou is Virtalent’s Individual Assistance Programme (IAP). It’s a confidential benefit designed to help you deal with personal and professional problems that could be affecting your home life or work life, health and general wellbeing.

Services include:

Comprehensive telephone helplines available 24/7
Formal counselling, in the form of either face-to-face or telephone sessions (as applicable)
Online video counselling and online CBT (as applicable)
Health and wellbeing portal
My Healthy Advantage app
Critical incident support

A full service summary can be found in our one pager here.

There is also an overview of the services here.

Question 7

What is AssistYou?

Accepted Answer

AssistYou is Virtalent’s Individual Assistance Programme (IAP), a service we have invested in to support your health and wellbeing whilst you grow your company. You can use this as little or as often as you need.

An IAP is a confidential service designed to help you deal with both personal and professional challenges that could be affecting your health and general wellbeing.

AssistYou is delivered in confidence by leading UK healthcare provider Health Assured.

The Health Assured helpline is available 24/7, 365 days a year. Just call 0800 917 6470.

Find out more here:

One Pager
IAP Leaflet from Health Assured

Question 8

Are my calls to Health Assured (AssistYou provider) confidential?

Accepted Answer

One important aspect of our AssistYou programme of support is the Health Assured Helpline. This helpline is run by Health Assured who are a leading healthcare provider, external to Virtalent.

All calls are confidential between the caller and their counsellor or advisor.

Exceptions can occur only if there is serious risk of harm to the caller or others.

In such circumstances, the Health Assured counsellor will always seek guidance before breaching confidentiality.

Analytical usage data may be shared with Virtalent (this is basic information, excluding all identifying factors).