Five Things to Look for in Shared Office Space (Revised)
Recent events in the shared office space realm compel me to update this article with a couple of very important points that were not mentioned originally. Today I met with an attorney who was originally introduced to me more than three years ago when he was considering changing his office space.

In the past, law firms were known for sprawling offices, where even the most junior associates had their own private workspace. That changed as larger firms adopted standard-size offices, open floor plans and clustered workstations, and a growing cadre of lawyers — particularly solo practitioners — moved to shared offices.

Many businesses are familiar with the need to connect their contact phone number with their company name, and depending on how long they’ve been in business, have already accomplished it. In this regard, a daunting prospect for many business owners is the notion of having to change it. Unfortunately, this can be the case for those who are needing to change or add phone services, as many providers will not allow them to keep their existing number in the process.

One of the biggest issues facing lawyers today is the accrual of billable hours. During the early days of 2020, lawyers were forced to work remotely and reconfigure their entire practice. This led to a decline in billable hours across the board, with legal practitioners struggling to make ends meet. One study suggests that most law firms were only able to net an average of 2.5 billable hours each day. Virtual legal assistants are increasingly employed to resolve these issues.

A missed phone call might not seem like a big deal. But according to a 2018 report from NewVoiceMedia, now Vonage, businesses lose $75 billion each year due to poor customer service, such as missed phone calls. In addition to that, cloud-based voice platform Aircall reports that 85% of callers won’t follow up if their calls are not returned.