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Basic Services Offered As Serviced Office Provider in Singapore

Different facility management companies will offer different kinds of services, but there are a few services that are core to any of such office environment.

• A Reception and a Receptionist – Most managed office buildings will have a fully functional reception and depending on size, may even have more than a single receptionist present.
• Security – A security service is also offered, leaving clients nothing to worry about.
• Basic Maintenance – Basic chores like keeping the offices and surroundings clean are taken care of.
• Administrative Support – Some facility management companies will offer administrative support like typists and secretaries.
• IT Infrastructure and Network – A managed office is usually fitted with functional telephone and Internet connections.

Facilities provided

Serviced offices are usually provided with certain important facilities like office furniture and air-conditioning and heating systems. Then there are other facilities like meeting and conference rooms that can be shared by the different clients, thus saving everybody some money. There is also the issue of insurance for the building and facilities, waste disposal, and emergency preparedness, which are all taken care of by the facility management company.

The Different Types of Serviced Offices

There are different types of such managed offices, which are tailored to the needs of specific businesses and economic situations. Following is a list of some of the most popular types of serviced offices.

Short Term Offices

A short term managed office is an office that can be rented for as short as one month. In emergency situations, like natural disasters, where a larger workforce is temporarily displaced, a short-term managed office is usually a welcome solution.

Long Term Offices

These are serviced offices that offer some customization options to the client. The options available will depend on the facility management company’s policies and the actual physical space available. When using long term managed offices, clients can, for example, display their company logos, partition, or re-organize a full office-floor to match their needs and carry out other forms of customizations.

Start-up Offices

Start-up offices are designed to offer minimal office space for a good price. Such an offer is usually targeted at new entrepreneurs who are likely to be short on cash. But it comes with the possibility of increasing office space, once the business starts to grow.

Daily Use Offices

These are usually just an office desk or a fully enclosed office that can be rented on a daily or even hourly basis. The desk usually comes with a computer or space for a laptop, Internet connection, printer, and scanner.

The Benefits of using a Managed Office

There are many benefits to using serviced offices. The full service offered by the facility management company helps clients to simply focus on the business that they know how to do, instead of worrying about cleaning the office, fixing broken items, and so on. Following are some of the major benefits of using a serviced office:

Immediate Availability & Flexibility

One of the best reasons for choosing such offices is their immediate availability. You can simply move in and start working, nothing to fix, and nothing to set up, because everything you need is right there, fully functional and ready. Managed office contracts are also quite flexible and usually allow for a rapid expansion of the client’s workforce.

Prestigious Address

Most business centers are located in well-known business districts, with well known and prestigious street addresses. Establishing your business in such a location may help to boost the image of your company.

Availability of Support Staff

Many business centers will have different types of staff available, depending on the facility management’s business plan. Some may include just building maintenance staff, receptionists, and security, while others will include secretaries, typists, and other administrative staff.

Low Start-up Costs

Unlike a standard office, a managed office already comes with facilities installed. So, when moving into the office, for example, there is no need to buy furniture, air-conditioning systems, or any other office machines.

Efficiency

Serviced Offices help in maintaining a highly efficient use of resources. A company in a normal office many have a conference hall that is rarely used, but in a serviced office, conference halls can be reserved hourly and payment made only for the period used. The same goes for the coffee machine, photocopying machine and lots more. By sharing, everybody profits from lower costs and a higher usage efficiency, especially with items like a central air-conditioning system.

Eateries & Refreshments

Managed office buildings will also usually have an eatery located in-house or nearby.

Disadvantages of Managed Offices

• Rental costs may be higher in some cases, than a conventional office space.
• You may not be able to freely extend your brand and there may be no possibilities of placing your logos in the entrances or outside the building.
• Some shared amenities may be unavailable at the time when you need to make use of them.

The Typical Clientèle of Serviced Offices

There is a certain group of clients that typically make use of such offices. These clients can be grouped into five major groups, and they include:

Startups

These are small to medium-sized companies that are reluctant to make longer-term commitments in the office-space lease or even administration staff hire. Their reasons may usually have to do with restricted cash-flows which make a business center a welcome solution, especially given the availability of support staff.

Interim Clients

Interim Clients are those that are in the process of moving to a new office location but may be facing delays. On rarer occasions, they may be having renovation work done in their original offices, or be victimized by natural disasters.

New Market Clients

These are clients that are headquartered somewhere else and are trying to penetrate the local market where the managed offices are located.

Overflow Clients

Sometimes a large company may experience sudden and unprecedented growth, which will make it inevitable to find extra office-space for its rapidly expanding workforce.

Project-Based Clients

These are clients who need an office space for a particular project. Such groups may include an inter-company team working together, or a movie-production crew.

Conclusion

The use of the managed office has become part of our work culture and may not be disappearing anytime soon. This is because of the needs that they fulfill and the corporate problems that they solve. Many types of businesses have profited from the use of business centers and many more have also saved enormous amounts of money by utilizing them. The fact is, if you need a short-term office space, or you are not sure if your company will be contracting or expanding. If your business could benefit from a prestigious address and you currently don’t have enough money to rent the office-space of your choice, then a serviced office just may be the solution for you and your company.