There have been many articles about what a virtual assistant is but they all use terms such as administrative assistant, independent contractor, remote worker, etc. With all those “professional” terms it can get confusing as well as seem like a virtual assistant will cost an arm and a leg, and in this economy we all know that we need to steer away from costly purchases unless it is a necessity. Then I come along and tack on the word confidential and holy smokes it really sounds like it will cost a lot of money, but in reality it really doesn’t.A virtual assistant is a person who provides secretarial services, also known as an administrative assistant. The only difference between a “normal” secretary and a virtual assistant is that the virtual assistant does not have a physical presence at your office. They usually work from their own home office.

Virtual assistants may provide all the services that a secretary will perform and others may not. For example, you may have virtual assistants who will answer phones, contact clients, etc and others who may not offer these services for numerous reasons. It all depends on your needs and desires. Some virtual assistants will work on a project-by-project basis and some require retainers. Again, it depends on yours and the virtual assistant’s needs and abilities.

Confidential virtual assistants are basically the same as a virtual assistant except for one major difference-CVA’s take confidentiality one step further than a regular virtual assistant. Like a virtual assistant, CVAs guarantee they will not disclose any information regarding your business and the projects they are completing for you. In order to add confidential to the virtual assistant title, CVAs need more than just virus scan and firewalls, they need encryption software, password protected computers, password protected/encrypted backups of client data, means to destroy any print data (i.e. shredding, burning). CVAs also have a software program so that electronic files can be shredded (i.e. PGP shredder) A CVA doesn’t take security and confidentiality lightly.

One of the biggest misconceptions of a confidential virtual assistant vs a virtual assistant is the price. There is no difference in pricing between the two just a difference in what you get for your dollar.

So the next time you think about getting a virtual assistant look for more value for that dollar by hiring a confidential virtual assistant.

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