Various Free Software & Services - Virtual Assistant Forums

#1 (**permalink**) 06-10-2007

Newbie Budget-$100

Office Suite-Free (Open Office-comparable to & compatible with MS Office)
On line Calendar-Free (Brown Bear-comparable to iCal)
On line Note/List Organizer-Free (Backpack-like no other)
On line Contact Management-Free (BusinessITonline-don't lose contacts ever)
Website,URL, e Mail-Free (MS Office Live-easy website design tools)
On line Collaboration-Free (Officezilla-Store files & allow clients to access)
e Mail Invoicing-Free (Paypal-fee charged per transaction;pass cost to client)
Printing Service-Free (Kinkos-send to Kinkos near client;pass cost to client; don't print & mail)
Fax Number-Free (FaxDigits-unlimited free incoming faxes)
Faxing-Free (Faxzero-send six pages free daily)
Checking Account-Free (INGDirect-get free overdraft protection)
Start-up Business Plan Template-Free (Score-every business needs a plan)
Voice mail to e Mail-Free (Visual Voice mail-get messages on PC)
PDF Creator-Free (CutePDF-installs as printer driver;just “print to CutePDF”)
Accounting Software-Free (MS Accounting 2007-integrates with PayPal invoicing)

Newbie Budget Remaining to date-$100

My list is no way inclusive of all of the software & services that are available for Free. The following are sources for more information on what is available for Free: Open source Wiki, Freebyte, MoneySavingExpert, & SBA.

#2 (**permalink**) 06-10-2007

WOW you've done some research! Great job, I'll defiantly be looking into some of these!

Thanks for the info!

#3 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007

I am not sure if it has been posted before but the website where VA forms are being sold has a free software page which is pretty thorough.

winslowgirl · #4 (**permalink**) 06-11-2007

I love paypal.. Its fast easy and clients love it!!

#5 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007

Just want to say I signed up for Fax digits today. I immediately sent myself a fax. Before I got back to my seat I had already received the email that my fax was in. They at no time asked for any credit card information for me so it is definatley free. Thanks for the suggestion, I am a huge fan of free.
So far I love open office. I have been able to download word attachements with no problem. I have none of the formatting/conversion issues that I had with word perfect.
I am also working on my free website from Microsoft Office Live and am so far very happy. I cannot afford to pay a ton to have a website designed and I am only in the beginners HTML tutorial and believe I am far from being able to design a professional website on my own. So for me this is another great cost effective option.

Without this forum I would have never known about any of these options so thanks. Soon I will be able to start planning my marketing strategies.

Thanks again

Jacky · #6 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007

I downloaded the PDF converter. Thank you for that link! I was soooo close to paying an arm and a leg to Adobe for their version (I didn't realize there was a freebie...phew...lol)

VBP · #7 (**permalink**) 09-11-2007

Wow! These are great! I am printing this off and will be doing some homework for sure! Also, what I recently found out was that LogMeIn has a free version. This is great if you need to access your client's computer or even your own from a different location!

#8 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007

Yup, this a great thread. I am also looking into skype. I'm not yet clear on the specifics or if it will benefit me yet. We will see.

Tess · #9 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007

Originally Posted by justd

Yup, this a great thread. I am also looking into skype. I'm not yet clear on the specifics or if it will benefit me yet. We will see.

Skype, at least for me, has been a lifeline - it costs me 1/100th to talk to clients in the States (not to mention family).

With that said - you can also buy up to ten incoming phone numbers for a Skype account and it comes with free voicemail. When we get back I'm going to set up a sep. line *just* for business calls - two main reasons for this being when I'm in-office my computer, and relatively, my business phone are on, when I'm out of office it's off and I don't have to worry about after hours calls.

And each incoming number costs less than a 'real' landline per month.

Tess · #10 (**permalink**) 09-12-2007

Oh, and you can forward your incoming calls to another phone line (cel or land) so if you're out of office but still on the clock you can forward to your cel or whatever...cheap and convenient!

#11 (**permalink**) 09-13-2007

That sounds great. I need to look into it further. Thanks for the info.

Rebecka Melson · #12 (**permalink**) 09-15-2007

I have a list of free software and tools on my website as well... vbsofok.com

I use most of them myself.

Tess · #13 (**permalink**) 09-15-2007

Great resourece rebecka, there are a number of programs on your list I've not yet heard of and will have to check out, including: Airset and MyHours. MyHours looks like a great option for time tracking as it's not software, but internet based - is this one of those on your list that you use? Would love to hear your thoughts on it!

Rebecka Melson · #14 (**permalink**) 09-16-2007

Originally Posted by Tess

Great resourece rebecka, there are a number of programs on your list I've not yet heard of and will have to check out, including: Airset and MyHours. MyHours looks like a great option for time tracking as it's not software, but internet based - is this one of those on your list that you use? Would love to hear your thoughts on it!

Yes, I use MyHours for my time tracking and I love it. I can use it anywhere, so whether I'm at home or at my client's office, I can keep track of my time. It is very easy to use. I can put in the hourly rate for each client or project and when I'm ready to do my billing all I have to do is print the timesheet and everything is already figured. You can even enter extra charges for expenses right on the timesheet. It also has as "company" feature to where you can track your employee's time too and if you have more than one person working for the same client it will print out one timesheet for that client. You can print timesheets, by project, by client, by employee, etc. It has a lot of options.

Airset is a really good tool as well. The best thing about it is that you can manage several projects at once but only need one log-in, it has a seperate tab for each project so everything is all in one place. I use it all the time.

Tess · #15 (**permalink**) 09-16-2007

Very nice

Based on your glowing reviews I've added both to our industry directory 'resources' section. Thanks again for mentioning them, it's always great to know what other virtual assistants are using, and even better to know what the favorites are.