Too busy to attend phone? Hire a virtual personal assistant!

Do you often forget to take your daily medicine or are you one for whom birthdays and anniversaries of your dear ones are not exactly on the top of your mind?

No problem, hire a a virtual assistant to keep your worries at bay.

From preparing your business presentations, taking up your calls when you are busy to directing you when you get stuck in an unknown area, virtual assistants are plugging the gaps in people's daily lives these days.

"A person sitting somewhere else keeps fulfilling your needs, mostly on a contract basis. Operation wise, you do not need to meet him.

"Just direct him on phone or via email and your work would be done in time," says Siddarth Rajgarhia, who founded his virtual assistance company, miPA, in January this year.

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"I was into a job where I used to travel a lot and began to forget a lot of things and hiring secretaries I thought was for people with high pay packages and big posts. I gave up my job and started my own company which assists people with their business and daily works," says Rajgarhia.

The concept of virtual secretary has its roots in business but nowadays, the concept is in use to manage day to day and personal work of many people.

"Your business needs your time and you may need to delegate some of your routine business tasks to free-up your resources and focus on key areas to grow your business," says Rajgarhia.

Take my call answering service which offers a virtual assistant who will answer your calls on your behalf when you can not pick up a phone.

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Launched four months back in Delhi, the company presently has a clientele of about 500. "There are times when you are busy and can not pick up your phone.

"We give you a virtual secretary on whose number you can divert your call. She will take the message and tell you later," says Mohit, one of the virtual assistants. He and his colleagues work 365 days without a break. They do not meet their clients.

"We receive maximum number of calls on Sundays as our clients switch of their phones and spend their time with family. We mail them all the details in evening between 8.30 to 9pm," he says.

Rajgarhia's clients ask him for services like bill payment, picking up kids from school, sending flowers and arranging tours. So far, the journey has been good for him.

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"People are susceptible to such a novel idea and ask many questions initially. Response is slow. Word of mouth is working for us and due to our strong co-ordination and back up, we have not received any complaint till now," he says.

Sachin Gupta, a Delhi-based virtual assistant feels the concept is still in its infancy in India but has a good future.

"I was doing usual business assistance till a year back but now, I also do personal works of my clients which helps me to strike a personal relationship with them," he says.

He comes in handy in emergency situations for his clients as well.

"One of my client's son got injured in an accident while he was out of station. He asked for my help and I rushed him to the hospital," he says.

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Mutual understanding between the client and assistant is crucial for the bond to last longer.

"I had tried a few of virtual secretaries but it took me time to find somebody who could understand what exactly I needed and deliver that," says 44-year-old Jatinder Taneja, who is a business entrepreneur.

Small businessmen, consultants who are in initial stages of their ventures make majority of people who take virtual assistants.

"We give crucial services that are crucial requirements of the day. We come in handy in a busy lifestyle. There are no overheads of permanent secretary here. We plug the gaps in daily life so that people can focus on key areas. We will grow as the business becomes more popular," says Rajgarhia.