And just like any well-rounded internal IT department, your virtual IT computer consulting business will need to provide, or arrange for, a complete soup-to-nuts solution that includes services like help desk, desktop support, network administration, engineering, security, training, procurement, and asset management... because anything short of complete virtual IT solution will leave valuable computer consulting money on table.

The Bottom Line

Most computer consulting companies are making a huge mistake when it comes to their small business engagements... because these computer consulting business owners fall-in-love with technology, at expense of business opportunities. In order for your computer consulting company to flourish, make sure that you understand concept of virtual IT and build virtual IT into every major business decision for your computer consulting company. To continue learning more about how you can use virtual IT to grow your computer consulting company, go sign-up right now for one-hour free training seminar on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business at http://www.ComputerConsultingBusiness.com

About Author

Joshua Feinberg is a 15-year veteran technology consultant and has appeared in CRN, VARBusiness, Microsoft Direct Access, TechRepublic, American Express OPEN, Entrepreneur, Inc, SCORE, Small Business Computing, and USA Today. To get Joshua’s free proven strategies to grow your virtual IT technology consulting company, sign up for free technology consulting training recording at http://www.ComputerConsultingBusiness.com

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1) You can get Skype Voicemail for ~18$ a year (that is about ~1.50$ per month)

2) You can call almost any phone number on planet for 2 cents a minute, half of what Vonage charges! (Skype to Skype calls are free)

3) You can get an incoming phone number for around ~50$ a year (that is only 4$ per month and they throw in voicemail for free! Remember, unlike Vonage which gives you a phone number when you agree to pay 15$-25$ a month, Skype starts you off for free but will only give you a phone number when you start paying them 4$ a month. I started off using Skype for free since I was only making Skype to Skype calls at first)

4) You get a bunch of features included for free (conference calling with up to 50 people, Caller ID, Call Waiting ...)

5) There are tons of "add-ons" (also know as "plug-ins") for Skype, many of them are free. You can get a Skype Answering machine, you can have Skype integrated into Microsoft Outlook or you can even start Podcasting with Skype.

6) There are lots of Skype communities. You can meet people for fun and conversation, you can meet people to learn new languages, and you can even meet people for "Skype-Sex".

7) Last, but not least, Skype has instant messaging and file sharing.

Once you get going with Skype you will find that it starts to grow on you. I haven't replaced my regular phone with Skype, but it has become my second phone line and I use it frequently. At work I use Skype all time. Since I'm already sitting at my computer it is much more convenient to talk with my team members using Skype than picking up phone and giving them a call.

However, Skype does not have 911 service, nor would I expect it to have 911 service until 2007. Skype does not have good customer service. To be fair, they are growing really fast. They are getting 150,000 new users everyday, can you imagine trying to have great customer service when you are getting 150,000 new users signing up every single day?

Nonetheless, if you are like me you will find that Skype is easiest choice to make. I wasn't ready to cancel my home phone and I wasn't ready to commit to paying a company a monthly fee, I simply wanted to stop paying for long distance. After that I got hooked!

If you are interested in Skype, then download Skype for free at www.skype.com

Once you have Skype, you can find a Skype phone, add-on or community at SummitCircle.com. There you will find all Skype add-ons (or plug-ins) that you want, you will find links to dozens of different Skype phones along with reviews and comments by users and you will find links to all different Skype community sites on web.

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