Can we trust people whom we can’t see, but can only hear? Their messages (emails, voice mails and chat messages) only ensure us of their presence. Can we depend on these people for the completion of our professional as well as personal but time-consuming tasks? Most of us will answer in negative. How can we pin our hopes on the people who are remotely located yet perform our work effectively and efficiently? Yes, we are talking about the virtual assistance industry that has witnessed overwhelming growth in the last decade.

A virtual assistant or VA is a skilled professional who can perform a myriad of tasks ranging from administrative, financial, data management, web development, writing and documentation, travel planning, online research and more. Having someone who has the expertise to do your work is indeed a great experience, but again the question remains the same- can you trust the person with your credentials?

Well, you need to contact the right person or rather subscribe to the services of a reputed virtual assistant company. Finding the right virtual assistant is a daunting task. You need to find someone who has the experience to meet your needs and can help you move towards the goal you aim to achieve. Also, subscribing to the plans of a VA company is always a better option than getting in touch with freelancers. Before subscribing to a VA plan, you can always conduct a background check of the said companies and contact their existing clients for a feedback. Only when you receive positive reviews and feedback, you proceed to sign up for the plans. Most of the time it is not possible to conduct a background check of the freelancer as that individual may not disclose the client details or may not provide accurate work information.

Most virtual assistant companies make it mandatory for their employees to sign NDA or Non-Disclosure Agreement which forbids them from sharing client data with third parties. Thus, while sharing credentials with virtual assistant companies you can be assured that your data will be safe and secured. The company will have a website that customers can trust and their web server should support both https and TLS/SSL (Transport Layer Security/Secure Sockets Layer) encryption. The leading VA companies also make it a point to limit client information to those virtual assistants who need it to perform client’s tasks. The companies use access control lists (ACLs) to limit access to client details.

It is a fact that there is no single solution or tool that ensures full protection of customer’s data. However, the leading VA companies use a whole range of security technologies, including password protection of PCs and mobile devices, secured Internet connection, encryption software, filtering and content monitoring tools to prevent illegal transfer or theft of client data. Steps are taken to prevent illegal transfer of data from computers to unauthorized USB flash drives.

Seeking help from a VA is always a good idea as you can at least have time to relax or do other important work while your VA efficiently and effectively takes care of all your time-consuming tasks.