An Everyday Life for Virtual Assistant: Filipino Tech Modesty

As I just finished my website, I sit back and open blogger to post here that I have already published my website. After that, I link it to my Facebook page, Twitter and in Tumblr so I can reach more people and inform them about it. I live in Davao City in the tropical country of The Philippines, even though we one of the top countries in BPO industries majority of people has only Facebook as an account. Twitter and Instagram are like too “classy” for normal people and finds them unneeded. Personal webpage? Ask them and explain it to them and they will say Facebook can do that too. Well, they do have a point there.

Now as look away from my laptop, I can see lots people who do everyday task without a need for internet or a computer. Those who are holding their phones while doing their thing are mostly on a social media sites. In my younger years, I would imagine them with working alongside with technology and having a positive result in their lives. Well not now, it’s the opposite. They don’t need an “upgrade,” not yet. Our country still lives modestly even though the technology has already become essential to many by just acquiring what is essential to us. For me, that is a very wise decision.

As I open my phone I press my fingerprint on the back of my phone to unlock it I realized I am like them also. I am in a mall now sitting in its food court eating a bowl of ramen that cost less than two dollars and a can of coke zero. Same as the other people here, they do their groceries in the supermarket. They wait in line to order their cheap yet delicious food. They prefer to handpick items when shopping. They enjoy walking around the mall doing windows shopping and killing some time. Some are here for socialization and meet up with friends or relatives. We rarely order online, ordering takeout food is boring, window shopping is still a thing, and it’s more fun to socialized be with your friends when you can smack them when they tell you some stupid jokes. They don’t need a website to do these things like they said Facebook is sufficient, so Instagram and Twitter is already an exaggeration to them. They have a point there.

So that means we Filipino Virtual Assistants also need less of that exaggeration stuff? Nope.

Now time to exaggerate this blog post and share in on my website, Facebook page, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Google+ and YouTube Channel. I think I need to make a WordPress account also.

My Personal Website

Finally, I have finished creating my own website and I did enjoy building it since start from finished. I created it under the free account in strikingly.com and just took me few days to finished it. As a starting virtual assistant its important that we have our own website that serves our online resume and also a portfolio of our works and projects. And also will serve as our main site where we can link all our accounts in social media.

To view my website please click the below link and a new tab will open. Here is the header of my website.

Those who what's to know more about me and to check of my few samples feel free to visit my website. Just send me a message there and I would be glad to respond as soon as I can.

 http://virtualassistantirvincastillo.strikingly.com/

Essential Traits every Virtual Assistant needs to have

Being a Virtual Assistant (VA) is easy, and everyone can be if they want to, but being a Good VA, you need to consider what traits are essential to be an effective VA. 

Good communication skills

Going through an interview with a client, letting the client know how their work is going, as well informing your client as before you begin each new task. All of this involves communication with your client, either verbal or through chat. It’s not necessary to be fluent when speaking English; it is how we can converse with our client and deliver our service to them that matters most.

Resourcefulness

Since you will be working virtually and with minimal supervision, you must know how to go around things and solve it on your own. Search the web for answers, ask other VA’s, visit forums and if needed do your own research.

We will be asked to do a lot of things we probably never done once, and we then find solutions on how to do them. We are being paid to do that, so we need to provide solutions and solve problems for clients.

Reliability

Professionalism should always be practiced. We treat our client with respect and importance, if you missed a call from them, don’t wait for them to call again, you should ring them back. If they send you an email, then you must reply. Never ignore your client, if you can’t due to some reason inform them, so they have an idea what is happening. If you want to part ways with your client, do it properly and send a resignation letter. And if you have accepted a client’s request, finish it first and deliver it to them, it’s the VA’s responsibility to the client.

Time-management

We tend to multi-task a lot, we all have priorities and life to manage, its ok and fine if we can manage our time efficiently. Same goes for us VA’s we will probably going to get more than one client so time management is a key so you can fulfill their requests reasonably. Just remember not to be greedy, accept only clients you can handle. 

Self-Confidence

Believe in your skills and show you, client, you can confidently give a solution to their problems. That will convince clients that you are truly capable of it and willing to seek your service.

Flexibility

Sometimes a client will ask us to do things outside our comfort zone, and it’s favorable for us to show them that we are flexible and can easily adapt to any situation.

Self-Motivation

Being a VA isn’t a walk in a park. Many times we are faced with problems we can’t easily solve, quitting is not a solution but just an excuse for our lack of capabilities. One should motivate itself he/she do it, and it’s just a challenge for them that needs to overcome. 

Of course, not everybody has these qualities, and if you don’t then consider if being a virtual assistant is right for you. Don’t just think that you want to be a VA because it’s easy and you can earn better. Not all can be an effective VA; you might be shocked to know that you need to consider many things first. But if your eager and prepared and then good luck on a new career.

Must-Have Equipment For Aspiring Virtual Assistant

Planning to be a virtual assistant and thinking of what hardware you need to equip yourself?  Say no more because I will enumerate the “tools of the trade” you need to equip yourself and be a successful VA.

But let me tell you, it doesn’t come cheap. Tech gadgets usually come with price tags that many Filipino people can’t easily afford. And the expense goes higher depending on your chosen field of specialty. At least the plus side is most of the equipment you need is fairly manageable and common, which I am sure you already have few of this stuff. All you need is:

A dependable laptop

It’s obvious that on becoming a VA, a laptop is your main arsenal. But the keyword there is “dependable” which mean a laptop that can efficiently handle most of the software you will use. 

If you already have one then make sure it still perform smoothly and fast even you open multiple applications. But if you know it’s already doing poorly then sometimes just a little of maintenance and update can turn your slow and irritating laptop into turbo fast. So better bring your laptop to a computer specialist and hope it can bring back some performance on it.

If you don’t have one? Simple, buy one. But it doesn’t mean you need to spend a huge amount of money to make sure it has a good performance. Many of those high-end laptops are specially made for gaming since gaming requires a top of the line hardware. We will not play Crysis or PUBG when working as a VA so no need to spend ₱30,000+ for a laptop (although if budget isn’t an issue for you, then it’s better to invest in a high-end model). There are lots of inexpensive laptops around ₱15,000 that works great. Make sure it has not less than 4 GB of RAM and has the latest installed OS on it.

A good quality headset with microphone

Communication is vital in any business or work. So it’s proper to invest in a pair of good quality headset. Using earbuds/earphone is ok but since its cord is not that long. And also you will miss the better noise cancellation offered by headsets and since it microphone can be adjusted conversation is much clear on both ends.

A smartphone

This device is vital also because not all the time you have your laptop open and what will happen if one of your clients needs to contact you? The smartphone is a must because they can video call you and ever receive email on the go. Also, you can use your smartphone as Wi-Fi hotspot for your laptop so will always be connected anywhere. Not to mention you can use your smartphone to take some Instagram worthy shots. 

A fast internet connection

Not only one should consider its speed but also the availability. There are times when we need to get outside and go to places and just finding it’s a dead zone. Consider the network coverage area also. Better internet connection and availability means you’re always online which is a must for being a VA.

A mouse

This one is optional but a must if you want to be more efficient in using your laptop. The corded mouse is fine but if one can afford then go for the wireless mouse. Fewer cords you carry, much better.

A flash drive, microSD or external hard disk

For file storage, data backup and file sharing. Saving and retrieving files saved on portable storage devices are much faster than on cloud, not to mention it won’t consume you any data.

Virtual assistant career is not just all about skills and knowledge but also needs reliable equipment for them to perform their task efficiently and within their client’s expectations. And just like working in an office, you need more than just a pen and paper to perform your work. VA offer their services worldwide, so it’s natural that we need to be competitive along with our equipment.

Net Neutrality; How it affects the Filipino Virtual Assistants

This one of the most grueling issue the USA been facing and their people are struggling to defend for them is their right on the web. It’s like a war that each battles different sides win and deciding the winner is like a coin toss, the odds are 50-50.

What is Net Neutrality?

As I quote from Wikipedia; “Net neutrality is the principle that governments should mandate Internet service providers to treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication.”*

So for those who are still unsure about net neutrality, it’s better for me to explain this in layman’s term.

You bought 1GB of data, its consumable and you have the freedom to use it any way you want it, use it on social media, video, and music streaming sites, sending email, play online games, download and upload files and many more the world wide web can offer. With net neutrality, 1GB of data is 1GB no string attached. But the removal of net neutrality means carriers have now the option to control what you can do to that 1GB of data you bought, either use it only on social media and block other web access altogether. Or you can only use that 1GB of data for online gaming or for streaming with just 100MB for other websites. That 1GB of data is no longer pure 1GB of data anymore; it already has kilometers of strings attached to it making it a burden for most people. No more net freedom, no more neutrality.

People of the US is fighting for it now. Activists rallied to the streets all over the country, and people go to social media to protest and reject the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) plan to remove net neutrality regulations that were first recognized during the time of former President Barack Obama.

I won’t be discussing all it and for the sake of those who want more in-depth information about it, just check Net Neutrality in the United States.

Does it exist in the Philippines?

In some form yes it does exist, our wired connection remains neutral all this time, but in the mobile data, things differ a bit. The two existing communication giants (PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.) has practiced its so-called mobile promos with a variety of it changes every few months. All though most of their data promos have no limitations they even offer freebies on top of it. But net neutrality isn’t all exclusive on limiting what content are allowed to access but also the speed and data cap. The Philippines is the slowest average internet speed In ASIA-Pacific region (just 5.5 Mbps), and yet people pay higher than what they should get. And who will forget that so-called FUP (Fair Usage Policy) which should never implement in UNLIMITED Data plan?

So that mean BPO industry in the Philippines is safe.

Well, we are safe since our businesses use a wired connection with business type connection plans which I said purely neutral (let’s just deal with our connection speed). BUT, indirectly we will be affected big time if removal of net neutrality will be implemented because many of its BPO clients are in the USA, implementation of it will result in a drop in US clients. And that will greatly affect the Filipino Visual Assistants who are rank first on Voice services and second on non-voice services. The BPO industry worldwide will be affected.

It’s a bit hard for us just to sit and watch this whole thing like some TV drama series waiting for its ending. Because depending on the ending, we might see a new TV drama (or horror) series that we don’t want to watch at all.

Honestly, I am against the abolishment of net neutrality, and also wishes our country will not face something like that ever.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality

The A.I. Virtual Assistant

And to think I know most about VA’s. Well yes, except for this one.

I just learned about visual assistant some time ago, and as I try to gather more information and history on it, so I asked Google for some help and immediate at the first page I came across Wikipedia and decided it’s the best place to start. So I clicked on the link and the content displays, except it asks me to choose between two links. The first is Virtual Assistant (Occupation), and another one is Virtual Assistant (Artificial Intelligence) with a brief description saying “a bot such as Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft's Cortana, etc.” I am familiar with those smart speakers that have been a big hit on homes on most first world countries especially the US, but I never thought they would be called as Virtual Assistant also, which in all logic they are.  

There are four AI’s that dominate the market based on an online poll last 2017 found the most widely used in the US where Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Microsoft Cortana. Apple and Googles AI’s are installed on their respective smartphone brands. Microsoft on Windows-based personal computers and smart speakers. And Amazon’s Alexa is a famous choice for smart speakers. Samsung has also taken advantage of being leading smartphone market leader and made their own AI named Bixby which is pre-installed on their Galaxy series.

So how do they work?

All of them can be activated by just saying their respective names, and then you can ask questions or even let them check your schedules like “Siri what would be the weather this coming Sunday?” or “Alexa, please play my second favorite playlist.” Mainly, you just need to start a conversation with them, and just like people, they will reply appropriately to the question you ask, if they don’t have an answer they will apologize to you politely. You can have a casual conversation with them as a normal person does. They are constantly updated to add more “skills” so they can do more things. Amazon is boasting their Alexa has 5,000 skills, that is lots of skill for an AI.

Their smart, smart enough to replace humans?

Yes and No.

Yes because let's face it having an AI do all your works will be very economical and that one reason is tempting to all business sectors. Imagine removing yourself from employing people and paying them every time. And today's technology, AI’s becoming more and more smart and skillful. Cheap yet smart; now that is a two thumbs up. Efficiency is always a top priority everywhere, and that field AI shines brighter than humans.

No also because let’s be realistic, how many jobs can a talking box physically do? Zero. Yes, they are smart, but they are just AI’s without any physical body. And even there's a lot of advancements in the field of robotics in the past decades it's still far from anything can be a human substitute. And it’s very expensive to build robots and not to mention its maintenance.

Although AI starts to take few of humans jobs away from humans, those are still in the experimental phase and just a handful of jobs which needs a more efficient solution where humans can’t provide. The human visual assistants would still be around, and the services they provide are more than just computer logic and data but human expertise in understanding and creativity with a goal to make their clients happy and satisfied what makes us superior.

Now let’s see if any AI can make a better blog than this.