*This article appeared in the MBA Lawyer e-Journal: Tip of the week on 11/12/2009

You read that correctly. You can hire a receptionist for $50 a month ― sort of.

I recently moved to a new office and added three additional telephone lines to my practice. My intention was that each line be dedicated to a specific language. The next step was to hire a receptionist who could speak at least three languages. Turns out, trilingual receptionists, who know how to use Quickbooks and can fill out divorce filings, are rare.

So the next best thing is a PBX system. No doubt you’ve encountered one when calling for technical support or a customer service line. It usually goes something like “Thank you for calling [name of company]. Press “1” to speak to sales. Press “2” to continue holding indefinitely.” Unfortunately PBX systems are thousands of dollars and require a hardware hookup to your existing telephone system. Lucky for us, there are virtual PBX systems online.

Companies such as Onebox.com or VirtualPBX.com provide the same exact service as a PBX system with none of the physical hardware or upfront costs. You can forward or port a line directly to the service provider ― and for $50 a month ― an auto-attendant (or machine receptionist) will answer and direct your calls to whatever line you instruct it. It can go to any office phone or your cell phone or to voicemail.

That’s how you hire a receptionist for $50 a month ― sort of.

This tip is courtesy of Gabriel Cheong, attorney at law, owner of Infinity Law Group.