A Virtual Assistant is a highly skilled independent administrative professional providing administrative, creative and/or technical services in the virtual environment using advanced technological modes of communication such as e-mail, instant messaging, telephone, fax and other resources.
Professional Virtual Assistants assist clients in their areas of expertise from their own office on a contractual basis.
While the title, Virtual Assistant, may be a newer term, this isn't a new way of working within the executive-assistant relationship. The large majority of traveling executives already work "virtually" by e-mail, phone and fax with their assistants every week.
Virtual Assistants provide more flexibility to smaller businesses who may not need someone on a full-time or a part-time basis, but who still need that expertise for certain projects or administrative tasks.