virtual assistant using apps in completing task

The Most Useful Tools and Apps Used by Virtual Assistants

A general virtual assistant describes the most popular type of VA for businesses. Virtual assistants use various tools and apps to complete their tasks efficiently and effectively.

They like learning on the job and are always up for challenges.

A general virtual assistant aids with the day-to-day tasks and processes that are vital to the operation of your business but are not directly related to expanding your operations.

General virtual assistant duties include email and travel planning, appointment setting, data entry, research, social media scheduling, and similar administrative chores that require little to no judgment on your part.

Since VAs tend to have many responsibilities, they eventually become adept in using various software suites and apps; you’d be surprised what virtual assistant services can achieve with the right tools!

A specialized virtual assistant possesses specialized knowledge and is thus ideal for taking charge of or managing a narrowly focused task or function. They cost more than general VAs because they have more experience in their field and need less instruction to begin contributing. Hiring a specialized VA for tasks like customer service, bookkeeping, video editing, and project management is recommended.

Are you interested in hiring virtual assistant services to scale your business? Are you tired of the admin vortex sucking your life as we speak? If so, you also need to know which tools are best for virtual assistant services and virtual assistants in general.

 

Top Virtual Assistant Tools for Productivity and GTD (Getting Things Done)

Time Doctor (Time-Tracking)

Time Doctor is a leading option for integrated time tracking and payroll. Clients can see how much time you spent on each project and what resources you used. The best part is that it works with programs you may already be using, such as Salesforce, Trello, Basecamp, and Asana.

Keeping tabs on your team's time usage data will allow you to be more involved in each project, boosting morale and taking charge when necessary. In addition, this is vital data you can use to determine which team leaders are responsible for boosting morale.

Microsoft Teams and Other Microsoft-Integrated Apps (Collaboration and Productivity)

It’s fascinating that not many people consider Microsoft’s suite of productivity tools for virtual assistants. Beginning with Office 365 and their cloud service OneDrive, Microsoft offers cost-effective plans for teams and enterprises, starting at $4/team member.

The great thing about Microsoft Teams and their adjunct services is that everything works out of the box, they offer lower rates than Dropbox and Google Drive, and since many virtual assistants are already using Windows for work, there wouldn’t be much of a learning curve.

Microsoft provides complete control over licensing and credentials to team members in a single dashboard and easy control over payments, bills, and invoices for record-keeping. So despite the bad press that Windows gets for almost anything it does, its current lineup of productivity tools is worth looking at.

Google Meet (Communication and Conferencing)

Google offers almost anything that other GTD companies offer, but we're not going to promote all of them here. Google Meet, however, holds the distinction of holding its own against other video conferencing giants like Skype and Zoom. Like other great apps, Google Meet works fresh out of the box, with intuitive controls that even a seven-year-old can easily use. However, you need a paid Google Workspace account to get the most out of your Google Meet. Other than that, the free version always works well, and the quality of the video calls is OK or great most of the time. The minimalist chat is just as helpful as what Zoom offers, so if you are tired of Zoom, you can meet with your virtual assistants via Google Meet instead. Many virtual assistants use Gmail as their main point of contact with clients, so it's also more convenient for them.

LastPass (Security and Passwords)

Why would anyone want a centralized dashboard for passwords? If you are working with virtual assistants, they would likely have to access your website, email, and other portals. They can write down the passwords somewhere, or you can better control them by creating a LastPass account and sharing your virtual assistant access from LastPass. There’s a free version, but the pro version is a good investment—no more losing passwords and fumbling with your notes when your virtual assistant services ask for passwords to your website or social media account/s!

Hootsuite (Social Media Management)

Hootsuite is a platform for managing and publishing content to multiple social media accounts. Some significant characteristics are automatic planning, monitoring social media performance measurement, basic job scheduling, and more. Hootsuite is one of the biggest brands in social media management, with more than 18 million members worldwide. Using it, you can organize and control posting content to your various social media profiles. When you use the calendar view, you can see how your various social media profiles complement one another. You can also use the inbox to manage all your social media messages in one place, whether they come from Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Regarding social media promotion, Hootsuite can help you save time. Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook are all compatible. Your virtual assistants can manage all these social channels from the same interface, eliminating the need to log in and out repeatedly. Hootsuite's Analytics section is great for analyzing your social media activity in great detail. As a business owner or agency owner, you know that measuring social media's return on investment can be difficult. You can brag about your accomplishments with the help of Hootsuite's Analytics function. Hootsuite has added more and more functionality over the years, but its core offering is still the ability to schedule social media posts in advance. Selecting which social networks to share your scheduled post on is the first step in the Hootsuite scheduling process. Of course, depending on the platform, the same post will vary in appearance. But hopefully, this summary will give you some insight.