How it works

Five ways to work with us

Virtual assistant engagement models at AssistBPO come in five shapes: a dedicated assistant at 160 or 80 hours a month, a shared desk billed per minute, call or ticket, a team pod of 3 to 10 assistants with a lead, a fixed-scope project, and a 24/7 coverage add-on that layers onto any of them.

  • Your hours, four markets
  • Plan within 1 business day
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Every dedicated engagement includes a named person, a trained backup and a team lead. Plans depend on hours, desks and coverage.

What is a dedicated assistant?

Full-time 160 hours or part-time 80 hours a month

One named person in your hours, plus a trained backup and a team lead.

Fits

  • Founders and executives handing over inbox, calendar and follow-ups
  • Front desks with steady daily call volume
  • Support queues with a predictable ticket load

What changes the plan

Full-time or part-time, phones or no phones, and which coverage zone the hours fall in.

Less suited when

Very low or spiky volumes, where a shared desk is the better fit.

What is a shared desk, and when does it fit?

Per minute, per call or per ticket

A pooled front-desk or support desk for lower or spiky volumes.

Fits

  • Overflow and after-hours call answering
  • Seasonal ticket peaks
  • Businesses that need a person on the line but not a full seat

What changes the plan

Volume per month, average call or ticket length, and whether bookings and warm transfers are included.

Less suited when

Work that needs deep knowledge of your business every day; that is a dedicated desk.

What is a team pod?

3 to 10 assistants plus a lead

A whole function staffed and managed as one team, with a lead who reports to you.

Fits

  • Support teams of three or more agents
  • Sales desks with setters and a lead
  • E-commerce operations and industry pods

What changes the plan

Pod size, coverage zone, one queue or several, and the reporting the lead owns.

Less suited when

A single function one person can carry. Start dedicated and grow into a pod.

When is a project the right shape?

Fixed scope and dates

A defined piece of work such as a CRM migration, a data cleanse or a catalog build.

Fits

  • CRM migrations and data cleanses
  • Catalog builds and listing updates
  • Backlogs with a clear finish line

What changes the plan

Scope, dates and the checks that define done.

Less suited when

Ongoing work. Projects hand over to a monthly model when they finish.

What does the 24/7 coverage add-on include?

Follow-the-sun shifts

Evenings, weekends and overnight coverage layered on any model.

Fits

  • Phones that cannot close
  • Support with customers in several time zones
  • Dispatch and on-call escalation

What changes the plan

Which hours are covered, the escalation tree, and whether weekends and holidays are included.

Less suited when

Callers all in one zone. An after-hours desk usually covers it.

What changes the cost of a staffing plan?

Plans start at $400 a month for 40 hours, at $10 an hour, and rates improve as you add assistants. Get a staffing plan within 1 business day. These are the eight things the plan is built from.

LeverWhy it moves the plan
Hours a weekPart-time, full-time or a pod. Hours are the biggest factor in any plan.
How many desksOne assistant can run an inbox and a calendar; phones plus support plus sales is two or three desks.
PhonesLive answering needs a receptionist profile, a backup and call flows, so it is planned separately from typing-only work.
Coverage zoneBusiness hours in one zone, after-hours, weekends, or 24/7 follow-the-sun.
One person or a podA pod adds a lead who owns reporting, QA and cover, which changes the shape of the plan.
Tools and onboardingA desk in HubSpot and Google Workspace onboards faster than one across a practice system, a dialer and three marketplaces.
Industry podHealthcare, legal, real estate and other pods bring trained staff and, for healthcare, a BAA.
LanguagesBilingual Spanish or French coverage is available on request and planned per desk.

Get a staffing plan How pricing works

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a dedicated and a shared virtual assistant?

A dedicated assistant is one named person who works your hours every day, learns your business, tools and regulars, and is backed by a trained backup and a team lead. A shared desk is a pooled team that answers calls or tickets in your name and is billed per minute, call or ticket. Dedicated suits steady daily work; shared suits overflow, after-hours and spiky volumes. Many clients run both: a dedicated front desk in business hours with a shared desk for evenings.

What does an FTE virtual assistant mean?

A full-time-equivalent assistant: about 160 hours a month, one person, your hours. At AssistBPO a full-time dedicated assistant is an employee of the group assigned to you, not a share of someone's time across several clients. Part-time is about 80 hours a month with the same named person, backup and lead.

Can I mix models?

Yes. Common shapes are a dedicated front desk plus the 24/7 add-on, a pod plus a project to clear a backlog before the pod goes live, or a dedicated executive assistant plus a shared support desk. The staffing plan shows each part separately so you can see what you are paying for.

What is included with every model?

A named team lead, onboarding with SOPs written with you, access through your own accounts, the daily rhythm with an end-of-day report, a weekly review, and the monthly QA scorecard. Dedicated desks and pods add a trained backup for leave. Terms, replacement and notice periods are stated in your agreement rather than promised on this page.

How do I change model later?

Tell the team lead at the weekly review. Dedicated desks move between part-time and full-time, shared desks scale with volume, pods add or remove seats, and projects convert to a monthly model when they finish. Notice periods for changes are in your agreement.

Can I start small?

Yes. Most clients start with one desk, usually the one that is most overloaded, and add the next once the daily rhythm is running. The staffing plan proposes the smallest shape that solves the problem, not the largest.

How is the plan priced?

Plans start at $400 a month for 40 hours, at $10 an hour, and rates improve as you add assistants. Get a staffing plan within 1 business day. Hours per week, the number of desks, whether phones are involved, the coverage zone and whether you need one person or a pod with a lead are what move it. We price per person for a block of hours, not per minute, except on shared desks.

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Next step

Your desk, staffed. Wherever you are.

Tell us what is overloaded. A named person replies within 1 business day with a staffing plan, and we propose your assistant within 72 hours.

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Or call +1-657-777-0006 during US, UK or Australian business hours, or hear our demo receptionist.

  • A named assistant proposed within 72 hours
  • Employed, screened and managed staff, never freelancers
  • Your hours, your tools, your data
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