In the early 1990's, Intelligent Office founder Ralph Gregory became a father. Naturally he wanted to spend less time at his office, and more time with his kids. At the time, Ralph was a venture capitalist, and like many other businesses, most of his work fell into the category of communications-talking on the phone, writing letters, sending e-mails and faxes-all things that didn't require being in an office.


As Ralph used his office less and less, he thought about losing it altogether. But if he only worked at home, where would he go when he had a meeting? And what about his receptionist? Would he answer his own phones, and use his home as his business address? Working at home had a lot of benefits, but professionalism wasn't one of them.


A natural entrepreneur, Ralph set out to make working at home more professional. Researching possible solutions, he realized that he wasn't alone-millions of people all over the world were starting home businesses or telecommuting in record numbers. Analysts across many different industries agreed this was going to be a permanent shift in the workplace, and Ralph soon saw himself at the helm of a new entrepreneurial venture.

Intelligent Office opened its doors in 1995, in Boulder, Colorado. The idea was simple-clients could work from home or anywhere their laptops and cell phones took them, but Intelligent Office would be their professional office base. Intelligent Office would field all business phone calls, faxes and mail, and provide a first-class corporate facility with offices and conference rooms available when needed.

Intelligent Office was an immediate hit in Boulder, providing its groundbreaking services for a fraction of the cost of traditional officing.

"We've always gotten phone calls wondering how we could be so affordable. The answer is simple-most of our pricing is based on usage, and most businesses don't really need a full-time office or a full-time receptionist. They need these things to be available on a full-time basis, but they don't actually need them full time. Because our clients are primarily billed on what they actually use, Intelligent Office is very cost-effective and our clients keep their 'overhead' very manageable."-Ralph Gregory

Ralph and the rest of the Intelligent Office team were thrilled that their concept was a hit with home-based businesses. But Intelligent Office proved to be just as popular with traditional offices:

"As soon as we opened, it became clear that our communications was just as important to our clients as our office services. In fact, even traditional offices were calling, wanting us to be their receptionist too. That's how The Remote Receptionist became a stand-alone service. And now we've made a name for ourselves helping traditional offices set up telecommuting programs. We even help them expand into other markets without investing in office infrastructure and high rent."-Ralph Gregory

From its inception, Intelligent Office provided clients with more than an office and a receptionist-it provided a great lifestyle.

"Over the years, hundreds of clients have told me that while they initially joined us for the affordability, they've stayed for the professionalism and the lifestyle. You just can't imagine the freedom of Follow-Me Communications until you've tried it. People have become more dependent on mobile technology to get their work done, and we've developed a whole suite of services to help them work virtually with very "real" office support behind them We offer an incredible synergy of professionalism and technology. I tell people that I started Intelligent Office because I wanted to blend my professional life with my personal life, and it's true. Intelligent Office has helped me gain efficiencies in both."-Ralph Gregory

These days, Intelligent Offices appear across the United States and Canada, and new locations are opening all the time thanks to the franchising program the company started in 1999. And as technology continues to develop, Intelligent Office is right there, using advances in communications and other areas to keep providing innovative office solutions-solutions that make our clients' professional lives as productive and rewarding as possible.