The Arizona Republic

September 24, 2005

Column: AHWATUKEE COMMUNITY COLUMNIST

PHONEJOCKEY STABLE STOCKED
Author: CLAY SCHAD, Special for The Republic
Edition: Final Chaser

I attended this month's Chamber of Commerce evening mixer last Tuesday hosted by a member business called "PhoneJockey."

Upon meeting Lisa Franz, president of the company, the first question that came to mind was, "Where are the stables and how many horses do you have?"

She informed me that PhoneJockey has nothing to do with horses or racing. "What do you folks do here?" I asked. She told me they offer flex suite offices as well as a virtual office for their clients. A flex suite provides tenants with traditional office space combined with a common receptionist, break rooms and conference rooms.

They have 20 different tenants with two to six offices each, and they share a common receptionist area. There are eight offices still available.

When a caller phones a PhoneJockey tenant, the name of the business appears on the receptionist phone and she answers the call with the desired tenant's greeting. She then transfers the call to the proper office or even to an off-site location. A tenant can have the call transferred to their home or apartment if so desired, and the caller never knows the whereabouts of the person on the receiving end.

That's where the virtual office concept comes in to play. The caller hears a professional greeting regardless of how casual the business owner may be. The facility has a weight room, lockers and showers. The facility also offers secretarial and janitorial services. There is a common copy center where each tenant has a personalized code and gets billed monthly for copy services incurred.

There are two training rooms available for tenants, one seats 50 people auditorium style and the other seats up to 27 classroom style. Tenants can rent these rooms out for a fee of $25 per hour or $100 per day. A typical lease includes 10 hours per month of these conference rooms.

Security is a prime concern at PhoneJockey with each tenant receiving a key card with the person's name and the name of the business recorded each time it is used. Closed circuit television cameras are throughout the building providing a record of who is in the building as well as their movements.

Covered parking is available for the fee of $90 per month and tenants can rent those spaces for part of a year if so desired. Some tenants rent covered parking spaces only for the three hottest months. Currently, PhoneJockey is in the process of building the next two buildings. One building is at the Thistle Landing location of 30,000 square feet. The second location is in Chandler at Cooper and Ray roads, called Cooper Crossing, and that building will be 50,000 square feet.

For more information, contact Mark DeMichele at (480) 346-7070.

Clay Schad graduated from the University of Nebraska School of Journalism in 1976, founded and published the Ahwatukee Foothills News for 20 years.

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Record Number: pho119873901