What You Need to Know Before Choosing a Business Instant Messaging App
The world is not a stagnant place as it evolves almost every second and so is the need for businesses to adapt to continuous innovation. With the increasing dominance of technology in almost any industry, work has now become lighter and easier. And now, some business operations can already be achieved even if you are in the four corners of your bedroom. Likewise, business communication becomes much more accessible even if the person is a hundred miles away from you, all because of innovation. This convenience of instant messaging and live chat has become very important in our daily lives as well as in business. Even if you are a small business, you will likely be using instant messengers such as Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, Google Meet or Google Chat to communicate with your team members regardless of whether they are built for businesses or not.
However, with the hundred of workplace communication software available in the marketplace or in google, choosing the best and most effective communication tool becomes difficult. But don’t worry, because, in this article, I will walk you through the things you need to consider or to know about before choosing your preferred internal communication tool.
What is a Business Messaging Software?
Instant messaging for business is different from live chat app like Tawk.to or WhatsApp Business API that you use for having a conversation with your customers for customer service purposes.
A business IM platform is a software application or online service that helps employees stay in touch with each other as well as their supervisors and managers. These applications can help employees share files, chat online, video chat, and send messages or emails that automatically appear in all users’ email inboxes. Many of them today even allow real time video calling and screen sharing as well rather than making a phone call. They can also help companies track how often employees communicate with each other and document any problems or misunderstandings. The tool can be used for various purposes such as managing projects, coordinating activities, and exchanging ideas. In some cases, a business instant messaging app has three versions, a mobile app, in the browser, or can be downloaded and installed on your desktop or laptop.
Why is Business Instant Messaging Important?
The purpose of business communication is to enable a cohesive team to work effectively as one. This can be difficult when there are misunderstandings, miscommunication or even lack of communication and collaboration among team members. To give a little more about the importance of using business messaging apps, read the reason below.
Builds Strong Relationship
Conversation is vitally important for team building. When people are in constant communication with each other, it creates a strong work relationship and allows for better collaboration. Instant messaging apps can help to create a more cohesive team by providing an easy way for employees to communicate with each other regardless of location or time of day/ Furthermore, these tools can also help managers keep track of how often team members are communicating and what problems may be arising from Furthermore, these tools can also help managers keep track of how often team members are communicating and what problems may be arising from the lack of conversation.
Increases Productivity
An instant messaging chat tool can help a team to be more productive by helping to resolve any disagreements or misunderstandings. This can increase the flow of communication and cooperation within the team, which in turn can lead to a more productive work environment. In addition, an instant messenger can also help to manage projects more effectively by reducing the amount of time needed for coordination and communication. Thus, using an instant messaging software can have a significant impact on productivity!
Promotes Transparency
One way an instant messenger app can promote transparency is by providing a secure platform for employees to communicate with each other. When employees are able to share information securely, it promotes trust and helps to ensure that all confidential information is kept safe. Furthermore, an instant messenger can also help to keep managers up-to-date on the progress of projects by automatically sending them updates. This ensures that managers have the most complete and accurate information available about projects and company-wide issues.
Improves Employee Engagement
A team communication tool can help improve employee engagement by providing a means for employees to communicate with one another and share information. This can help to build relationships and trust within the workforce, which can lead to more productive and satisfied employees. Additionally, a team messaging app may also facilitate cooperative working among employees, which can lead to greater efficiency and productivity.
4 Things to Consider When Choosing a Business Communication App
You cannot just buy and buy everything without knowing what that online tools can do to your business or even for personal use. Different tools have different functionality, so always be wise in everything that you do, especially if it’s the betterment of your business. Below are some of the things you might need to consider before purchasing an instant messaging platform.
Features
Different tools have different features, but all of them should be able to do the basics: video call, audio or voice chat, file sharing, messaging, and more. You need to weigh whether the tools are good for your team collaboration or not, especially if your business is operating fully online. The features you need will depend on what you will be using the online communication for.
Ease of Use
Simply put, if it is easy to use, then more people are likely to be using it. Different tools have different levels of complexity, so think about how difficult it will be for you and your team to use the tool. You should also be able to navigate through the website or program without any trouble. If something on the website or in the program is confusing, you might want to look for a different tool.
Capacity
One of the things you should consider is the number of users or people who will be using the tool at once. You also need to think about how much data the tool can handle, as well as how often users will be switching between different applications. Additionally, you need to consider what types of files the users will be sharing and whether the software can encode or transcribe certain file formats.
Cost
The cost of a communication tool is one of the most important factors to consider. You need to make sure that the tool you are purchasing is affordable for your team and will last for a long time. Also, you should think about whether the tool is subscription-based or if there are any special deals available. Different tools have different pricing, so it’s important to consider what you need and what you’re willing to pay for it.
Recommended Instant Messaging Apps
While the most common ones are Slack, Discord, Facebook Workplace and Microsoft Team which comes as part of Microsoft Office, there are actually many other powerful business text messaging app out there. If you are still uncertain or still clueless about which tool to utilize, then here are some of the instant messaging apps that will surely improve workplace communication within your small business.
NiftyPM
NiftyPM is a project management software with powerful team messaging features that helps businesses to better manage their team interactions and conversations. It’s an online platform that allows users to create channels, groups, messages, and files and open up full screen chat windows. They have recently opened up their API with a direct integration with Pabbly Connect and Flowmattic to automate not just tasks but messages as well. NiftyPM also offers analytics so you can track the performance of your team and see how they are interacting with each other. NiftyPM is possibly the most powerful project management and team messaging software as they are the only project management software that features APIs for their chat feature.
Workspace91
Workspace91 or Channel by Space is an IM app to send and receive instant message from your team members. It is a close alternative to Discord and Slack. They allow you to setup a group chat, send voice messages, voice and video conferencing as well as screen sharing. Messages with links will show link previews while certain links such as Twitter posts, Youtube videos are automatically embedded. It comes with API and Webhooks and they have a direct integration with Pabbly Connect as well to automated messages to and from Channel by Space.
Troop Messenger
If your organization has classified information that you need to prevent from leaking, then you may need a self-hosted enterprise instant messaging chat app that is able to work only in your intranet. Troop Messenger comes a lot of advanced features such as a team feed, burnout messages, screen sharing, remote access and more, on top of the basic features you see with other instant messengers and is the only one that allows self-hosting on your organization’s private intranet.
Final Thought
Whether you want to boost teamwork, productivity, or profitability, communication will never be out of those goals. You cannot succeed without communicating because the success of your business will depend on how your teams will achieve all your business goals and mission. And if you want a workspace that every employee will feel secure and comfortable even if it’s not in a physical office setting then might as well consider purchasing a collaboration tool that will surely help you communicate with them in real-time. Lousy communication results in disorganized teamwork. Sticking to your Google Chat or WhatsApp Messenger might not just improve So if you want to have smooth sailing communication, especially since the remote work industry is growing, then consider purchasing the best team communication tools that will put your employees on board and ready to sail the shaky ride to success.
