Top 5 team chat apps for SMBs
Team chat is an online team communication platform that offers digital messaging services, such as text and voice/video chats. It allows the entire team to send direct messages, easily communicate with each other in real-time, and keep everyone informed about updates or changes.
Unlike emails or phone calls, team chat allows users to get instant feedback and makes it easier to have a group conversation in a single place. This allows members of the team to engage in meaningful discussions or collaborate on tasks more effectively.
Team chat also helps improve organization within the workplace as it enables users to search conversations through chat history, share documents and resources among team members, and track progress of projects from start to finish.
What makes a good team chat?
A good team chat should be user-friendly, secure, and feature rich. The app should also offer a variety of features to meet the needs of different types of small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). Some key features that make a good team chat for SMBs include:
- Group Chat — This allows team members to collaborate through a real-time chat and have conversations with multiple people at once. A well designed team chat should allow members to share files, collaborate on tasks in real-time and help members stay up-to-date on what’s happening within the workplace.
- Transparency & Efficiency — It should allow teams to manage, keep track of and search for files or tasks, while also helping them stay transparent with their communication. It should also help teams more efficiently follow up and update other members.
- Security — An important factor when choosing a team chat for SMBs is the security of the app. It should have robust data protection measures in place to ensure that confidential information remains secure.
- PM or CRM capabilities — This isn’t a must, but a huge plus to a team chat. Having a project management feature, or a CRM database attached to the team chat, greatly improves efficiency and response times for key tasks. This will also allow SMBs to minimize costs of having to use separate tools.
Popularity of the team chat app among SMBs
Team chat apps are becoming increasingly popular in SMBs because they provide a simple yet effective way for teams to stay connected and maintain productivity. Especially for small businesses that tend to have a large list of “to-dos”, having a team chat app can greatly improve alignment and efficiency among team members. Through video meetings, voice calls, team messaging and mobile apps, modern team chat software helps keep all your conversations in a single space, so you don’t lose track of what’s happening.
With the growing number of companies working remotely, team chat apps help SMBs stay in touch without the need for physical meetings. Such team chat software are a great way to ensure smooth collaboration between team members, even when they are physically apart. It’s a great way for remote team members, or teams that are constantly on-the-go stay connected.
But with so many communication apps available, how do you know which team chat is right for your business? We created a list of top 5 team chat apps for small teams and SMBs to help you find the right one for your business needs. These apps are specifically designed to help teams communicate more efficiently, increase collaboration, and be productive within the workplace. They provide features such as file sharing, task management, group chats, and much more that can benefit any organization regardless of size.
Let’s dive in and see which apps made our list of the best communication apps for SMBs.
The top 5 team chat apps for SMBs
Of course, there are other team chats such as Microsoft teams, or google chat that are undoubtedly strong candidates that can get the job done. But for this particular list, we put together 5 team chat apps that we felt best served SMBs with consideration of price, user interface, collaboration features and growth potential.
Channel.io is an all-in-one business communication platform that enables teams to easily communicate with one another on a well-designed business messaging platform. As a fairly new team chat app introduced to the global market, its considered a potential Slack alternative as it has similar features, and resembles the platform in its early days. The chat tool comes packed with advanced features to help improve team communication, share and upload files, and create the best team environment for open communication. It was selected as number 1 on our list of best chat apps, as its team chat features come completely free. Also, unlike other team chat apps, it comes with live chat, CRM, chatbot and marketing features to help teams not only communicate with each other, but also communicate with customers.
Key features:
- Instant messaging
- Private and public channels
- Unlimited message history
- Unlimited chat messages
- Unlimited users
- Unlimited free storage space
- Free team chat
- Free plan available for live chat
- Video conferencing coming soon
- Voice messages coming soon
- High security features
Pros:
- Automated messages for personalized customer experience
- Integrates with a variety of channels such as social media, email and web chat
- Designed specifically for SMBs and small teams looking to grow
- Easy to search and share files from chat
- Easy to use interface
- Powerful search options to easily find past conversations
- Integrations with third party apps
- Great for remote teams
- Available on Shopify
Cons:
- Limited integrations compared to other team chat apps
- Limited project management features
Discord is an all-in-one voice and text chat platform that allows users to create communities and talk to each other in real time. It comes with powerful security features, making it one of the safest messaging apps around. It also offers custom emojis and server roles. The team chat is a great option for small teams as it offers live communication for completely free. Unlike other tools on this list, its target market is more for online gamers and social communities rather than work, but if you’re looking for a simple communication app or group chat that’ll help you stay connected to your team, this definitely does the job.
Key features:
- Direct messages and voice chat
- Unlimited message history
- Unlimited users
- Integrations with third-party apps
- Video calls
- Screen sharing
- Private channels
- Custom emojis and server roles
- High security features
- Easy to use interface
- Free plan available for up to 10 people in a group call
Pros:
- Secure platform due to robust security features
- Easy to integrate with other applications
- Customizable emojis and server roles
- Supports text, images, videos and more in chats
- Ability to organize conversations and group chats
- Strong chat app with great quality for voice/video calls
Cons:
- Designed more for live voice communication for communities or gaming
- No project or task management features
- Paid features don’t provide much value to work related efficiency
Chanty is a messaging app for teams of any size designed to streamline communications through an easy to use real-time chat. Its features include task management, file storage, powerful search options, and message archiving for compliance purposes. The interface is intuitive and easy to use, making it great for teams looking for something that’s simple yet effective. It also offers video conferencing capabilities, which are becoming increasingly important in today’s world of remote work.
Key features:
- Instant chat messaging
- Message archiving
- Secure file sharing
- Private messages
- Create tasks
- Assign tasks
- Powerful search options
- Real-time notifications
- Video conferencing
- Integrations with third party tools
Pros:
- Intuitive design and simple navigation tools
- Powerful search options for easy access to past conversations
- Task management system included in the platform
- Secure environment with data encryption
- Affordable paid plan
Cons:
- Does not offer as many features as its competitors
- Limited document sharing capabilities for a team chat app
Hive is a collaboration platform that offers all kinds of work management features such as task tracking, project management, and document collaboration features. The team chat app also includes other features such as an AI assistant that can automate certain tasks and help teams stay on track with their projects, and video conferencing to help teams connect in real-time. It’s designed to help businesses of any size work smarter and faster together while eliminating the need for phone calls and emails. A great team chat option if you’re looking to improve team communication.
Key features:
- Task tracking
- Instant messaging
- Project management
- Document collaboration
- AI assistant for task automation
- Real-time notifications
- Video conferencing
- File storage
- File sharing capabilities
Pros:
- Intuitive interface with easy navigation tools
- Powerful search options to easily find past conversations
- AI assistant can automate certain tasks to save time
- Project management system included in the platform
- Secure environment with data encryption
- Integrations with third party tools such as Dropbox, Google Drive and more
Cons:
- Limited free plan compared to other team chat tools
- Has a learning curve and can feel a bit heavy with features
Probably one of the most famous team communication apps on this list, Slack is a cloud-based team messaging app designed to increase collaboration between employees by providing a platform for real-time conversations. Whether it’s one-on-one conversations or group communications, Slack is a collaboration tool that’s famous for it’s robust features. The team chat also integrates with third party tools such as Salesforce and Zendesk, allowing businesses to streamline their workflow processes. Slack is one of the most popular team chat apps out there and for good reason: its features are comprehensive, easy to use, and secure.
Key features:
- Real-time chat
- Integrations with third party tools
- File sharing capabilities
- Voice messages
- Video conferencing
- Screen sharing
- Slack connect
- Custom emojis
- High security features
- Task & Document management
Pros:
- Enterprise grade security features
- Solid video calls and audio quality
- Easy integration with other applications
- Supports text, images, videos and more in chats
- Customizable emojis
Cons:
- Not as intuitive user interface as some other apps on the list.
- Can be very pricey for SMBs depending on the package chosen.
Which team chat should I choose?
No matter which team chat you choose, it is important to make sure that it meets your business’s needs.
Overall, these five team chats are great options for small and medium businesses looking to stay connected without sacrificing efficiency or productivity. By choosing the right team communication software, businesses can ensure that their team stays on the same page, and continues to work together effectively.
The best way to find out which team chat software is right for you is by assessing your specific needs and evaluating each app’s features. With the help of this guide, you’ll be able to narrow down your options and determine which team chat will provide you with the most benefits for your business.
Good luck!
Originally published at https://channel.io/en.
