Credit: Peshkova/Shutterstock Looking for a simple way to improve communication in your small business? Chat tools can help.
Faster than email and easier than phone calls, instant messaging is a convenient way to ask simple questions, bounce off ideas or quickly send a memo to everyone. You and your staff can also use chat platforms for real-time collaboration with file-sharing capabilities, audio and video calls, project management, and more. An early leader in this space was AIM from AOL.
If you're still using AIM for work, you're going to have to pick a new platform. That's because the 20-year-old service will shut down on Dec.
Re: Skype for Business Mac additional features So my organization utilizes the persistent chat feature a lot to facilitate quick, interteam communications without using email. Those of us with Mac's are left out of the loop.
The change isn't unforeseen. The company cut off the apps access to third-party chat clients back in March. It's also not the first early leader to shut down. MSN Messenger shuttered in 2014 and Yahoo Messenger shut down in 2016. That's not to say this industry is slowing down. If anything, the market is overcrowded. But we've done the digging to help you pick the right platform for you. Here are eight affordable and easy-to-use chat tools for small business.
The best part is they all offer free plans for small business users. Slack offers a robust and comprehensive chat tool for small businesses. In addition to one-on-one and group chat, Slack comes with individual and team audio calls and video conferencing. Slack also makes collaboration easier than most chat tools. Users can organize multiple projects, teams and other items using hashtags, as well as share files by dragging and dropping them into the platform or via Google Drive, Dropbox and other file-sharing services.
All files and chats are also synced, archived and searchable for future reference. You can even edit on other people's screens. Additionally, Slack offers a wide variety of other third-party integrations, including Google Docs, Sheets or Slides for sharing and viewing files within conversations and during calls. See Related Story: 2. HipChat is an easy-to-use chat app that also offers collaboration tools. HipChat comes with one-on-one instant messaging, group chat rooms, file sharing, screen sharing and video conferencing.
It also integrates with various third-party apps – Facebook, Dropbox, Google Apps and Salesforce – so it becomes a streamlined part of a company's communications. Businesses can use HipChat either straight from the app's website or install the platform on their own servers at an additional cost.
Either way, HipChat is accessible anywhere using a web browser, desktop client and mobile app. Stride Atlassian, also of HipChat fame, has released another chat program, designed to more directly compete with Slack. Is a team communication tool that replicates much of what you find in HipChat, while adding natively hosted video and audio meetings. It includes task assignment and decision tracking, and it has a focus mode that collects important notifications for you. The app is scheduled to roll out gradually to the web, MacOS, iOS, Windows, Android and Linux. There is a free version that offers limited message history and file storage. For $3 per month per user, you get unlimited storage and the ability to add guests to video chats.
Ultimately, this tool may replace HipChat completely. Microsoft Teams is software as a service that ties directly to the productivity giant's Office 365 subscription. It creates a chat-based workspace that's focused on real-time collaboration. It includes chat, meetings, notes, Office, Planner, Power BI, and extensions and apps. It looks a bit like Slack and functions similarly, with threaded persistent chats that can be open or private.
It also integrates with the company's Skype video service, plus you can invite guests to join your chats. If you're a Microsoft-focused business, Teams may be the way to go. Flowdock is a chat and inbox platform that lets teams collaborate and keep communications easily accessible in one place. It offers one-on-one private chat with individual team members, group chat and threaded discussions. Its team inbox feature, on the other hand, keeps and organizes emails and messages related to project management, customer support and other sources.
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It's accessible anytime, anywhere – over the web, using the Windows or MacOS app and on iOS and Android devices. Push notifications are available across platforms and devices, so no one misses an important chat request, email or other messages. Other features include @ mentions to get a specific user's attention as well as hashtags and chat histories with searchable transcripts. Campfire Part of the Basecamp project management software, is a web-based chat tool that eliminates the need to install any instant messaging apps or clients. You simply create a password-protected chat room and invite team members to chat. Users can share files with live previews within chat rooms; supported files include image files (PNG, JPG and GIF), Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The service also comes with such extras as conference calling, chat transcripts, and add-ons for integration with popular Windows and Mac business software.
In addition to the web, Campfire is accessible on mobile devices and through the dedicated Campfire iPhone app. Google Hangouts Chat Hangouts started off as a consumer-friendly chat service, Google recently reimagined it as a business powerhouse featuring deep integration with its G Suite productivity suite (Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Mail, etc). Hangouts Chat, which is now officially out of beta, offers one-on-one chats, and now also offers threaded messages. You can assign document permissions based on the team that created them. You can filter rooms by people, file times, links and more. It's also working with developers to create bots that will work within Hangouts.
For video chats, you access Hangouts Meet, where up to 30 folks can join. If your company is deep into the G Suite ecosystem, this may be the solution for you. Facebook Workplace Through Facebook's social network specifically designed for business, some 30,000 organizations are now chatting it up across some 1 million groups.
The company offers a desktop app called Workplace Chat that features screen sharing, group video chat for up to 50 people and live video broadcasting. It also works on iOS and Android. Facebook charges not by seat but by monthly active users, with tiers of features that range from $1 to $3.
Amazon Chime Features available with Amazon Chime Basic include one-to-one voice calling, video calling for up to two people, screen sharing, and access to use its chat feature with 30 days of history for messages. Chime also auto-calls all participants when a meeting starts, eliminating the need for memorizing complicated log-in pins and providing a visual roster of everyone on the call. It also provides the ability for everyone to see who is talking and to mute a participant if there is loud background noise on their line.
Chime's two higher tier plans – Plus and Pro – offer some very helpful user management tools for businesses, in addition to all the features of the Basic plan. Plus costs $2.50 per user, per month and includes the ability to manage an entire e-mail domain and disable accounts.
Amazon Chime Pro – the highest tier available – steps up the advanced features with screen sharing capabilities, custom meeting URLs, and the ability to schedule and host meetings for up to 100 attendees. Pro costs $15 per user, per month includes all the features of the Plus and Basic plan tiers. It also allows users to record meetings.
Skype for Business Skype's free plan offers a bit more latitude with group video calling for up to 20 people, Skype-to-Skype chat and voice calling, group voice calls for up to 25 people, screen sharing as well as file sharing. Has four higher tier plans: Online Plan 1, Online Plan 2, Office 365 Business Essentials and Office 365 Business Premium. What the plans lack in naming creativity they make up for in available features. Online Plan 1 offers HD video and voice conferencing for up to 250 attendees, peer-to-peer VoIP and instant messaging. Online Plan 2 adds to those features with the ability to host scheduled and impromptu meetings, record video and audio calls, screen-share and transfer controls to other participants, and schedule meetings in Outlook. Skypes' Office 365 Business Essentials plan comes with access to the Microsoft Office cloud suite with email. It also offers file sharing with 1TB of storage and a 50GB mailbox per user.
Office 365 Business Premium comes with desktop access to the Microsoft Office suite Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook, Publisher and OneNote – in addition to all the other tiers' features on up to 15 devices. Anna Attkisson After getting infected with the tech bug at Wireless World and Cellular Business magazines as an intern in 1998, Anna Attkisson went on to dabble in all sorts of publications covering everything from children’s fashion to financial planning, cars and travel. After spending 10 years, writing and editing for Laptop Mag and Tom’s Guide, she has taken on the editorial planning for all the B2B sites at Purch, including, and Business News Daily. She has a B.S. In journalism from the University of Kansas.
Microsoft is getting serious with the Mac today with its new Skype for Business preview for OS X. The new business-focused version of Skype for Mac runs on OS X El Capitan and focuses on creating an enterprise-friendly experience.
IT professionals can request access to the new Skype for Business Mac Preview starting today. In addition to taking preview requests from commercial clients, Microsoft says it will begin seeding Skype for Business Mac Preview to IT administrators before opening the preview to more users. Microsoft plans to roll out the Skype for Business Mac client in three stages, starting with today’s release which includes Outlook calendar integration for viewing and joining meetings right from Skype, then two additional versions before public availability: We’ll be adding instant messaging, presence and the contacts list in the next preview release coming in early summer, and telephony in late summer. New invitations will be issued daily over the next few weeks until all organizations wanting to participate have access, and testers will also be able to submit feedback during the preview period at. Skype for Business differs from the standard version of the communication app as it allows for up to 250 people on a call versus the 25 person limit on standard Skype.
Outlook integration, enterprise-grade security, and the ability to manage employee accounts also set it apart. Standalone run $2.00/month per user with more packages available as well. Skype for Business Mac Preview joins the other client already available on an Apple platform,. Full release notes below: Skype for Business on Mac Preview Release This release will ONLY support the listed MEETING functionality, all additional functionality (e.g., Contact list, non-meeting IMs, non-meeting voice calls, etc.) will come in future releases. April 26, 2016 Sign In. Sign in via email address and/or username. Sign in with NTLM, OrgID, and Microsoft Modern Authentication credentials ONLY.
Me Area. View and update presence status. View, but not edit, your note. Meetings. View your calendar appointments today and tomorrow. Join online Skype meetings. Create an ad-hoc meeting using the “Meet Now” option in the Meetings menu.
Join a meeting using an url option in the Meetings menu. Mute and unmute your microphone. Start and stop video. View video shared by a remote active speaker. View inbound Desktop screen sharing and Application sharing but not uploaded PowerPoint content.
Share your screen in the meeting. Inbound viewing only, desktop sharing outbound coming in future drop. View notifications when people join or leave the meeting. View in-meeting alerts and notifications.
Send and receive chat messages during a meeting. Meeting Participant List (Roster). View the meeting roster.
Invite new participants. View mute status of participants. Mute and unmute remote participants.
Accept or decline participants waiting in the lobby. Audio and Video Preferences. Update preferred devices for microphone, speaker, and video capability before a call (not during a call). Feedback. Provide any bugs through the ‘Report an Issue’ link and menu options.
Known Issues. Skype for Business for Mac client currently requires the mobility policies to be enabled in order to sign in. Users won’t be able to join Non-federated meetings using this client. As a workaround, users can use Lync for Mac 2011 client to join Non-federated meetings.
Users need to stop presenting their screen from the Skype for Business for Mac client to the meeting before a second user can start presenting their screen. Present Desktop will not work for multiple desktops or monitors.
It will only present the main desktop into the meeting. Users should change the desktops via OS Display settings in order to present a secondary desktop. Using USB and Bluetooth devices while Running Lync for Mac 2011 and Skype for Business for Mac side by side can result in a bad joining and call experience. SHA-512 certs is not supported with the current version of Skype for Business for Mac client. Check out to request access to Skype for Business Mac Preview today. The public version is expected to launch in Q3 later this year, replacing Microsoft’s Lync for Mac 2011.