Dealing with several workplace failures? Can’t encourage your team members to be more collaborative? Promoting inclusivity in the workplace but don’t know where to start? 

Maybe the solution is right under your nose—more straightforward and more effective communication. In this technologically driven world, you can’t enjoy all the benefits of better communication without platforms and practices that make connecting with team members, colleagues, and managers easier. In fact, this has already been proven. Companies with solid communication and support systems are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their competitors, while employees who are well-informed outperform their peers by 77%. 

Aside from setting up the necessary tools and ingraining best practices for your employees, you’ll also need a reliable team chat app for day-to-day communications. 

Currently, you’re faced with a lot of options. Below is an in-depth analysis of the top apps today to help narrow down your choices. 

Slack

Best For: Workplaces that rely on chat for their day-to-day communications 

Supported Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, Web

Pricing: 

• Free for unlimited users. Features include 1-on-1 calls within your team and a 10,000 message history. 
• Paid plans from $6.67 per active user per month (when choosing the billed annually option) for unlimited history, screen sharing, and team video calls 

Slack is one of the top communication tools globally, and high-tech firms worldwide love it and swear by it. It includes a user-friendly interface and a wide range of strong integration capabilities.

In addition, you can connect this team chat platform to numerous other tools, as the Slack App Directory has over 1,500 apps it can integrate with. This includes other employee communication apps and project management tools such as Polly, Asana, Zoom, Trello, etc.

Though there are concerns regarding Slack’s security, users can minimize the risk of insider threats by taking a proactive role in managing user permissions. 

Microsoft Teams 

Best For: Large organizations broken down into smaller teams 

Supported Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Web 

Pricing: 

• Free plan includes unlimited group meetings for up to 60 minutes, 5GB of cloud storage per user, and data encryption for meetings, chats, calls, and files. 
• Paid plans from $4 per user per month. Features include unlimited group meetings for up to 30 hours and phone and web support you can access anytime.

If your company already pays for productivity software, Microsoft Teams’ rich integrations with Office 365 services make it an easy choice. A significant focus of the app is on video and audio calls. Users can arrange meetings with agendas or hop onto unscheduled calls. There are also a lot of collaboration tools within the platform, such as tight integration with Microsoft Office for collaborating on documents, calendar appointments, and notes.

The most significant disadvantage of Teams is the effort required to implement it within your company. It can be pretty tricky to set up if you do not have a committed IT team, especially if you are using the free version.

Chanty

Best For: Workplaces looking for a simpler & more intuitive platform 

Supported Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Web

Pricing: 

• Free plan is for teams with up to 10 members only. Comes with public and private conversations, 1-on-1 audio calls, voice messages, etc. 
• A business plan is priced at $3 per user per month with all the benefits of the Free plan plus roles & permissions, community support, group video calls, screen sharing, and a dedicated support line.

Chanty was created for folks who want easy and no-fuss communication with their teammates. It puts collaboration at its center by allowing you to work with your team no matter where they are or what device they are using. In addition to text, you can also use voice calls, video calls, and screen sharing. 

The app even allows you to do light project management and turn messages into tasks. Another great thing about Chanty is that it can be integrated into several software and services such as Google Drive, Trello, Dropbox, and Github. 

Troop Messenger 

Best For: Workplaces needing extra tight security features 

Supported Platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Web, Android, and iOS 

Pricing: 

• Free plan features 1-on-1 messaging, file sharing, and group chats 
• Paid plans start at $25 per user per month with all free features, plus up to 1TB of storage, live tracking, audio messaging, video calling, analytics, screen sharing, and more 

Troop Messenger was created specifically to connect teams from different organizations. It is built with seamless navigational feature flows, which provides users with uninterrupted workflows. In addition, many intra-corporate or government teams rely on this app due to its impressive security features and large storage capacity. 

One of Troop Messenger’s most intriguing features is the option to add clients and vendors to conversations for a limited time—and then delete them once you’re done. It also allows you to have group conversations with them in place of lengthy email threads. This means that the app can be used for various purposes, not only for internal communication.

Mattermost 

Best For: developers, engineering teams, or companies who want to self-host their chat app 

Supported Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, Web

Pricing: 

• Free plan (Starter) with features like unlimited 1:1 and group messaging, unlimited boards, full history search, and audio-video integrations 
• Paid plans (Professional and Enterprise) start at $10 per user per month with everything in Starter plus guest accounts, AD/LDAP user sync, OpenID, advanced team permissions, and others. 

Mattermost is best for all your conversations that are too sensitive and important to be hosted on a third-party server. This application is open-source, which means you can download and install it on your own servers. You can also customize it to meet your team or your company’s needs. 

Communication Is The Key To A Workplace’s Productivity & Collaboration

The apps listed above are just a glimpse of some of the most sought-after platforms available in the market today. Whatever you prefer, the important thing is that the tool you are using cultivates a culture of collaboration so that team members are engaged and aligned and workflows are streamlined.  

For more startup solutions on everything from communication to knowing how you can minimize financial risks, we at Darbaar have a whole host of informative articles just for you!