Choosing the Best Chat App to Level Up Communication at Work

Office chat is a fixture at most modern organizations. It’s the first place teammates go to align in real time or asynchronously to brainstorm, engage with colleagues near and far, and collaborate efficiently so work moves forward.

But basic, two-way office chat apps are a thing of the past. The right product can integrate with all your data and third-party apps, unite teams with external partners and customers, and generally make work life more productive and pleasant.

Here’s what you should know about choosing the best messaging app for your workplace and our pick of the best.

What is office chat?

Office chat apps let employees message one another in a digital workspace, supporting both asynchronous and real-time communication. Teammates can use office chat to collaborate on projects by exchanging text-based messages, voice and video memos, files and documents, and other media.

Instant messaging for office environments is more exclusive and secure than other types of chat. For example, anyone can add a friend on WhatsApp with nothing more than their phone number, but office chat typically requires an invitation and a company email address.

Why office chat apps are essential for modern teams

Office chat apps do more than just replace email, they make it easier to stay connected, share ideas, and get work done together. Here are some of the biggest benefits, especially when it comes to improving communication:

1. Flexible communication

Chat apps foster real-time and asynchronous communication, so team members can chat instantly or catch up when it works for them. Whether you’re replying right away or coming back to it later, it keeps things moving without forcing a meeting.

2. Team connectivity

The back-and-forth nature of team chat mimics an in-person conversation, helping bridge the gap between remote and in-office teammates. It brings everyone into the same conversation, no matter where they’re working from.

3. Break down communication barriers

When employees need to chat with coworkers in other departments, they can use a chat app to look up that person’s profile and quickly send them a message. That makes it easier to communicate on the fly, even outside of a traditional office.

Chat apps help remove geographical and hierarchical silos, too. Using an inter-office chat app, any employee can send a message to the company CEO or founder without navigating around their jam-packed schedule.

4. Seamless collaboration

Seamless file sharing, video calls, and app integrations create a robust collaboration experience. Chat platforms make it easy to work together without constantly switching apps.

5. Easy information retrieval

Chat tools usually come with smart search functions so you can find messages or shared files from earlier conversations without endless scrolling. No more digging through email threads or old notes.

6. Built-in directories

Need to reach someone new? Most office chat platforms have built-in company directories, so you’re not tracking down email addresses or guessing usernames.

7. A wealth of communication options

Chat doesn’t just mean typing instant messages. Tools like Slack let users send voice clips, hop on video calls with huddles, or drop an emoji reaction instead of writing a full reply. It keeps things quick, expressive, and (dare we say) fun.

8. Promote real-time interaction

Flooded email and voicemail inboxes can be daunting. Games of phone tag get tedious fast, as do attempts to coordinate meetings across busy calendars. Chat apps support real-time interaction by allowing employees to chat instantly and informally as if they were gathered around the office water cooler. Most apps even indicate when a team member is online and typing their response.

9. Respect for your time

When you’re focusing on work or are away from your desk, you can silence notifications to save incoming messages for later or update your status so coworkers know you’re not active.

10. Foster teamwork through chat platforms

Employees often need to work across departments to complete projects and initiatives. Chat platforms bring colleagues together through dedicated channels for specific projects or teams. For example, Slack users can create a channel for a specific project and add all stakeholders, including those from other teams and even outside organizations.

How to measure the impact of office chat apps

How can you tell if your chat platform is boosting productivity? Keep an eye out for these metrics:

• Less email

Take some of the pressure off your email inbox. A well-rounded office chat app lets you thread messages, create dedicated channels for projects and teams, hop into real-time huddles, and seamlessly share files to reduce your dependence on traditional email.

• More efficient task management and progress tracking

Chat apps like Slack offer task lists and integrations with task management software such as Jira, Monday.com, and Trello. Users can assign, track, and complete tasks in these management apps directly in Slack, no context switching required.

• Quicker resolution of work issues

When facing a critical issue at work, you want an immediate resolution—not the tedious back-and-forth of problem-solving over email. Chat apps, on the other hand, allow you to communicate casually and in real time for quicker resolutions.

For example, Slack Connect replaces the typical back-and-forth of email by allowing external organizations, such as vendors, partners, and customers, to collaborate within a company’s secure workspace. The result? Deeper, long-lasting relationships. In fact, Slack Connect users report 41% faster responses from customers, vendors, and service providers1. And unlike collaborating via email—which leaves users open to the risk of spam and phishing—working in channels allows teams to receive messages and files only from verified members.

How to choose the best office chat app for your team

Look for these benefits and features as you research and compare chat apps.

• Current product suite: The ideal app can integrate with your current tech stack to reduce context switching. For example, Slack is a great office chat platform for companies that already use Atlassian and Google products, as well as thousands of other popular apps, because it integrates seamlessly with those applications.
• Security: The office chat app you select should adhere to your company’s security and privacy standards. Also consider extra security factors such as single sign-on, two-factor authentication, HIPAA compliance, BAA signature, and data encryption.
• User-friendly design: Introducing a new tool to your company can seem overwhelming. Look for an app with a user-friendly interface, which makes it faster and easier to onboard new users and train them on the platform.
• Cost: Don’t forget your company’s budget. A smaller team might get away with the free version of a chat app, but larger organizations usually work better with paid memberships.

Best practices for productive office chat

Create a best practices guide for your employees to reference as they learn to communicate in their new office chat app. Employees should keep conversations professional and respectful, and avoid unnecessary distractions that could hamper productivity.

When you first introduce the app, offer training and resources for employees as they learn to use the platform’s various features and functions. You might even create a dedicated channel for questions and tech support.

Integrating AI tools into office chat

When selecting an office chat, it’s important to choose one that can evolve with your business for the long haul. AI is revolutionizing the workplace by processing data quickly, providing smarter search results, and enhancing customer experience with suggestions and generated chat.

A modern chat app seamlessly and securely corporates AI throughout your workflows. Slack AI, a separately purchased feature, helps workers stay on top of knowledge flowing through their workspace. It includes generative features such as conversation summaries, daily recaps, and intelligent search. Our pilot users saved an average of 97 minutes a week with Slack AI2.

Slack also deeply integrates with Salesforce Einstein, which brings CRM insights and intelligent actions directly into Slack. And of course, you can connect third-party AI assistants through the Slack Marketplace.

Use a work operating system like Slack to boost your office chats

Slack is a great fit for offices that want to level up their team collaboration with a feature-packed chat app that boosts efficiency in the workplace. Here’s what you can expect:

• Slack channels dedicated to specific teams, projects, and products make it easy to collaborate with coworkers distributed around the world.
• Slack huddles let users quickly sync with their teammates in on-the-spot audio and video calls.
• Co-workers can collaborate on shared whiteboards with Slack canvas.
• Slack offers seamless file sharing, a shared knowledge search, and task lists for managing projects and tracking progress.
• Slack AI enables smart search functions and instant message summaries.

Contact our sales team to learn how Slack can make the chat experience more pleasant and more productive for everyone at your organization.

1 Slack customer tracking survey, FY22.