11 best communication software and platforms for businesses

‍

2. Chanty

Chanty is a business instant messaging software that has an in-built video calling feature. Chanty offers one-on-one video calls as well as group video conferences with screen sharing. Over 75,000 companies already use Chanty to communicate and align on their goals.

3. Skype

Skype used to be synonymous with video calling. However, by adding features such as messaging and VoIP to it, it lost on its user-friendliness, which made it less popular than Zoom. However, it remains a frequently used video conferencing tool for many businesses, even more so now that it’s under Microsoft’s hood.

4. BigBlueButton

Although it’s not one of the classic team communication platforms out there, we at Rocket.Chat love using BigBlueButton. One of the reasons why is the technology running in the back of it – namely, BigBlueButton is open-sourced.

As we at Rocket.Chat are huge open-source fans, it only makes sense that we often use this virtual classroom software when we have company-wide meetings!

5. Google Meet

Google Meet, one of the classics! Google Meet is an easy-to-use video calling platform from Google’s suite of products. Since Google Workspace has around 2 billion users worldwide, this team communication software provides them a natural extension for communicating via video call.

6. Jitsi Meet

Jitsi Meet is a video conferencing platform that is embedded in Rocket.Chat. Why do we love it? It is free, fully encrypted, and 100% open source. It simply checks all the boxes when it comes to communication platforms!

7. Zoom

It is no wonder that the deployment of Zoom grew over 45% between March and October of 2020. With many businesses abruptly switching to remote work, Zoom was singled out as a great way to replace live meetings.

With the simplicity of use and features like video webinars and integrated scheduling, Zoom remains one of the most popular work communication apps to date.

8. MS Teams

MS Teams is a widely-used communication software that is a part of the Microsoft universe. It does lack some flexibility which other providers are able to provide, but it is nevertheless a great addition to Microsoft’s portfolio of products and services.

9. Slack

Slack is probably one of the most popular team communication software in the world. Its ease of use was unprecedented when it came to the market. However, with the rise of cyberattacks and data privacy regulations, a lot of security-oriented companies are looking for Slack open-source alternatives.

10. Troop Messenger

Troop Messenger is another business communication software that offers both chat and audio and video calling. With features such as responding later, flagging messages, and remote desktop control, it makes for a useful communication tool for employees.

11. Discord

Discord is an instant messaging and distribution platform that enables users to communicate with each other via multiple channels – chat, audio, and video. It is one of the most popular team communication platform in gaming, and enables users to connect with others on severs where larger communities interact together.

How to choose the best business communication software?

The communication software market is growing rapidly. Experts estimate that the employee communication market will surpass the $1.600 Million mark by 2026. With more solutions than ever to choose from, what are some of the most important buying criteria?

1. High data security

Organizations want their employees to collaborate and communicate freely. However, they also don’t want to compromise on data security. As such, built-in data protection technologies make all the difference to organizations that are buying communication software.

Namely, the dispersed, hybrid work model has brought on some challenges to data security.

Some companies weren’t all that ready for abrupt changes to their workplace policies in 2020 and left their employees to communicate with clunky team communication software. This propelled employees to use WhatsApp and other consumer communication apps for work-related matters – after all, why not, since everybody uses them already?

The answer is simple: WhatsApp and other consumer-oriented communication apps don’t uphold the same security standards as their business counterparts. With cyberattacks on the rise, organizations need to pay more attention than ever to the security of their collaboration solutions and user experience – so employees don’t resort to less secure solutions.

For example, organizations in highly regulated industries like Healthcare, Defense, or Government, often want complete data sovereignty. That's where the debate about on-premise vs cloud solutions' security usually begins.

2. Flexible solutions to fit your needs

For large organizations in highly regulated industries - such as healthcare, government, or education - flexibility is extremely important. Yes, you want your employees to be connected wherever they are - but you want the new remote work tools at hand to fit into your existing infrastructure.

One solution for that is to look for open source software. Open source chat apps have advanced customization options, and include other benefits that are extremely useful in highly regulated industries.

➡️ Get our ultimate list of best open-source software to make your choice easier.

3. Easy-to-use features for high adoption rates

You want your employees to actually use the team communication software you provide them - and not have them deflect to less secure, consumer-oriented solutions like WhatsApp. Therefore, the app you choose needs to be easy to use. We're talking Single Sign On, absence of clunky features, rich integrations portfolio, and support for numerous communication methods.

What are the biggest benefits of using group communication apps in your organization?

Using communication software in an organization is beneficial from multiple standpoints. Perhaps the most straightforward advantage comes from facilitating an organic way of communicating. By utilizing a communication platform, employees can easily reach anybody within their organization, mimicking real-life situations of walking down the hall and knocking on the office door.

Furthermore, online communication goes beyond the limitations of the physical workplace. What if there’s no one in the office? Leaving a note seems much less efficient than sending a short message in chat.

1. Enabling team collaboration best practices

Communication software allows teams to collaborate efficiently. Team members can jump on video calls for presentations, screen sharing, brainstorming, and then align on the project by communicating asynchronously via chat.

And why exactly is team collaboration so important to companies nowadays? Well, through collaboration, employees innovate and join their forces to improve their organizations’ products and services, ultimately leading to bigger profit and market share.

🚀 Check out the best collaboration software to skyrocket your business.

2. Less stress caused by ineffective communication

Ineffective communication is stressful: it slows down productivity, creates work silos, and in general can be very frustrating. Some research even states that 80% of the US workforce feels stressed out due to ineffective communication in their companies.

3. Breaking down organizational silos

Organizational silo is a term that refers to business divisions that, due to their independence, avoid sharing information. It is very common in large enterprises, whereas smaller companies tend to fare better in this aspect.

However, organizational silos are dangerous for a company of any size. They prevent sharing of knowledge and decelerate development.

On the other hand, communication platforms can do wonders for breaking down silos. Colleagues from different business divisions can collaborate and share information on the go, and cross-functional teams can easily be established.

4. Better goal alignment

With a quick team chat available at their fingertips, employees can always check in with their colleagues to align on a common goal. Team members don’t have to wait for weekly meetings to make sure their work is pointed in the right direction. Instead, they can send a quick message on their organization’s chat or jump on a short call with their colleagues.

5. Increased productivity

When employees are well connected, their productivity can rise to 25%.

‍

This is one of the greatest advantages of communication software for businesses: it makes connecting easy. By doing that, employees can easily overcome feelings of isolation and loneliness if away from the office. Besides, collaborating on a project helps to increase employee engagement.

6. Avoiding the cost of poor communication

In his survey of 400 companies with more than 100,000 employees, David Grossman found that organizations lose on average $62.4 million per year due to inadequate communication between and to employees.

On the other hand, teams that utilize communication software with team communication best practices in mind can be more in touch with market needs and propel their business’ success.

Reap the benefits of team communication and collaboration by choosing the right communication platform for your business

Here at Rocket.Chat, we are all about joining forces of communication and collaboration to make work easy. However, we want our customers to never have to compromise on their data security.

This is why Rocket.Chat has numerous security features and is deemed one of the most secure messaging apps on the market. We don’t want to trick you guys: we do everything other messaging platforms do… Except expose your data.

Our team is just a click away, waiting to show you how easy it is to configure Rocket.Chat and use it in your organization. See what the fuss is all about and start enjoying all the benefits of great team communication software in your company!