The best employee communication apps are mobile-friendly to reach all employees, including frontline workers and remote teams. Some have additional features for specific use cases, like integrating with existing intranets and providing useful engagement insights.
For example, When I Work offers the ability to communicate and collaborate through channels, instant messaging and video calls. It even supports multiple languages to address a global workforce and bridge language gaps.
1. Slack
Slack brings together people, conversations, and apps in one virtual place. It provides a variety of features such as channels for group discussions, private messages to share information, and integrations with dozens of premier project management tools.
This app also has a unique feature called Slack Huddle that allows you to create quick video calls with multiple team members simultaneously. It is great for impromptu questions, gauging team morale with quick polling, and training new volunteers and staff.
With a variety of add-ons like Loom, Slack can be more than just a communication tool. Some teams use it to make short presentations or provide training videos, and some even integrate it with their nTask app for better project management.
2. Google Drive
Google Drive is a suite of office tools that’s designed to streamline workflow. It includes the full Google Workspace suite (Docs, Sheets and Slides) and a range of third-party external apps that let you edit images with Pixlr, create 3D files with SketchUp or organize your workflow with Asana.
Drive is fully integrated with Gmail so you can share files via email without having to open a dedicated Drive folder. It also offers built-in comments to provide a professional environment for collaborative feedback. And if you can’t resolve a comment, you can quickly schedule a Google Meet to clarify feedback face-to-face.
You can also scan documents directly to Drive with your mobile device’s camera, which is especially useful if you need to save an advertisement sign or business card. Then, Drive can automatically upload them to your Drive folder.
3. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a straightforward, chat-based center for fluid teaming and collaboration. It supports real-time chat, video calls, and screen sharing. It can help you manage your meetings, share files, and create channels. It’s available on Android, iOS, and web devices.
It has a number of built-in integrations for other apps. One of them is SignEasy, an e-signature app that sends notifications when documents are signed in real-time within Teams.
The software offers a variety of free and paid plans for business users. Some of them are available for teams of up to 15 members and others are tailored for large organizations. It’s important to think about scalability when selecting an employee communication tool. This helps your app stay relevant to your company’s goals and grows with your workforce and communication needs.
4. Flock
Flock is a powerful team messaging and productivity app. It offers all-in-one chat, video call and screen sharing. Its simple UI is faster and more intuitive than Slack.
Flock’s search feature helps you find files, messages and links easily. It also lets you bookmark any item for quick access later. You can also organize your chats into smart channels to streamline decision making and problem-solving.
The free version of Flock offers standard communication features such as unlimited one-on-one and group conversations, 5GB of file storage, and a variety of third-party app integrations. The paid Pro version offers advanced functionality including group video calls and priority support. It also allows you to create public and private channels for guests. It also increases file storage capacity to 10GB per team and offers additional search features.
5. Convo
The app allows teams to centralize remote and hybrid collaboration while eliminating delays associated with asynchronous email communication. It offers features like team messaging, file sharing, video calls and project management.
Its ad-free platform lets users communicate via text channels and voice chats. Its text channels can be broken down into threads and conversations are easy to organize. Discord also has always-on voice channels with mute and join options.
The app comes with a robust search function to help teams find information and files that may have been buried by multiple comments or cc’s. It also has a dedicated analytics dashboard to monitor key metrics of teams.