Communication tools refer to any software, service or app which is designed to help team members or remote workers have conversations or interactions. A business communication software is important in case of remote teams as they are useful in bridging the gap between the traditional in-person work and remote work.
Benefits of using team collaboration tools for internal communication
The benefits of using team communication tools include the following:
- Increased employee engagement
- Better productivity
- Improved work relationship
- Ability to automate
- Knowledge sharing
- Prompt feedback
List of Best Team Communication Tools
Irrespective of the company size, internal communication can be a tricky business. In order to make sure you choose the best option, we’ve narrowed down a few alternatives for you to choose from.
1. Spike
It is one of the best conversational email apps with the goal to help you unify all your communication at a single place. It includes chats, emails, team projects and everything in a single location to prevent you from switching in between apps and thereby saving your valuable time. Spike turns your regular emails into chat threads, allowing communication to be clear, quick, easy and concise.
Pricing:
The Personal Account is free to operate. While the Pro Account is available at $6 per account/month. In case you have a bigger team, you can request a quote from the Spike Sales Team.
2. Monday
Monday is more than just the most dreaded day of the week. It is a project and team management platform which allows you to create dashboards and track team progress.
Set due dates, timelines and activity progress for a project. You can also assign team members to a task to know who is in charge of what activity. The tool is great for managers and teams alike.
Pricing:
The pricing is based on the organization’s size where from two users to 200+ users, the pricing lies between $17/month to $2,500/month.
3. Staffbase
The next on the roundup list for best communication tools is Staffbase. It is an employee app and allows you to message, share documents and send push notifications. Besides this, it can also be used to conduct employee surveys.
The app packs a user-friendly interface and offers a great way to communicate with the employees and team members.
Pricing:
The pricing for this app is available on request.
4. Slack
It is a messaging platform which makes communication quick and easy through the entire organization. Besides messaging, you can also conduct VoIP calls, do video chat, send files and search through the chat history.
Work more easily with everyone using the following:
Channels: Stay organised and focused with spaces for conversation, tools, files and people
Connect: Collaborate with other team members in the same way you do with teams
Messaging: Be a team player with chat for business. Stay efficient and organised to help you and your team work together
Voice and Video call: Meet more efficiently via video conferencing with other team members. It is easier to see eye to eye and share information efficiently
You can also make channels for separate teams to communicate. It is available across desktop, computer and mobile.
Pricing:
The Standard Plan starts at $6.67/month and is suitable for small to medium businesses. The plus plan starts at $12.50/month for businesses with larger requirements while the Custom quote is available for larger enterprises.
5. Zoom
Zoom offers audio, video, screen sharing and messaging, making it the all in one solution to conduct online video calls, host meetings and much more. It is compatible across devices and is loaded with features such as Zoom rooms for ensuring optimum video conferencing.
Get more out of your meeting with features such as:
Virtual background: Look like you’re anywhere with Zoom’s virtual background. Set up a new background to hid eliminate or highlight branding.
Calendar integration: The fastest way to schedule your Zoom meetings is to sing a Scheduler extension with your existent calendar system.
Waiting room: Make sure you know who comes into your meetings by enabling the waiting room functionality.
Multi-share: Real-time collaboration is easier than ever with Zoom.
Pricing:
The basic version is free to use, while the pro plan for small teams starts at $14.99 per host/month. In the case of small to large companies, the plan starts at $19.99 per host/month.
Reviews: 4.5 out of 5 stars
6. Telegram
It is a cloud-based desktop and mobile application which offers instant messaging and VoIP features. The app is available across devices and allows data synchronization of chats.
Pricing:
The Telegram app is free to use for communicating and sending of files and other data.
7. ThoughtFarmer
ThoughtFarmer is based on intranet software service and aims to boost productivity by focusing on internal communication. It offers a range of features which include communication tools, project management, document management and social features.
Besides this, it also offers data hosting, onsite hosting and cloud hosting.
Pricing:
The pricing is based on company size. The cloud hosting starts from $4 flat fee/user, while the Onsite Hosting starts at $89 flat fee/user.
8. Trello
It is an online bulletin board which allows you to create project cards and move them through the columns on the board. Trello is great for organizing and tracking the continuous progress on tasks and projects. The project cards enable you to collaborate and continually add comments, add files and can click to see the latest update.
Pricing:
The basic plan is available for Free while the Business class plan starts at $9.99 per user/month. To avail the Enterprise plan, you need to request a quote.
9. Google Hangouts
Another excellent team communication tool is Google Hangouts. Make your video and voice calls easy with Google Hangouts. You and your team can easily hold meetings from anywhere and anytime.
Pricing:
The best part is that the tool is Free to use and has the backup of Google.
10. Jostle
It is a cloud-based intranet software. In case you don’t know what intranet is, it is a secure and private network which can be accessed by the employees of a company. Jostle focuses on being the “go-to place for anything and everything in the organization”. It helps you build the culture in an organization, boost communication and find the required information easily.
It is available on iOS and Android app and also includes features such as JostleTV which allows news broadcasting.
Pricing:
There are two pricing plans: essential and complete. Both are based on the number of employees in the organization.
11. Quip
Quip is a business communication software which allows teams to create, collaborate across spreadsheets. Documents, checklists as well as discuss a project’s progress via instant messaging. Users can work on documents from anywhere, anytime and are available both on desktop and mobile. Quip emphasizes its ability to help teams to get more work done while having a lesser requirement for emails as well as meetings.
Pricing:
The Starter Plan is available for $10 per user/month, the Enterprise Plan is available for $25 per user/month and Quip for SalesForce is available at the custom quote.
12. Cisco Webex Teams
This business communication software does a little bit of everything. Cisco Team is an app which allows instant chats via group messaging, video calls, file sharing, VoIP calling as well as whiteboard features.
The tool is available on desktop and mobile and helps integrate with other digital business tools.
Pricing:
Contact for pricing.
13. Glip
One of the best communication tools on the list is Glip. The great thing about the software is it emphasizes that everything they bring to the table is unlimited. It offers Unlimited storage, unlimited users as unlimited projects, posts and guest users.
Glip allows voice, chat, video calling and file-sharing organized by tasks, projects and management within teams. It offers screen sharing to ensure long-distance meetings, and options such as use on desktop, iOS, and Android apps.
Pricing:
The basic version is available for free while the premium version is available for $5 per user/month.
14. Basecamp
It is team management and project management software. Basecamp focuses on bringing together all the scattered methods of communication at one place to help your team communicate easily.
Pricing:
The tool is available for $99/month.
15. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a communications platform application and allows video calls, instant chats, and file sharing. It is great for streamlining communication while working within a smaller group.
Pricing:
The basic version of Microsoft Teams basic is available for free. As a part of Microsoft Office, 365 plans range from $12.50 per user/month to $20 per user/month.
The BottomLine
While we have listed some of the best communication tools, the pros and cons will depend on your usage requirement and functionality for your organization.
In case you are looking for free communication software, you can give Telegram a try. It offers features of sending, communicating and creation of groups related to specific teams.
In the end, you need to base your decision on budget, the functionality offered and its usefulness for your organization.