Communication Platforms: The Best In The Business
Forget messages in bottles, today it’s never been so easy to communicate.
While email and text messages have become firmly embedded in the global consciousness, social media has revolutionized the way people keep in touch with friends and relatives. Video conferencing has progressed from the boardroom into the home, and instant messaging has spawned a new generation of communications platforms underpinning the modern-day obsession with mobile devices.
While these IM platforms have adopted widely differing interfaces, offering varying degrees of professionalism, there is no disputing their significance in the modern world. Below are the five platforms whose popularity and key features have blazed a trail for others to follow:
Facebook Messenger
The sheer size of Facebook’s user base means contacts and associates are likely to be contactable through Messenger, with a billion downloads for this app on Android alone. However, it’s no longer possible to read personal messages on a mobile device’s Facebook portal – the Messenger app is now the only method of one-to-one communications unless a desktop machine is available. Despite its connotations with social (rather than professional) activities, Messenger appeals to corporate audiences by offering video calling, private messages and auto replies.
Like Facebook, WhatsApp should be taken seriously as a communications platform for modern companies. Now sporting end-to-end encryption to prevent unauthorized eavesdropping, the world’s most popular messaging app offers effortless group discussions and the ability to see when users were last online. Automatic notifications when messages are read ensure recipients get the message every time, and file transfers couldn’t be easier. Plus, WhatsApp currently works on any mobile device, though BlackBerry will stop supporting it later this year.
Slack
Despite a name connoting tardiness, Slack is a communications platform that runs on the big three desktop platforms and the three largest mobile OS. It organizes projects or conversations into dedicated channels that bring all related documents and messages into a single location everyone with the right privileges can access. With the ability to search different file formats for keywords, and instant synchronization between multiple devices, Slack claims to be a new way of doing business – confirmed by the fact that each user is active for an average of 320 minutes every weekday.
TigerText
The Tor Browser of mobile communications, TigerText was created six years ago to offer unparalleled levels of security. Widely known throughout the medical sector, the company offer to pay $1 million in damages if a client is found to be in breach of security rules governing American health insurance. Enterprise-grade security and end-to-end encryption underpin this unique boast, while the platform’s other functions include recalling messages before they’ve been read and selecting how long messages are retained before being permanently deleted.
Layer
Corporate communications specialist, Layer, enables companies to create standalone or in-app messaging services using a customizable toolkit. Compatible with iOS and Android devices, Layer can handle messages ranging from text and photos to video and voice files. Individual messages can be two gigabytes in size, while pan-device synchronization and the ability to track a new app’s performance, thanks to integral messaging analytics, are also worth noting. Although Layer is more complex and expensive than the options listed above, its flexibility and scalability are ideal for companies requiring professional communications solutions.
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Neil