Top group chat apps for business in 2024
Not all chat apps are suitable for business communication. Many of them are designed just for messages exchange and calls. Let's check what are the main requirements for the group chat apps for business:
- Permissions and user roles: sometimes it may be necessary to limit specific functionality within communication groups to make them, e.g. news channels or prohibit meetings recording.
- Essential functionality for messaging such as discussions (threads), mentions, reactions and text formatting are required for successful and convenient communication.
- Live avatars and presence statuses help you see what your co-workers are doing.
- A wide range of different notifications make it convenient to send nudges, notify about new messages, calls or upcoming meetings.
- On-premises or secure cloud deployment to ensure corporate data protection.
- Group video and audio calls are important when it comes to collaboration of remote teams, training and making presentations.
There is no need to hurry and integrate the first app which appears in the search list. Before you start testing the group chat app you need to take into account the following factors which make the chat app perfect for your needs:
- User friendly interface
- Secure and reliable
- Cost effective
- A wide range of customizations
- Functionality to meet your business needs
In this blog post we will share the list of group chat apps for business. These apps are known to be the ones of the best on the market and will make your team communication smooth and productive.
Slack
The first tool to come to mind when selecting a group chat app for business is Slack. It contains all functionality required for smooth and secure communication within organizations. Apart from that it offers a wide range of collaboration options and integrations with other business apps. Let's see how well Slack works in terms of group communication:
Advantages:
- Smooth integration into corporate environment
- Customizable notifications, files sharing and threads
- Video and audio meetings
Disadvantages:
- Quite expensive
- Lack of native task management tools
Virola
Virola is a new player on the market of business communication software. Though this app is new, it provides a rich set of features both for productive team communication and collaboration: text formatting, discussions, mentions, task board, issues tracking, video conferences, audio calls, group chats and news channels. Here is why you need to integrate Virola with your business workflow:
Advantages:
- Self-hosted and cost effective
- Issues tracking on a Kanban board
- Unlimited messages and files storage
- Customizable permissions
- Video and audio group chats
- Topic- based chats and discussions with unlimited video and audio calls
Disadvantages:
- Lack of integrations with third-party tools
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams can be used either independently or in Microsoft 365 environment tightly integrated with Microsoft products. This group chat app is widely used by small teams and educational organizations as it offers a free limited version which can satisfy communication needs of many companies and start-ups. At the same time MS Teams can be a good start for companies that want to take advantage of group chat apps and make their business communication more secure.
Advantages:
- Integration with Microsoft 365 environment
- Exceptional audio and video quality during video meetings
- Easy to make small teams from large groups
Disadvantages:
- Limitations in the number of channels
- Recordings expiration limit
Chanty
Chanty is very intuitive in usage and provides smooth communication and collaboration experience. Many businesses love this group chat app for audio and video calls, screen sharing capabilities and friendly user interface. Chanty offers a free plan with unlimited one-on-one audio calls and messages both private and group.
Advantages:
- Voice messages
- Screen sharing
- Video and audio calls
- Intuitive user interface
- Unlimited message history
- Kanban board
Disadvantages:
- Project management features and quite basic for complex projects
Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is a very popular open-source group chat app for business. It offers a powerful set of features for corporate communication and teams' collaboration. Moreover, with the help of flexible customizations it can be integrated into your environment to satisfy all your company's communication needs. Rocket.Chat is a great tool for organizations dealing with patients' or customers' sensitive information.
Advantages:
- On-prem or cloud deployment
- GDPR and HIPAA compliance
- A wide range of possible customizationss
Disadvantages:
- Requires technical skills
The choice of the group chat app for business depends on your communication needs, integrations requirements and budget. Before you start using and testing a corporate messenger tool, you need to check available functionality and integration opportunities thoroughly to avoid buying a pig in a poke.