Hi friend! As remote and hybrid work models become the norm, using a dedicated workplace chat platform is no longer optional for modern teams – it‘s absolutely essential. Just look at these statistics:
- Over the last 5 years, remote work has grown by 44% worldwide
- Study projects 50% of knowledge workers will be fully remote by 2025
- Distributed teams can be 10-30% more productive than on-site ones
But to unlock these productivity gains and connect dispersed employees, organizations need to select tools purpose-built for digital teamwork.
And that‘s exactly what we‘ll unpack in this comprehensive guide! I‘ve analyzed the top contenders on the market – Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Mattermost – to make informed recommendations based on your needs.
Over 4000 words, we‘ll explore:
- Product capabilities, benefits and limitations
- Integrations with essential business apps
- Pricing models across plans
- Ideal use cases backed by examples
- Hands-on pros, cons and expert comparisons
Let‘s dive in to choose the best workplace chat platform for your team!
Slack – The Premier Vertical for Digital Teamwork
Slack is the first name in dedicated business chat tools, outpacing competitors with 12+ million daily active users globally. Since its 2013 launch, Slack has become synonymous with digital workplace communication.
Some signature Slack capabilities include:
- Open channels to segment conversations by topics, projects and teams
- Direct messaging and group chats for private collaboration
- Enterprise-grade security with advanced encryption
- 99.99% guaranteed uptime with failover infrastructure
- 10+ years worth of message history access
But it‘s the breadth of Slack‘s integrations that make it a productivity powerhouse. Slack interoperates with thousands of workplace apps – everything from the Microsoft Office suite, to email tools, help desk software, calendars and video conferencing. This means users never have to leave Slack to carry out tasks, streamlining communication and output.
Below are some of Slack‘s most popular integrations among the 2000+ available:
- Google Drive and Google Docs
- Dropbox Paper
- Zoom
- Salesforce
- Jira
- HubSpot CRM
Now that we‘ve covered capabilities, what are the real-world use cases where Slack thrives? The platform is purpose-built for:
- Hybrid teams with remote employee bases
- Customer-facing organizations requiring secure communications
- Enterprises needing deep interoperability with existing systems
- Departmental units collaborating on projects cross-functionally
From multinational consumer goods giant Unilever to NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Lab, Slack powers some of the most complex digital work environments globally.
Okay, now let‘s break down Slack‘s pricing and plans:
| Plan | Free | Pro | Business+ |
| Price per user/mo | $0 | $6.67 | $12.50 |
| Number of integrations | 2K+ | 2K+ | 2K+ |
| Guest accounts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
The Pro plan unlocks enhanced administrative controls, unlimited integrations and member history beyond free. Meanwhile Business+ offers enterprise-grade security compliance and priority 24/7 support.
