Articles about Messaging and Collaboration

Enabling efficient collaboration on projects is key to success in business and there are many platforms to enable it. But it can sometimes be hard to fully understand what's happening inside a particular task.

One of the leading collaboration platforms, Smartsheet is addressing this by launching Sights, a new product that delivers visibility into the work being done within Smartsheet environments.

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Group messenger app Blend started out as a college-focused photo sharing app. Having moved into group chat it’s now looking to enter the enterprise space.

Apps for Android, iOS and web platforms were rolled out last year and the company is now releasing a Mac desktop version. This will have the same sophisticated chat features of its mobile and web predecessors, with an attractive and intuitive user interface for private group messaging.

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OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage solution, is more than just a safe backup for your files. It's also home to the company's online version of Office. Users can access Word, Excel, and more all for free from right there on the website.

The company is also the proud owner of what is, arguably, the top communication app, in the form of Skype. The question when Microsoft purchased Skype was "How will it use this?" Gradually those answers have come around and now there is another instance of the technology being leveraged.

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According to a new report, 56 percent of respondents believe that real-time messaging will displace email as their organization's primary workplace communication and collaboration tool.

The latest Trends in Cloud IT Research survey from BetterCloud surveyed over 800 people split between IT professionals and end users. The results show that while real-time messaging is gaining popularity, 27 percent of end users and 23 percent of IT professionals say some employees are less productive because of it.

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Cloud unified communications specialist Outsourcery says that the full potential of remote working can only be achieved if strong UC tools are in place. Skype for Business, Slack or Trello, just to name a few, are proven to boost productivity and the possibility of working from virtually anywhere, anytime, has great effects on employee satisfaction.

There have been numerous studies about the benefits of remote working, and all of them came to the same conclusion -- this is something all of us should be implementing. One of those studies was recently published by Lancaster University’s Work Foundation, which suggests that by 2017, more than half of all UK businesses will have employed flexible working at some parts of their organization.

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In an effort to modernize SMS messaging, Google and a number of mobile service providers are working together to expedite the release and adoption of Rich Communication Services (RCS).

The company will be joined by the wireless standards group GSMA along with many global and regional carriers including America Movil, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Deutsche Telekom, Globe Telecom, Millicom, Orange, Sprint, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, Telstra, Turkcell and Vodafone.

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As of 24 March, Microsoft's Skype Qik app will be no more. The video messaging app has essentially been swallowed up by its big brother Skype, meaning that it is now surplus to requirements.

Microsoft says that the reason for the closure is that Skype Qik's features are now available in Skype. As a result of this, iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone users who had come to rely on the tool to keep in touch will have to seek out an alternative and take steps to save any messages they want to keep.

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Sixty-five percent of IT professionals don’t feel equipped to defend against email-based cyber attacks, according to the findings of a report carried out by email security and archiving company Mimecast.

The global study of 600 IT security professionals -- Mimecast Business Email Threat Report 2016, Email Security Uncovered -- also found that 64 percent of respondents regard email as a major security threat and one third believe email is more vulnerable today than it was five years ago.

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Not everyone is on the lookout for a new job, but it's always interesting to know what opportunities are available and what your worth might be.

San Francisco-based Woo is launching its platform for letting tech talent gauge their market value and find potential opportunities.

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Finding an email app that I can enjoy using has proven to be quite a challenge. I want an app that is available on multiple platforms, that works on smartphones, tablets and PCs equally well. I also want it to support all my favorite email services, and make it easy for me to sort all my messages quickly. Sounds simple, right?

Those are not outrageous requirements, yet, until recently, the only app that came close was Outlook. However, it is far from perfect, as it lacks an OS X version -- which forces me to either use a different app on my Mac or turn to the browser -- and it also has some usability issues, depending on the platform or the provider I am using. I said until recently because I now find CloudMagic to be a superior option.

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Meetings are often seen as one of the great time wasters of the workplace. A new survey from business collaboration specialist Clarizen suggests that this is more than just supposition.

It reveals that US workers spend on average 11.8 hours per week preparing for and attending staus meetings. Assuming a 40 hour working week this means they could be wasting up to 30 percent of their time on them.

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Call quality and speed issues often make it difficult for users to fully embrace video and audio calling over the internet. To help solve this, Google has updated its video and audio communications service Hangouts by allowing peer to peer (P2P) connections for some users.

By incorporating this functionality into the back-end of its service the company expects call quality and the overall experience of its users to improve.

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Many IT teams all over the world acknowledge the fact that a secure way to store and share files, both internally (within a company) and externally is extremely important. However, many IT teams also lack the proper tools to do so.

Those are the results of a latest survey by Ipswitch, after asking 555 IT professionals across the globe about their file sharing habits.

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WhatsApp introduced a web interface for its messaging service a year ago, initially supporting only a single browser -- Google Chrome -- and a single mobile platform -- Android. Since then, the number of browsers that work with WhatsApp Web has increased, and iPhones were added into the mix.

Depending on which web analytics resource you believe, Google Chrome is either the most-popular desktop browser (according to StatCounter and W3Schools) or the second (per NetMarketShare's numbers), so WhatsApp's decision to support it first is understandable. But the latest browser to work with WhatsApp Web is an unexpected choice.

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Described as the world's first "instant messaging mobile operator", ChatSim aims to take the pain out of travelling with a mobile phone. Roaming charges can quickly mount up for travellers who lose track of the number of texts they send, and in order to avoid high data fees, you might find yourself seeking out Wi-Fi connections to make use of the likes of WhatsApp instead.

But there is an alternative. ChatSim lets you stay in touch without worrying about the cost. Buy a SIM card for just $25, £16 or €20, and you can send an unlimited number of messages -- over Wi-Fi or 4G... whatever connection you have available -- without incurring any additional charges. Sounds good? It gets better.

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