Articles about Messaging and Collaboration

After a period of beta testing, Google is unleashing Hangouts Chat on the world. Despite the name crossover, the service is completely separate to Google Hangouts, and over the course of the next few days it will be made available to all G Suite users.

Hangouts Chat competes directly with the likes of Slack and Microsoft Teams, allowing for easier workplace communication and collaboration. The service can be used on the web, and there are Windows, macOS, iOS and Android apps available. Google is emphasizing not only how it integrates with other Google products, but also support for bots.

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There are times when you don't need an elaborate reply to a message a friend just sent. Maybe all you need to say is "I'll be there," "No, thanks" or "Cool." However, many messaging apps do not give you the option to send these kind of smart answers, which, in this day and age, sounds like something that should be standard, given all the talk about AI and clever bots in this space.

Google has decided to do something about it, as it's working on an app, called Reply, that lets you offer smart replies to messages in many messaging apps, including Google Hangouts, Android Messages, WhatsApp, Twitter and more.

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As businesses are keen to embrace flexible working and digital transformation, there’s increased focus on collaboration and sharing of information.

But with existing regulations like HIPAA and upcoming ones like GDPR it's important to keep collaboration secure. German company Nextcloud is launching a solution in the form of a self-hosted, open source platform offering end-to-end encryption, video and text chat, and enhanced collaboration.

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After you've used a messaging app, it's hard to go back to SMS. You can't share files, get read receipts, group chats or share emoji. It's archaic, but the good news is that there is an alternative.

It's called Rich Communication Services and it offers many of the features that we have come to love on messaging apps. Google is one of the biggest adopters, offering support for RCS in its Android Messages app. And, today, it announces that Huawei, one of the largest Android vendors, will integrate it in its Android smartphones.

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In a move that's likely to raise a few eyebrows, Facebook today opened up its messaging platform to children under the age of 13. A new app, Messenger Kids, is now available in the US for iOS users.

The app is currently available as a preview, and Facebook says that it has worked with parents and groups such as the National PTA to ensure safety. The company also emphasizes the fact that parents are in full control of who their children are able to connect with.

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Business people waste an average of 15 minutes on each conference call they make simply getting started or dealing with distractions throughout the call. This wasted time costs US and UK businesses over $34 billion/£26 billion according to a new report.

Online meeting company LoopUp surveyed 1000 professionals in the US and UK and finds the cost of wasted call time is up by 46 percent since 2015.

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Starting next year, it will no longer be possible to log into Skype using your Facebook account. Thanks to the rollout of the updated Skype experience, as of January 2018, Skype users will need to log in using their Microsoft account.

This is not a change that is likely to affect regular users of Skype, but for anyone who rarely uses it, it is something of a pain.

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Microsoft has announced the upcoming release of a Skype Professional Account desktop client. Due to launch in the US as a preview very soon, this is a business-focused build of Skype that offers a host of extra features.

This includes the ability to book meeting, make notes and take payments, all from the comfort of a chat client. The aim is to reduce the number of tools and services anyone conducting a business online needs to use.

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Facebook has expanded its Workplace enterprise suite with the launch of a real-time desktop comms offering called Workplace Chat.

Even though it is called Workplace Chat, the PC app offers much more than just text-based communication. It also offers video chat with a co-worker or a group, screen sharing and file sharing.

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It's a feature that users have been practically begging for forever. It's a feature that has been rumoured as being in the works for quite some time, and tested for a number of months. Now it has finally arrived. You can, at long last, delete sent messages in WhatsApp thanks to "Delete for everyone."

Whether you've sent a message in anger, under the influence, or just by mistake, there are numerous reasons for wanting to erase a message you've sent. While the ability to recall or revoke messages will be welcomed, it may well not go quite as far as people had been hoping.

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The recent crackdown on popular dark web markets AlphaBay and Hansa is driving cyber criminals to migrate to messaging apps like Discord, ICQ, Skype, Telegram and Whatsapp, according to a new report.

The study from threat management company IntSights analyzed thousands of black markets, text storage/paste sites, hacking forums, IRC channels, apps and social media pages, and uncovers a steady increase in threat actors inviting cyber crime forum users to join their chat groups.

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Following the lead of Facebook Messenger and iMessage, WhatsApp is gaining a location sharing feature. It's something that was tested earlier in the year, and now it has been deemed ready for prime time.

The "Share Live Location" feature can be enabled for a fixed period of time -- you can choose between 15 minutes, an hour, or 8 hours -- or you can manually switch it on and off as required. When enabled, WhatsApp will report your location to your contacts.

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After two decades of online chat, AIM is set to shuffle off this mortal coil. First emerging in 1997, AOL Instant Messenger earned itself a loyal following of people who were just starting to discover the internet and what it could be used for. Now Oath -- AOL's new owner -- has announced that it is to close down the service on December 15, 2017.

The reason given is that "the way in which we communicate with each other has profoundly changed," and after the mid-December cut-off date the service will cease to function, and all data will be erased.

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Darling of the communication and collaboration world Slack is partnering with Oracle. The plan is to integrate Oracle enterprise software into the messaging tool that graces so many workplaces.

While neither company has yet published details of the arrangement they have come to, both have confirmed the partnership to Reuters. Slack will be used as the interface for Oracle's sales, human resources and business software.

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The UK government has made no secret of its dislike of encrypted messaging tools, and it has made frequent reference to the problems WhatsApp causes it with regard to investigations into terrorism. Calls have been made by the government to force companies to allow access to encrypted content when asked.

In the wake of Theresa May's "more needs to be done about extremist content" speech, it has emerged that WhatsApp refused to add a backdoor that would allow the government and law enforcement agencies to access private conversations.

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