The most significant advantage is that it can be done more effectively. These communication tools allow all the people to discuss matters of interest and be up to date with the information while allowing them to filter out messages they do not need to read. There are so many options out there that people can opt for instead of going for the most common ones out there.
For this review, we have carefully reviewed several staff communication apps to present you with the best options available today, keep reading see our recommended communication apps list.
What Makes the Best Staff Communication App?
The best staff communication apps are those that make communication efficient by categorizing them properly, so that employees can attend to the right conversations without being bogged down. The reviews of these apps are conducted with the help of detailed research and practical experience with the apps by the reviewers who do not use fake accounts and do not promote the apps.
The critical features are emphasized, like the possibility of grouping conversations by channels and threads, which enables users to join the topics that interest them and skip the ones that do not. It is important to have universal search with filtering options to allow for fast access to past conversations and other relevant information.
Also, the most popular chat applications have in-built voice and video chat for better communication and sharing screens for cooperation.
Accessibility is also an important factor here, with clear navigation, interfaces, shortcuts, and mobile gestures improving usability. Last but not least, the best apps are those that integrate well with other applications and services and offer such features as file sharing, link previews, and more.
Biggest Internal Communications Challenges and How to Solve Them with a Best Staff Communication App
In today's dynamic work environment, one of the most significant internal communications challenges is ensuring timely and consistent information flow across all levels of the organization. As companies grow, maintaining effective communication channels becomes increasingly complex, leading to information silos where crucial updates and insights fail to reach all employees.
This fragmentation can result in misunderstandings, decreased productivity, and a lack of cohesive company culture. Additionally, the rise of remote and hybrid work models has exacerbated these issues, as employees are now in different locations where information can be easily shared through face-to-face interactions.
Another major challenge is engaging employees in a way that makes them feel heard and valued. Traditional top-down communication methods often fail to provide opportunities for employees to share their feedback and ideas, leading to disengagement and isolation. This lack of two-way communication can hinder innovation and morale, as employees may feel their voices are not being considered in decision-making processes. Moreover, fostering a collaborative work environment becomes difficult with a platform that supports interactive and inclusive communication easier, especially when team members are dispersed across different geographical locations.
A best staff communication app can address these challenges by providing a unified platform that facilitates real-time, bidirectional communication. Such an app can integrate various communication tools like instant messaging, video calls, and collaborative workspaces, ensuring that information is shared seamlessly across the organization.
Features like push notifications and personalized news feeds help keep employees informed and engaged, regardless of location.
These apps often include feedback and survey tools, allowing employees to easily share their thoughts and ideas, fostering a more inclusive and participatory workplace culture. By leveraging a comprehensive staff communication app, companies can bridge communication gaps, enhance employee engagement, and cultivate a more cohesive and innovative organizational environment.
How to Select a Staff Communication App for Your Company
Choosing the right staff communication app for your company is a critical decision that can significantly impact organizational efficiency and employee engagement.
The first step in this process is identifying your company's specific communication needs and challenges.
Consider factors such as the size of your organization, the structure of your teams, and whether your workforce is remote, hybrid, or office-based. It's essential to understand what features are most crucial for your team—instant messaging, video conferencing, file sharing, or task management capabilities and team chat app. Conducting a thorough needs assessment will help you prioritize the functionalities that best support your internal communication goals.
Next, evaluate the usability and integration capabilities of potential communication apps. The app should be user-friendly, ensuring employees can quickly adapt and navigate the platform without extensive training. Look for apps that offer seamless integration with the tools and systems your company already uses, such as email, project management software, and cloud storage solutions. This integration is vital for streamlining workflows and maintaining consistency across communication channels.You should consider the app's scalability—whether it can grow with your company and accommodate increasing users without compromising performance.
Finally, the security features and support services the communication app offers must be assessed. Data security is paramount, especially when the platform shares and stores sensitive company information. Ensure the app complies with industry-standard security protocols and offers features like end-to-end encryption, user authentication, and data backup.
If you have a tight budget you can start researching best staff communication app free on google, and try the features to get a better understand of what it is your looking for.
The best team chat apps for business at a glance
| App | Best for | Features | Pricing |
| AgilityPortal | Real-time chat, file sharing, announcements, document library, customizable spaces and notifications. HRIs tools. |
Everything, just try it to keep all your employees connected | Price starts from $3 per user per month |
| Slack | Group chat | It is a unified platform for all communication methods. | Starts from $6.67 per user per month |
| Microsoft Teams | Seamlessly integrated with the Microsoft ecosystem; superior audio and video quality | Fully encrypted messaging, install on own server | Included with Microsoft 365; plans from $4/user/month (billed annually) |
| Google Chat | Seamlessly connected with Google products; excellent search functionality | Push notifications | Included with Google Workspace; plans from $7.20/user/month |
| Discord | Group chat | Group features | Free for basic features; $9.99/month Nitro plan |
The 5 Best Staff Communication Apps
#1. AgilityPortal
AgilityPortal Pros
- The users are provided with wide-ranging communication tools.
- It has a user-friendly and well-organized layout that is simple to understand and use.
AgilityPortal Cons
- Mobile app integrations are available only on the Enterprise package
AgilityPortal — Best all-in-one Staff communication app
AgilityPortal is a tool that can help manage communication in the workplace and is an essential tool for today's companies. As features for improving productivity and user experience, AgilityPortal provides a wide range of tools for internal communication.
The interface of AgilityPortal is friendly and enables the teams to create channels for a particular project or department so that the messages posted are relevant to the participants.
This way, a user can select which channels he or she would like to be a part of, avoiding frequent notifications from unnecessary projects. Discussions in these channels can be categorized into threads, and the members will only get notified on the threads they are subscribed to or the ones they are actively involved in. This structure assists in achieving a balance between avoiding noises and making certain that important discussions are not missed.
The platform has good search options that allow for filtering by channel, user, and date, which makes it easy to find information. Integration is smooth, where users can share files with other users through a simple drag-and-drop interface. Such links, images, and videos can be opened within the platform, so there is no need to constantly switch to different applications.
Audio and video calls are also enabled in AgilityPortal and can be started with a single click, making it easy to have random, casual conversations without having to set up a formal meeting.
In-app chat A woman looking at her phone that shows an in-app chat.
AgilityPortal's online team chat lets you instantly communicate with your employees in secure 1:1, group, and company-wide chats. This allows your entire team to stay connected wherever you're working from and remain productive and focused on the job with work-dedicated messaging.
Admins can monitor and remove inappropriate messages from group chats and set what employees can download, share, and forward.
Company-wide updates and announcements Share company updates, announcements, and shout-outs with your team through your social feed and allow users to comment and react – just like on social media. This is a great way to keep your entire team in the loop and engaged.
As an admin, you maintain a clear overview of who viewed and read your updates. You can easily ensure your message gets across with notifications, pop-up updates, and reading confirmations.
Employee directory With AgilityPortal's company employee directory, you and your team can quickly look up and contact coworkers and external work contacts through the app without having to save the contact information on your mobile phones. You can search contacts by name, job title, department, location, or custom field and add notes with additional details, such as preferred call hours.
Admins can control which contact information users can see, such as the CEO's phone number, and know contact information stays safe within the company with access only to current employees.
Knowledge base Create, organize, and share documents, policies, and training materials with AgilityPortal's knowledge base. This way, your employees know exactly where they can quickly find and access any information they need to do their jobs. It automatically updates content across everyone's devices, so everyone has all the latest information at their fingertips.
As an admin, you can monitor and keep a record of which users viewed each relevant document and when.
Surveys & live polls A woman looking at her phone that shows an illustration of surveys and polls.
You can create customizable live polls and surveys on any topic and share these with your employees to complete right on their mobile phones. Boost response rates with an easy and engaging user experience, an auto-save functionality, notifications, and an anonymity option.
Receive and access responses in real-time from your admin dashboard. This feedback enables you to gain valuable insights, make informed decisions, and ensure your team feels heard.
AgilityPortal Pricing
There are four packages: P1: free trial, P2: $3 per user per month, P3: $5 per user per month, P4: $10 per user per month. You can view the package distribution and the features included in each package on the pricing page.
#2. Slack
Slack Pros
- The interface is easy to use and the many features ensure that communication is easy.
- Integrates with over 1000 other apps to improve efficiency and streamline processes.
Slack Cons
- It is more expensive as compared to other solutions.
Slack — Good for large organisations
Founded in 2013, Slack has emerged as a dominant player in the business communication market because of its simplicity. There is a general channel for general announcements and updates from the management, but most of the communication takes place in channels created for specific teams or projects. Users can add channels that are of interest to them, thus, they do not receive unnecessary notifications.
Also, the messages can be grouped into topics to avoid the users being notified of every topic in the forum if they are not subscribed to that particular topic or they have not posted their comment. Tagging users in conversations means that only the concerned parties will see the conversation rather than burdening all the members with numerous notifications.
Slack's search bar is a robust tool that enables users to search messages according to the channel, the user, or the date. Sharing is easy with drag and drop and links to files, images, and videos are previewed when pasted. Emoji reactions allow for a fast response, while video and voice calls can be started with one click for casual conversations. Currently, Slack has thousands of integrations that can help to improve the productivity of the corresponding application.
Some of the features that Slack offers include an AI add-on that improves the search, summarization of the conversation, and summaries of the discussions that the user has missed and are available at a fee. The major disadvantage of Slack is that it is expensive especially given the fact that it is not bundled with any other software. However, for teams that are committed to the efficient flow of communication in the workplace, the numerous options available on Slack fully justify the cost.
Slack Pricing
Slack has a free version for teams with limited functionality that is perfect for starting your team off. The Pro plan costs $8.75 for a single user. Extra features include; unlimited message history and apps. The Business+ plan is available at $15 per user per month and it comes with more enhanced administration features as well as more support. To learn more about Slack's pricing, go to the official Slack pricing page.
#3. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams Pros
- Microsoft Teams provides various integration capabilities.
- It offers a lot of functionalities.
Microsoft Teams Cons
- Help needed from the IT department at the time of installation and configuration.
Microsoft Teams — Good for AI
Microsoft Teams provides a clear hierarchy of communication: each account is tied to an organization, which is divided into teams and channels and further into threads for specific discussions. The structure of these layers is complex, yet it maintains order in the conversations and prevents them from becoming cluttered. The app focuses on video and voice calls, so people can set up a call at a specific time or call someone on the spot. It also has strong cooperation tools, allowing for sharing of documents, calendars and notes with other Microsoft Office applications.
One of the prominent AI add-ons is Microsoft Copilot Business Plus that improves meetings with transcriptions, summaries, and sentiment analysis for $30 per user per month. The main issue with Teams is that it is relatively complex to set up and requires the input of IT departments; however, for large businesses that are already invested in Microsoft solutions, this is usually not a significant problem.
Microsoft Teams Pricing
Microsoft Teams can be purchased for $4 per user per month or it can be bundled together with Microsoft 365 Business Basic or higher plans for $6 per user per month.
#4. Google Chat
Google Chat Pros
- Integrates well with other Google Workspace services.
- Comes with powerful search capabilities.
Google Chat Cons
- Public rooms are sometimes difficult to maneuver and may take several steps to accomplish.
Google Chat, originally called Google Hangouts Chat, is very beneficial for organizations that are already using Google Workspace. It is capable of categorizing conversations into rooms similar to how Slack channels work, with sub-topics to keep the discussions in order. One of the strengths of the app is the ability to work with other Google services: users can quickly share Google Docs, schedule a meeting through Google Meet, and track their tasks in Google Tasks. The search function is powerful, as befitting a Google service, and helps in finding the right information within a short time.
All in all, Google Chat has some advantages and disadvantages; while it has its advantages, it has some drawbacks that should be worked on, including the difficulty in navigating through public rooms. But for organizations that are already using Google Workspace, it is still one of the most useful tools available. The newer version of Gemini Advanced AI option that has been added recently costs $20 per user per month and adds AI-enabled features such as transcriptions and meeting summaries to the system. In conclusion, Google Chat is a versatile tool that can meet the needs of effective communication and cooperation within a team that uses Google services.
Google Chat Pricing
Google Workspace pricing also includes Business Starter at $6 per user per month, Business Standard at $12 per user per month, and Business Plus at $18 per user per month. The pricing of the enterprise plan is based on negotiation and is not stated on the website.
#5. Discord Enter heading here...
Discord Pros
- Provides better sound quality which makes it suitable for voice calls.
- You can use it free of cost.
Discord Cons
- It does not have pro features that above-mentioned apps provide
Discord — Good for small businesses
Discord was created for gamers but has expanded to other groups such as business people. It has features that distinguish it from other platforms such as the constant audio channels that allow for voice communication at all times. Users can create a text channel for a particular topic and conversational channels into threads. Voice channels are similar to an open line where people can join and leave as they want which is useful for remote work and screen sharing.
Discord was created for gamers but has great sound and is mostly free with paid options not essential for business. In terms of voice communication, it is good, and it can be used as a replacement for other team chat apps if the team is involved in verbal communication.
Discord Pricing
Discord offers a free version that has most of the features that should be enough for most users, and there is a paid version called "Discord Nitro" for $9. 9. 99$ per month, which has features like, high definition video, more space for file sharing, and personalized emojis.
Wrapping up
In order to select the best staff communication app, it is necessary to consider the needs of the organization that is in question.
AgilityPortal provides wide-ranging communication tools, but Microsoft Teams has a more fixed framework; Google Chat is closely linked to the Google Workspace; Discord has better audio quality than other applications. To determine which of the apps can be used to enhance the effectiveness of your team and their communication it is important to evaluate these apps in relation to your team. Whether it is the cost of the app, the functionality needed or even the simplicity of the app, there is one that suits the business needs.