Group Chat and Collaboration: The Future of Online Job Interactions

SAN DIEGO - Nov. 11, 2014 - PRLog -- The Internet has made many things possible across the world. People from the opposite hemispheres can chat in real time consistently and constantly. However, the real revolution is how the Internet makes it easier for people to work together. Companies can hire global freelancers and even set up whole businesses based online. Of course, a company can still live with using different silo tools to handle their collaboration, such as using Skype for text and voice chat, join.me (http://www.join.me/) for screen sharing, gotomymeeting.com for full-blown team meetings,  Asana (http://www.asana.com/) for project and task management, Google docs (http://docs.google.com/) for document sharing. The list goes on. The more technologies a company employs, the more pressing it has become to maintain, search and collaborate on the dispersed information in an effective way. A new breed of application has emerged to take on such challenges presented by trend of dispersed work locations, variety of devices and wide range of SaaS tools used. These products almost all started with the cornerstone capability, Group Chat. But as things evolve, there have become much more advanced than group chat and now encompass a spectrum of functionality ranging from video conference to interconnectedness of all relevant apps. The grand vision is to provide everything you need to get your work done.

Slack

Slack (https://slack.com/)’s got a lot going for it, but not because it has tons of features. The program itself is minimalistic; the developers implemented a few key tools that make group chat and online collaboration easier. First off, the chat system is equipped with all the tools you need to lessen interactions through email. You can attach files of any size when sending a private message. Each piece of media is saved within a separate space. You can also control the accessibility of the messages and files in order to make things a bit more private. Conference calls are also a breeze; Slack is more stable ensuring a consistent connection all throughout the call. Another particular treat is the active support because the feedback system allows you to talk to live agents. Pricing is currently unavailable, but you and your team can test the program in a sort of beta state. The only issue with the program is that it lacks task and to do lists. Slack offers three packages; Enterprise costs $99, Plus is around $19, while the standard package is cheapest at $9.

Key Features:
– Cross Platform Support ranging from Mac, iOS, Android and is available on the Web as well
– The messengers include one on one messaging, private groups, private and public chat rooms, direct messages, and all the rooms are saved and categorized within the app.
– Slack also allows the use of Google Docs, Dropbox, Heroku, Crashlytics, GitHub, Zendesk

What it lacks:
– Video conferencing and calls. It also lacks screen sharing features.

sqWiggle

This program’s a bit more unique in that it has a few limitations but they work toward making call interactions easier. For example; when you get online with your team, active streams of each user are limited in that not everything video stream is active. The program takes a screen shot of each participant, and only activates video and audio when someone’s talking. The disadvantage to this program is that it doesn’t run as a standalone program; in order to access it, you’ll have to use a browser which can support HTML 5. Sqwiggle (https://www.sqwiggle.com/) also implements a deeper and fully fleshed privacy mode which creates an outline of you image rather than showing your face. Another unique feature is the ability to add up to 12 participants in each conversation. Pricing only costs $9 per user, but you will have to check in with the site if you wish to use participate in an enterprise package.

Key Features:
– File sharing without the use of a 3rd party program
– Active 24 hour connection allows you and your team to keep in contact constantly
– Video conferencing is also easy; simply click on the person and you’re already chatting
– Sqwiggle doesn’t use that much bandwidth, allowing you to run other net based programs.
– Group video and chat capable, however, video is limited to only 4 people with plans to include ten

What it lacks:
– No screen sharing feature and it only works on the web. It also may only run on the latest versions of Chrome.

Read More: http://blog.worksnaps.net/2014/11/10/group-chat-and-colla...

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