Communication platforms are technology services used for sharing information among multiple parties. These platforms enable businesses to employ real-time communication capabilities, including instant messaging, voice and video calling, file transfer, and screen sharing. These tools allow collaboration among team members, departments, organizations, and customers.
Instant messaging (IM) is a common feature of communication platforms and is continuing to grow in usage in business settings. Due to the increasing amount of remote work-from-home operations, new and old platforms have risen in prominence as more businesses incorporate instant messaging platforms into their day-to-day operations. Even before global shutdowns and lockdowns forced companies to go remote, instant messaging platforms were growing in use, with Microsoft Teams reporting a 72% increase in instant messages in March 2020.
While email is still used extensively for external communication, instant messaging has sped up internal communication and has given businesses a more casual way to communicate that builds team synergy. Instant messaging is also efficient, with studies showing collaboration channels, on average, increase revenue 22% and employee productivity 40%.
Although instant messaging has grown to be a key communication component for both legacy corporations and emerging startups, questions and obstacles remain for companies using the technology. Email fatigue has carried over to instant messaging platforms, with 51% of workers under forty saying that the volume of Slack or Microsoft Teams messages being the top reason they would consider leaving their job.
Collaboration tools are an important aspect of communication platforms that connect documents, spreadsheets, pictures, and other technical files among team members and overarching organizations. Although email and instant messaging helps reduce message interference when it comes to project instructions, sometimes it is crucial to have multiple people working simultaneously on larger projects. Collaboration tools are becoming so important to businesses today that 98% of all UK businesses report using at least one team collaboration tool.
Collaboration tools allow teams to work at the same time, add notes, and edit each other's contributions via the cloud, in order to increase efficiency and accuracy. While there are new companies offering collaboration services every day, Google Workspace (formerly G-Suite) and Microsoft Teams are still the most used collaboration tool platforms.
File exchange, sometimes called knowledge sharing, is another crucial element of communication platforms. File exchanges allows files sharing among separate members, teams, and segments of the organization. While some platforms incorporate file sharing tools into existing messaging or collaboration services, others act as standalone tools.
Industry segmentation exists between what files the platform allows to be shared, how files are exchanged, where data is stored, and how security levels are handled for that information.
Communication platforms sometimes offer project management services directly within the platform, allowing businesses to exchange information on projects while also tracking development and movement through a sales cycle. Project management tools allow project managers to set deadlines, assign tasks, and monitor progress as workers address, annotate, and complete milestones.
Video conferencing has quickly become one of the most widely used tools in business today, largely due to the need for many businesses to go remote during the coronavirus pandemic. This is evidenced by market front-runner Zoom, which reported adding almost 2,220,000 million daily users in 2020. Industry reports project that the global video conferencing market is expected to reach $11 billion USD by 2027, more than double the $5.32 billion exhibited in 2019.
Many essential entities such as hospitals, law firms, and city governments have incorporated telecommunication into their organizations to limit crowding, eliminate exposure in situations that do not require face-to-face contact, and to reduce travel costs for business.
Commonly used CRM communication platforms allow business customer service teams to interact with customers to label and manage reports and collaborate on tasks or issues. One or more of these solutions are offered depending on the CRM provider and business package.