I draw this from my own experience in organizational settings and extensive research on how companies collaborate to determine which internal communications platforms are best suited for different work environments. As many companies today struggle to keep up with the pace of work while delivering remote and hybrid experiences, they need platforms that can maintain real-time connectivity. But they are also looking for easy-to-use, highly customizable solutions that offer extensive on-site and online support for rapid troubleshooting
Still, every organization has different needs when it comes to collaboration. Fast-growing startups seek tools that enable fast, continuous communication throughout the workday, while larger organizations seek platforms that provide deeper analytics and brand experiences that reinforce employees’ values as they interact with the information they share.
These are the criteria I use to consider which platforms are best for companies today, and you can explore them in more depth in the breakdown below.
Employee communication: 30%
The biggest question driving my research on communication platforms is, “How much does it actually facilitate everyday communication?” When I compared these tools, I thought about live chat, audio and video messaging capabilities, video conferencing capabilities, and surveys and additional features such as polls. I also considered whether the software offered an intuitively designed mobile app and how well it integrated with other well-known collaboration platforms. I also evaluated each platform’s ability to archive conversations, looking at how long they stored data for both free and paid users.
Platforms and interfaces: 25%
While these tools are designed to make work easier, they can also impact the employee experience due to the vast amount of information available to team members. That’s why I put so much emphasis on navigability and ease of use, considering whether employees have access to message history and the ability to organize and customize the UI from their perspective.
Reporting and analysis: 20%
Communicating data can give company leaders insights How engaged are team members? It feels good to be at work, but communication analytics is often overlooked in the software buying process. That’s why I specifically considered platforms that allow you to track how engaged your employees are with content shared by company leaders. While not all options on this list offer this feature, many of them make up for it by letting you share pulse surveys directly in team chat.
Intranet: 10%
Front Door Intranet functionality makes it easier to access critical company assets and resources, so employees don’t have to sift through old chat threads to find what they need. Things may vary between platforms, but here I’ve thought about how easy it would be to create a centralized knowledge center that is easy to update and has live chat capabilities in just a few clicks.
List price: 5%
In terms of pricing, I researched whether the tools offered free plans, free trials, transparent pricing, and discounts for nonprofits or educational organizations. For the pricier options on this list, I considered how many extra features users get with the paid plans and whether the platform offers discounts for bundled products.
Support rate: 5%
Since employees are likely to use communication tools more than other business software, it’s important that they have access to a wealth of resources and troubleshooting support. Along these lines, I considered whether the platform offered help desk resources and articles to answer frequently asked questions. I also looked into whether they offer 24-hour support via chat box, email, or phone.
User rating: 5%
User reviews from third-party review sites such as Capterra, G2 and TrustRadius account for 5% of the platform’s total score. I ranked the software with the highest review score (out of 5) at the top of the list, especially considering what employees said about navigability and breadth of functionality.
