There's plenty to love about Slack.
This top business messaging app lets people punt on internal email.
You can message with colleagues and partners concisely, whether you're chatting in real time or asynchronously.
Slack is more spirited than many other forms of business communication, too.
New changes to the interface now make it more intuitive for new users.
For good reason, it is a Daxdi Editors' Choice for team messaging.
Sometimes, though, the praise that comes from the mouths of typical Slack fans reminds me of the adoration you hear from iPhone owners who have never touched an Android device.
They can pinpoint how it has changed their lives for the better, but at the same time they don't know what they're missing from the competition.
You have to make a lot of customizations to keep Slack tidy.
It's also not ideal for teams that work asynchronously most of the time.
Slack also costs more than other alternatives.
In an absolute sense, it's hard to dispute that Slack makes communication not only easier, but better.
The trick is knowing when to use it, how to use it, and what to expect from it.
Slack is one of the best team messaging apps, and perhaps the most beloved by its users, because it offers more than any other team messaging app.
As long as "more" is what you want, it's a top choice.
What's New in Slack?
Slack has just announced it is rolling out a new version of the app to update the interface with major changes.
These changes make it easier for people who are new to Slack to start using the app.
A new compose button, for example, lets you start writing a message in a large editor, so you have time to revise and re-read it before choosing where to post it.
In the older version, you had to choose a channel or direct message before you could write anything.
Another change is to make certain apps and commands more accessible through icons and menu options rather than slash-commands.
Previously, for example, if you wanted to run a poll using a polling app such as Polly, you would need to know to type "/polly" to activate it.
Now, you see a lightning bolt icon; when you press it, a list of shortcuts appears so you can choose what you need rather than having to type it as a command.
My favorite change, and this one is only available to paying customers, is that you can create groups of channels and direct messages called sections.
Previously, the best way to organize your sidebar was add a star to any channels and message threads you used most frequently.
Now you can organize all your channels and messages into groups.
Each section can have a name and an emoji.
They're also collapsible.
If you don't see these and other interface changes right away, rest assured they're coming.
The release will roll out in phases, according to a company representative, with new teams receiving priority (presumably because they don't know how to use Slack yet, and the changes are designed to make it easier for them).
Slack Plans and Pricing
Slack has a free option, as well as two tiers of paid plans: Standard and Plus.
Slack Standard costs $8 per person per month, or a few cents more than $80 per person when paying annually.
Slack Plus costs $15 per user per month or $150 per person per year.
Both of those prices are much higher than what other team messaging apps cost.
With the paid plans, you only get charged for active members, and if members become inactive midway through the month, Slack credits your account a prorated amount.
So, what do you get from each of these plans? The Free plan lets you have as many members in your account as you need, but there are limitations, such as only having audio and video calls between two people, not groups.
Free accounts are also restricted to 5GB of file storage for uploads across the entire team.
Additionally, only the most recent 10,000 messages are available to search.
That's a small number if your group hits enter at the end of every phrase or posts a lot of images, gifs, and other non-searchable content.
Free accounts are limited to integrating with up to ten third-party apps.
More about integrations in a bit.
The Standard account removes many of the restrictions in the Free account.
Here you can search everything in your message history, plus you get unlimited integrations.
The file storage increases to 10GB per person, and you can have group calls with up to 15 people.
Guests may join your account, which is helpful if your team works frequently with external clients or collaborators.
Administrators can require two-factor authentication for all users.
The Slack Standard account comes with a few more perks, including advanced usage statistics and priority support.
Slack Plus includes everything in Standard, but storage increases to 20GB per person.
You get 24/7 support with a four-hour response time.
Plus also comes with the ability to provision and deprovision users.
Slack has an Enterprise option called Slack Enterprise Grid.
You must contact the company for a price quote.
Grid essentially allows very large organizations to have multiple Slack workspaces that are all housed under one umbrella.
The company can also ensure HIPAA compliance if needed.
Slack's prices are high.
Most other apps run around $3 per person per month.
A few examples are Flock and Zoho Cliq.
Zoho Cliq charges on a sliding scale based on the number of users, so while it starts at $3 per person per month, the fee drops to $1 per person per month once you reach a certain number of users.
Glip by RingCentral costs $5 per person per month, and it's worth noting that Glip really shines with features and functionality.
Twist, an app by Doist, also charges $5 per person per month.
Microsoft Teams costs the same, but you get additional Microsoft apps for that amount.
Getting Started With Slack
Using Slack or any team messaging app for the first time requires an adjustment period.
For a team to successfully adopt Slack, there needs to be a company culture that supports it.
Teams need time to figure out the rules of engagement.
What channels will you create and what kind of content is appropriate to share? Which channels are compulsory to join and which ones are optional? While there are many tips for Slack, there's no single right way to use it.
If you're unfamiliar with Slack parlance, a brief description of the app should help.
Let's say everyone in an organization joins the company's Slack account.
The first time a person enters the app, they'll see a list of channels on the left.
The channels are like chat rooms that they can join.
Some channels are open for anyone to join and some are by invitation only.
Each channel has a name that usually describes the topic of the chat room.
There might be a channel for each department plus a few for socializing based on people's interests.
When you enter a channel, you can see everything people have posted there in one long, ever-scrolling feed.
Sometimes, people will reply to a specific post in a thread, which means the reply doesn't show up in the feed.
To see the thread, you open it in a new pane.
You can post something new, reply to an existing post, add a reacji (an emoji that's used to show your reaction) to someone's post or comment, use an @ sign before someone's name to get their attention, read to your heart's content, or search the channel for a specific mention of a word or phrase.
That's the gist of it.
Part of getting started is exploring the apps (mobile, desktop, and web), including all the settings and configuration contained within them.
Slack has a ton of configuration options, letting you adjust everything from the color themes and notification tones to whether you see web previews of links that people share.
Additionally, the team using Slack needs to figure out rules for itself, such as how quickly they expect people to reply, whether you can assign someone a task in Slack, when to use reacji versus a typed response, the appropriate use of a thread versus putting comments right in the feed, and so forth.
If you're joining an existing Slack team, there may already be informal rules and etiquette in place, in which case, take the time to observe and learn what they are.
First Impressions
Slack gets many details right.
You can type using markdown, edit a message after you've posted it, and see decently sized previews of pages when you add links.
Because it's not uncommon to join more than one Slack account, you can switch between different accounts using the left sidebar.
You can also customize each account to have a different look, which helps tremendously in keeping your groups straight.
When I first started using Slack, the app felt disorganized, cluttered in a way that made me worry I'd lose track of what was happening or miss important information.
(I've used it in two different professional settings and among friends.) It also seemed very chaotic.
Some people never get past those feelings, but it is possible to surmount them if you lean on the app's settings to customize it.
It also gets easier the more your group figures out the best way to use Slack for its needs.
Customizing alerts helped me tremendously and made Slack more useful.
No matter how many channels I join, I typically mute alerts on all but the most important ones.
(Doing so may not be the right move for you, but if you feel overwhelmed by the app, give it a try.) Slack thankfully lets you enable and disable notifications to a fine degree.
A Do Not Disturb option, for example, lets you silence all notifications during certain hours of the day, like when you're asleep.
You can set DND to recur or use immediately for a one-time-only session.
Additionally, you can have different settings for your desktop notifications versus your mobile ones.
All these customizing go a long way toward making your unique experience with Slack better.
Configuration is half the battle.
Another wonderful way to customize Slack is by adding keywords for notification.
Any time someone uses your keywords, you see a badge count next to the channel in which they appeared.
It's one of Slack's best features by far.
Apps and Beta Apps
Slack is available for a variety of devices and platforms: Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
It's a real-time, cloud-based tool, so you need an internet connection to use it no matter which app you have.
To be more precise, there are two versions of the desktop apps for Mac and Windows.
First, there's a standard one that's little more than the web app in a wrapper.
Second, there are beta versions of the desktop apps.
These beta apps are freely available for anyone to download and use.
The differences between the beta versions and the normal desktop apps are usually subtle.
You won't miss out on any major features by not using the beta apps, at least not in my experience.
Video calls are only supported in the desktop apps and the web app running in Chrome.
If you join a call from a mobile device, you get audio only.
Similarly, screen sharing only works from the desktop apps, and sharing control of screen sharing only works in the Mac and Windows apps (not Linux).
From the web app in Chrome, you can watch if someone else uses screen sharing, but you cannot initiate it.
I often work from a different time zone than my colleagues, and when I do, the Slack mobile apps really show their worth.
If something important requires my attention at a time when I'm unlikely to be at my workstation, I get a notification on my phone.
Because of the nature of Slack as a messaging app, rather than an email app, the message is usually very short.
As a result, I can quickly decide whether to reply and how without feeling like I need to open my laptop for an unexpected half hour of catching up on email.
The fact that Slack encourages brief communication is important to understanding why team messaging apps in general have been so successful.
Channels
Slack channels house the majority of conversations in the app.
Channels can be public for anyone to join or private (invite-only).
In addition to channels, you can have private direct messages with an individual or a group.
When you start a new Slack account, you get two channels by default: #general and #random.
Channels are always designated by hashtags.
While #general and #random are fine starting points, they aren't representative of how most teams could or should use Slack in a real business setting.
Better names are the titles of projects, clients, or departments.
People usually create channels for socializing, too, so that banter and off-topic chatter doesn't get mixed in too much with work conversations.
If you have sports fans, book club members, or pet lovers among your teammates, Slack can be a place for them to come together.
With administrator permission, you can rename channels at any time—except, annoyingly, #general and #random.
You cannot rename them.
You can also archive channels to move all their content out of sight.
Naming channels clearly and appropriately is extremely important for helping your teammates understand where to go and why.
That's why I wish the default channels had better names.
A typical problem Slack accounts face is that people create too many channels, and team members are lost navigating them appropriately.
It's important to think about what should exist and why.
It also helps to have rules regarding who can create new channels because by default, everyone can.
The sidebar of channels, private conversations, and direct messages on the left is more useful than it first appears.
Any time there are new, unread messages, the channel name appears in bold.
The same goes for when your name is mentioned or when you receive a related direct message.
A number appears alongside it to indicate how many mentions or messages you have.
Video Calls and Additional Features
The more you use Slack, the more features you uncover.
A series of boxes on the right lets you quickly see highlights from the channel (e.g., popular posts), pinned posts (meaning someone is signifying they have some kind of lasting importance), files that have been uploaded to the channel, and other useful information you may have missed.
Video calls, audio calls, and screensharing are included in Slack, but are notorious for being less stable than practically any other video conferencing software on the market.
When calling someone, there can be long delays between initiating the call, a ring or notification on the receiving end, and finally connecting.
The...
