What happens when your team needs to have a conversation, yet coworkers are scattered across town or even around the world? Conference calls can be pricey and inefficient: Talkers often overlap, no one can hear each other well, and there's no record of who said what. Oh, and you can't exactly share a file over the phone.
Sometimes, when you can't meet in person, it's better to meet in a virtual space. Group chat services offer private rooms for business discussions, with handy features like transcripts, file sharing, and mobile apps. It's like regular instant messaging, but with an express focus on group conversations.
I put three popular group-chat services through their paces: Campfire, HipChat, and Imo.im. The first two were built with business users in mind, while Imo.im is a more general-purpose chat system that offers cross-platform compatibility--meaning you can talk with others regardless of what existing IM service they already use: AIM, Facebook, Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo, and so on.
Speaking of those more traditional IM tools, any one of them will do in a pinch. But they're more tailored to one-on-one chats between friends than mission-critical discussions with groups. Read on to find out how a more specialized service can help you keep in touch with far-flung workers--and which one offers the best mix of features and affordability.
Interface
Although there may be times when you need to chat on the run, it's a safe bet you'll do most of your messaging on your laptop or desktop. Consequently, you'll want a chat service that looks good and, more importantly, offers a simple, streamlined interface.
Emphasis is on "simple." The last thing busy workers need is a learning curve, so if it's not immediately clear how to join a room, share a file, or review the chat history, then that's no good. Fortunately, all three services keep things fairly straightforward. More
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