Can we play a timeline game, say just for a few seconds? Ok, here we go. 

Imagine you are in the pre-1990s and you hurry to the office because it is a project deadline day. In your mailbox, you see tons of emails, download the attachments, and write emails to connect with your teammates. But will the clock tick slowly when you do these? Nope! Ultimately, you are late for delivery, thus hampering the project's success.

Whereas imagine you are in the late 2000s and have many secure instant messaging apps in the market that help you connect with your teams instantly, get queries resolved, receive instant responses, exchange ideas, share files, and much more in seconds. 

So, what do you get from this? Instant messaging apps are powerful for business communication. Therefore, we will see in detail about them, their features, benefits, and how to use them in the blog post below.

A Quick Look On Instant Messaging

The fact that I'm about to tell you may not be new, as some of you might have known about them. But, for the rest, here we go, the instant messaging saw its rise in the early 2000s with major apps like AOL, AIM, and ICQ being brought to market. 

These platforms helped businesses in sending out messages to their teammates in real time, meaning they allowed employees to ask questions and share information with a press of a button. Plus, they had the 'buddy list' concept that made it possible for every peer to stay in touch with others throughout the day.

And as days passed, IM did not just remain as a text-based chat app, and saw several advancements like file sharing, video calls, voice calls, and more to collaborate with coworkers quickly.

What Is Instant Messaging For Business?

In simple terms, it is nothing but a medium to chat with your friends or colleagues in real-time via chats. There are several businesses who built IM apps to promote the above said, and along with chatting, they also allow:

1. File sharing

2. Video and voice calling

3. Presence indicators

4. Push notifications

5. Mentions and more

Popular Instant Messaging Tools For Business

You would have got the slightest idea of what an IM is and how beneficial it is for modern business communication. That being said, several businesses have started building IM tools with a unique set of features to meet the growing needs of enterprises of all sizes.

And some of the best and sought after apps till date are

1. Slack

2. Google Chat

3. Teams

4. Telegram

5. Signal

6. Flock

7. Skype for business

Core Features Of Business IM Platforms

Do you know why IM platforms are so widely used in the market now? Well, it is because of its feature sets that are designed to elevate communication and collaboration capabilities. And they are:

1. Real-time chats: Unlike emails where we need to wait for hours and even days for a response, with real-time messaging, we can see whether the recipient has got our message and will send it instantly

2. Group chats: Besides offering one-to-one chats to peers, the other prime attribute is that IM apps allow users to engage in group chats for efficient team discussions

3. File sharing: If you think IM chat software is only capable for texting, then you got it wrong, as it allow users to easily share documents, images, and files without having to leave the app

4. Third-party integration: These days, most of the apps support integration with third-party apps like Trello, Zoom, and Google Drive so that users get everything in one place

5. Voice and video calls: Most of the time, users might feel the need to video call a friend to carry on with the discussion, and instant messaging solutions offer them as well

These were some of the major ones; other features include

- Notification and alerts

- Presence and typing indicators

- Security and encryption mechanisms

Benefits Of Instant Messaging For Internal Communication

Did you know that the power of instant messaging is beyond imaginable as it involves real-time chatting. And if you are an introvert, then IM like Slack, Pumble, Flock, and so on comes as the best platform for you to get to know about your peers and carry out discussions online. Plus, these platforms are known for some of the perks like.

1.     Enhanced collaboration – IM facilitates all of the members in a team to engage in thought-provoking discussions in real-time with faster output and quicker info sharing to keep everyone updated

2.     Increased productivity – if you are provided with a collaborative work environment where you can freely share your ideas, your productivity gets boosted without any security issues.

3.     Flexibility and Accessibility – as working remotely is now becoming the new norm, IM proves to be the best choice to stay connected without the time-zone or place restrictions and clear doubts instantaneously.

4.     Improved Team Engagement – can easily be achieved through IM apps as it encourages introverts and other members to have open discussions while promoting team bonding by providing an alternate solution to conversations which usually happens at tea-break.

Key features That Improve Internal Communication

By now we do know that effective communications among workers is the crucial strategy to achieve enhanced productivity. This is what an IM app offers through the following key features:

1.     Real-time messaging – This feature allows you to contact and clarify your queries immediately which ultimately improves your decision-making.

2.     Group and channel conversations – You can readily collaborate and engage in discussions with several colleagues at the same time, keeping everyone updated with progress of the project. This not only makes teamwork a breeze but channels will ensure that irrelevant colleagues aren’t bombarded with unwanted messages.

3.     Rich media sharing – Not just texting, IM also allows you to instantly exchange documents, images, and other media instantly to have a productive day at work.

4.     Searchable archives – One of the key features of IM is that you can easily store and retrieve previous conversations. This provides accessibility to important discussions, and information at any time.

Challenges And Solutions In Implementing IM For Business

Now, we will see what challenges businesses can face while using secure messaging apps for their teams, and in cases like that what measures to take:

1. Security concern - Most IM apps can pose security issues or problems related to third-party intrusions. One solution for that is choosing a solution with strict access mechanisms and end-to-end encryption features.

2. Overuse of features - Provide your users with the knowledge that there are several features, and they might use the wrong one at a crucial time. Therefore, encourage them enough and allow them to use or reactions to avoid misunderstandings.

3. Managing conversations - This can be the most difficult one, and if multiple users are talking about the same project and messaging separately, it will confuse you. So, create a group chat and add all team members to it. This way, everyone would know the status of the project.

Best Practices For Using IM In Internal Communication

Some of the practices that you can follow to make sure that your business is using IM the right way:

1. You cannot always use IM; there might be times when emails or phone calls may be preferred. So, guide your team on when to use which medium.

2. To avoid confusion, you must organize group chats into separate channels for teams, projects, or topics.

3. Always teach your team that instant messaging services can be used for quick discussions alone. For detailed explanations, emails can be the better option.
https://www.mirrorfly.com/blog/best-secure-messaging-app/

Concluding Notes

By now, you must have understood that instant messaging is a powerful tool for business communication. However, to use it and improve productivity, speed up the decision-making process, or keep team members connected, you need a clear-cut understanding of its features, benefits, and much more, which we have seen in the post above.
So, ensure that you use the right tool and make it a valuable asset for your organization.