In a corporate environment, tools that facilitate instant chat for companies benefit all stakeholders. For example, seamless internal communication helps employees foster cross-department collaboration, which ultimately promotes a positive work culture.
According to Gallup research, businesses that prioritize and cultivate effective communication strategies are 3.5x more likely to outperform their competitors.
On the other hand, these tools serve as a robust communication channel with customers, building lasting relationships. They also help assess specific customer needs and preferences, which assists businesses in improving their quality of service. This is important because-
In a HubSpot study, 90% of customers expressed that an immediate response to their queries is an important determinant of service quality.
Now, let us understand some of their key features, and how chat solutions are transforming corporate communication.
Enterprise chat for companies: Key features
Following are some of the key features of live chat tools you should know:
1. Security and compliance
Owing to the diverse threats that can jeopardize a company’s operations, these notable security features are a must-have in a secure collaboration tool:
- End-to-end encryption
- Multi-factor authentication
- Custom access controls
- Audit logs and monitoring
- On-premise/Cloud hosting
The enterprise chat system complies with industry-specific regulations like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), and so on.
The secure live chat solution also has features and safeguards to comply with other regional regulations like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), and others.
2. File sharing and collaboration
Tools enabling seamless chat for companies allow users to exchange files through a simple drag-and-drop interface. This helps customer service agents share files from the knowledge base and promote a quick resolution of queries.
Also, employees can easily handle documents in different formats including PDF, JPG, DOC, and PPT in the chat app.
Many chat tools come with advanced features that drive workplace team communication, for example:
- Threaded conversations
- Public and private channels
- Persistent chat rooms
- Screen sharing
- Calendar integration
- Real-time alerts and notifications
In corporate, these group chat features enable instant communication between team members.
3. Video and voice integration
Enterprise chat platforms have expanded their capabilities to incorporate video and voice communication. They support HD video communication and virtual conference rooms which drives seamless collaboration between teams, especially when they are geographically dispersed.
Similarly, high-quality voice calls facilitate quick catch-ups and seamless discussions which accelerate decision-making and problem-solving. The chat application also integrates a calendar to make things more convenient.
4. Chatbots and AI assistants
Tools enabling chat for companies often come with intuitive chatbots and AI assistants to automate response delivery to repeat customer queries. This saves support agents from manual work.
Businesses can offer round-the-clock support and service, reducing customer wait times and improving overall satisfaction.
5. Analytics and reporting
Enterprise chat tools offer insights about message volumes, response times, resolution rates, accuracy of responses, engagement rates, conversion rates, and so on. Businesses can leverage these metrics to enhance the quality of customer service.
Also, they offer insights and evolving trends about customer behavior, preferences, and so forth. This extends an opportunity for businesses to get a hold of emerging trends early on and strategize accordingly.
10 ways chat is transforming corporate communication
Now, let us focus on how live chat tools have fundamentally reshaped enterprise communication:
1. Enhancing team collaboration
A 2023 Forbes study shows that employees spend 20 hours a week on digital communication tools and 45% of them feel more connected.
Unlike conventional tools like email, enterprise chat solutions allow employees to interact, collaborate, and exchange files on the go. This accelerates decision-making, reduces miscommunication, and allows for immediate feedback.
2. Improving customer support
A Frost & Sullivan study indicates that efficient team collaboration leads to 41% higher customer satisfaction levels. Implementing a live chat solution helps support teams work in synergy and deliver immediate assistance to the customers.
On top of that, as noted before, intuitive chatbots help businesses extend 24/7 customer support, furthering the scope of a superior customer experience,
3. Streamlining project management
Live chat tools allow employees to create dedicated spaces for specific projects and teams, promoting goal-oriented discussions. As team members can communicate about a project through a single channel, it helps promote a transparent work pipeline and timely execution of tasks.
4. Facilitating remote work
Chat solutions help remote teams exchange information on the go through video, voice, and text-based channels. Teams can organize daily standups and meetings, allowing for consistent status updates about their deliverables.
As per a Forbes study, 98% of employees prefer remote work for at least a part of their tenure.
Tools facilitating secure chat for companies help develop a robust infrastructure for sustaining remote and hybrid work. As a result, businesses can widen their talent pool while focusing on productivity.
5. Boosting employee engagement
Live chat engines promote real-time communication between different teams like HR, IT, and more, and address bottlenecks proactively. It allows employees to stay in touch with each other during work hours, irrespective of their location or time zone.
Besides, self-service chatbots can help them access any desired information at any time.
6. Accelerating decision-making processes
Live chat empowers teams to make faster decisions. Instant communication allows for the rapid collection of feedback, opinions, and survey data, providing a complete picture to inform business goals and accelerate the decision-making process.
7. Enabling cross-departmental communication
Enterprise chat dismantles data silos by acting as a central hub for information sharing across departments. Documents, files, and updates flow freely, eliminating information bottlenecks and streamlining workflows.
Furthermore, multiple teams can brainstorm, share ideas, and problem-solve seamlessly, fostering a more integrated approach. With better context and understanding across departments, collaboration becomes more impactful.
8. Supporting sales and lead generation
Businesses use chat solutions to provide immediate responses to a range of customer inquiries. As responses to repeated queries can be automated, the grunt work of sales agents is reduced, and they can better focus on high-quality leads.
Leveraging the customer data collected from interactions, businesses can push personalized recommendations, targeted offers, and discounts in the future. This can enhance the conversion rate and drive more sales.
9. Fostering a positive company culture
The enterprise chat for companies allows employees to share their opinions on various stages of the decision-making process and this makes them feel more valued. Live chat widgets support an open line of communication, fostering transparency and minimizing confusion.
10. Integrating with business workflows
Most live chat solutions seamlessly integrate with the existing tech stack and business workflows. This eliminates the chances of downtime and allows employees to communicate without having to switch between different platforms.
Choosing the right chat solution for your company
When it comes to choosing the right chat solution for companies, assume a step-by-step process:
1. Assess your company's needs
The first step in choosing a chat solution is to identify your key business goals. It could be:
- Improving sales and lead generation
- Enhancing the customer support quality
- Streamlining internal communication
Identifying your needs firsthand helps understand the primary stakeholders and identify the scope of functional requirements.
2. Evaluating security and compliance requirements
Needless to say, security is of utmost importance when it comes to choosing enterprise chat solutions. You must evaluate the industry and region-specific compliance requirements.
Then, you need to check how many of these requirements are being fulfilled by the tool facilitating chat for companies. This also helps you gauge the level of protection you can get against data breaches or hefty fines for non-compliance.
3. Considering scalability and integration capabilities
For growing businesses, having a scalable chat solution is a must. Evaluate the scalability and performance of the chat system under peak volumes. Also, check for the deployment options.
For instance, if you are operating industries like healthcare, education, and defense that deal with sensitive data, then you must require applications that allow on-premises deployment.
Next, evaluate how well the chat solution can integrate with your existing tech stack.
4. Comparing popular enterprise chat platforms
There are numerous enterprise chat solution vendors in the market. You must research their respective value propositions and benchmark their features and functionality.
Assess their offerings with your specific requirements to choose the tool that aligns most with your objectives.
Implementing chat successfully in your organization: 4 Best practices
The following are some of the best practices for deploying live chat solutions within your organization:
1. Customize the configuration
Each organization may have different needs and preferences. Configure the chat system to meet your features, scalability, integration, security, and accessibility requirements. Additionally, the chat interface must be customized to reflect your brand identity.
2. Manage change effectively
Develop a comprehensive plan to smoothly implement the change and proactively manage its impact. Clearly communicate the reasons behind the change and highlight the positive outcomes it will bring to employees, stakeholders, and the organization as a whole.
3. Personalize interactions
As per an Accenture study, 91% of customers are more likely to buy from businesses that offer a greater degree of personalization.
Therefore, using customer data and insights, personalize your messages and services. Though canned responses help save time and effort, adding a personal touch does magic.
4. Optimize for mobile
As per Gitnuz’s 2024 data,81% of employees use mobile devices to communicate with colleagues and clients.
Therefore, when you integrate a chat solution into your business, ensure that it is optimized for mobile as it would allow team members to collaborate on the go. It will benefit your customers as well since they can get in touch with your business via their smartphones.
Rocket.Chat: Secure live chat for companies
A robust solution facilitating real-time chat for companies can strengthen employee engagement, quicken decision-making, and help streamline project management. On the other hand, it helps promote a quick resolution of customer queries, 24/7 availability, higher conversion, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Rocket.Chat is a leading enterprise chat solution that is open-source, scalable, and highly flexible to meet specific business needs. Some of its key features include:
- End-to-end encryption to ensure data privacy
- Multi-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized access
- Supports voice, video, and text forms
- Threaded conversations and file sharing
- Integrates with 100+ popular workspace applications
- Supports on-premises and cloud deployment
- Robust analytics and reporting
As Rocket.Chat has advanced security features and supports on-premise deployment, it remains the most preferred chat application for businesses in highly regulated industries like defense, healthcare, education, banking, and so on.
To learn more, schedule a demo now!
