Why should you implement a business messaging app for team communication at work
When Jeffrey Goldbert, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, was accidentally added to a Signal group chat by senior US officials discussing military activity, it showed that in a lot of cases the lines have blurred between using one set of tools for sending work messages and a different set for personal messages with friends and family. It also showed that inside every organization, people will choose ease of use and convenience over proper process and security. With this in mind, we think it’s the perfect time to explore whether organizations should have a specific chat application for business communication or whether personal messaging apps can be used to fulfil the same role.
Organizations starting the search for a messaging application for business typically begin with evaluating Microsoft Teams and Slack for their office-based workers that have access to company email addresses. While frontline workers looking for a solution for messaging amongst their fellow team members, will commonly default to a free personal messaging app that does not require an email address or involvement from the IT team to setup, implementing WhatsApp, Signal or Messenger. Here we are going to explain the differences between business messaging apps and personal messaging apps, to help organizations make an informed decision on the application that is most suitable for their requirements.
Six important things to consider when evaluating team communication apps
Is company data and intellectual property (IP) going to be communicated?
If employees and contractors are sharing information about the business including messages, documents, images then it is important that the company can maintain control of this data. Business chat apps keep information within the company account, whereas personal chat apps retain copies of messages, documents and images on a user's personal account and device. This means that the information can be accessed in perpetuity by the user, even after their obligations as an employee or contractor have ceased at the company.
Is sensitive information including customer information and contracts being shared between employees?
Enterprise chat software allows organizations to implement better protections for sensitive information which may be related to their customers. Most companies have a privacy policy that outlines for their customers what kinds of personal information they collect and store, where it is stored, the reasons why they need to collect the personal information and how they will use and disclose personal information. It is not appropriate for an organization to be sharing customers personal information on personal messaging applications over which they have little or no control.
Do you want to create and maintain a company culture with your employees?
It can be challenging to maintain a positive and high performance company culture when employees work in different locations and maintain differing types of employment, including full-time, part-time, casual and contractors. Business specific communication platforms can enable a company to develop and maintain company culture with customized branding and personalization throughout the app, while making sure that the workspace is a functional clear space just like rooms in an office.
Should employee personal information including their contact details be available to other team members?
Employee cell phone numbers are considered employee personal information, meaning that businesses have an obligation for protecting and managing employee phone numbers. It is recommended that phone numbers are collected only when necessary, stored securely, shared internally only when needed and not distributed externally without employee consent. Personal messaging apps similar to WhatsApp, allow all users in a group chat to access the cell phone numbers of other members. Personal information cannot be securely restricted in the way that it can be in messaging apps for businesses.
Will your company need to centrally manage employee and contractor access, adding and removing them from the messaging app when they start and end their employment?
Personal messaging apps do not provide centralized management and visibility of groups in which an employee or contractor is a member. This means that a former employee will retain all message and communication history, and could still have access to communicate with your businesses customers, franchisees and employees while working for a competitor. Business chat software allows an administration team or managers to add and remove employee access from a central dashboard. Integrations with other business systems that maintain the master employee records are commonly supported. These are typically a human resource information system (HRIS), payroll, or time and attendance platform. This enables a business to seamlessly add and remove team members from the chat software when they’re onboarded and offboarded, ensuring that their access to work-related communications does not continue after their employment ends.
Do your employees have a right to disconnect from work-related communications outside of hours, and are you communicating with them in their personal space ie. SMS, social media and personal messaging accounts?
Depending on the arrangement that is agreed between an employer and their employee, communicating with employees on WhatsApp, iMessage and SMS can be considered communicating in the employees personal space. By implementing instant messaging for business, companies are providing a dedicated workspace for their employees to communicate. This clearly defines a communication method between the employer and employee for business communication and helps the employee manage notifications outside their standard working hours.
What is business instant messaging?
Business instant messaging is a form of online communication that enables workers to send messages to each other in real-time through a business specific app or software on a computer or mobile device. Implemented correctly, it can boost team communication and productivity, replacing communication channels in business including email and phone calls. It is the business derivative of instant messaging that was popularised by the first instant messaging platforms ICQ and MSN Messenger, later superseded by Skype and more recently WhatsApp and Messenger.
What apps do businesses use to communicate?
Here we outline the most commonly used apps for business messaging regardless of whether they are designed for business or personal use.
8seats
Why 8seats?
8seats is a business communication and collaboration application for frontline workers. No email address is required for access, team members are invited to your 8seats workspace with their phone number. Centralized user management enables casuals and contractors to be invited to your workspace as guests for secure communication. Office-based workers with access to a computer, can use the 8seats browser based web app or the 8seats desktop application. Protect company data, IP and sensitive information from being shared on social messaging platforms, maintaining chat history securely in your workspace.
Why WhatsApp?
With over 2 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp is a familiar and easy way for workers to communicate. Most workers are already setup on WhatsApp for personal messaging which reduces the barrier to adoption. WhatsApp, like all instant messaging applications, is great for time sensitive communications as it delivers a faster and higher open rate than emails or SMS messages.
Slack
Why Slack?
Slack keeps remote and distributed teams connected with direct messages, group messages and channels. Helps remove the clutter of emails and speed up communications. Slack supports integrations with hundreds of tools including Google Drive, Zoom, Figma, Github so that teams can start workflows, share files, and collaborate without leaving Slack.
Microsoft Teams
Why Microsoft Teams?
Part of the Microsoft 365 product suite, Microsoft Teams is a collaboration tool that seamlessly integrates with Microsoft tools including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint and OneDrive. Offered free for workers that have a Microsoft licence and company email address, Microsoft Teams helps enterprise organizations communicate with chat, voice and video calling and meeting capabilities.
Signal
Why Signal
Signal, while it’s a personal messaging app, is widely regarded for its confidentiality and data protection. All messages, calls and files sent through Signal are end-to-end encrypted with no metadata collected unlike other similar personal messaging apps. Messages in Signal chats can be set to automatically delete after a defined period of time and messages are only stored locally on a users device, there is no cloud storage of Signal communications.
Messenger
Why Messenger?
Facebook Messenger, part of the Meta product suite alongside WhatsApp and Instagram is used by billions of people globally. This means that it’s a familiar product that users already have access to. Messenger is often used by businesses to connect externally with their customers rather than for communicating internally between teams. Chatbots can be implemented to handle customer FAQs, book appointments, handle complaints and provide support.
What is the best messenger for business?
Deciding on the best team communication software must take into account the business requirements, including the type of work, the location of the work and the tools available to the employee. While we outlined that businesses often use free personal messaging apps, we are going to focus here on three business messaging apps that are fit for purpose. By that, we mean that they are apps specifically designed and developed for business communication. Ensuring the protection of company data and IP, sensitive customer information and employee personal information.
Ease of use
Business messaging tools require a simple and intuitive user interface to ensure their successful adoption. Mobile, web and desktop applications are available for 8seats, Slack and Microsoft Teams making them accessible on smartphones and computers. Users on Slack and Microsoft Teams are invited to the respective platforms using their email addresses, while 8seats does not require users to have an email address and they can be invited using their phone numbers.
Collaboration features
Instant messaging is at the heart of communication in Slack, 8seats and Microsoft Teams. While Slack and Microsoft Teams offer group messages, 8seats supports up to 20 people on a Table. Tables allow teams to communicate more efficiently by tapping team members icons up and down. Slack offers Channels and 8seats offer Rooms for communicating to large workforces with company announcements, kudos and congratulations, product updates, new policies and procedures.
Security & Privacy
Enterprise grade security with centralized user management is available in 8seats, Slack and Microsoft Teams. This ensures that businesses can manage adding and removing users and ensuring that they don’t retain access to company data and customer information once they have ceased their employment.
Integrations
Slack offers extensive integrations with tools including Google Drive, Zoom, Figma, Github and hundreds of others so that users can collaborate within Slack. Microsoft Teams enables Single Sign On (SSO) and integrations with its own suite of products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint and OneDrive. 8seats supports AI integrations with Google Gemini, Chat GPT and their own 8AI so that team members can collaborate together with the support of AI tools. Integrations are planned with human resource information systems (HRIS), payroll and time and attendance platforms to simplify the onboarding and off-boarding of workers as they start and end their employment.
Pricing
All three platforms offer flexible user based pricing with annual and monthly plans available. Microsoft Teams is typically implemented by organizations already using Microsoft products and it’s included free in their basic Microsoft 365 subscription from $6 per user per month. Slack is available from $10.15 per user per month, requiring an email address for access; there'll be a cost involved if the team is not already setup with email accounts. 8seats is available for $3.90 per user per month, it only requires a mobile number to get started and then team members can collaborate outside their personal messaging apps.
What’s new in business messaging in 2025?
8seats is the first business messaging app developed with frontline workers in mind. With a simple and intuitive user interface to rival WhatsApp and no need for an email address, adding the advanced security and user management capabilities of Microsoft Teams and Slack, 8seats brings the best of both the business messaging and personal messaging worlds into one.
Keep work related communications out of employees personal space and off social messaging applications. Free forever for teams of up to 8 people, sign up to 8seats for a 30-day free trial today or book a demo and we would love to discuss your team communication needs.
