6 Enterprise Communication Tools Big Businesses Use in 2023

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If the heart of every business is its people, communication between them is what makes it beat. As a company grows, there is an increasing number of offices, departments, managers, and clients. Over time, providing a smooth dialogue between them is getting more complex.

As a result, there is low productivity, poor customer experience personalization, high tech stack expenses, and even a risk of data loss.

That’s why big firms choose tools that change with business needs. In this article, you’ll find the best communication tools compatible with enterprise business size and complexity.

What communication tools suit enterprise businesses

Choosing a new communication tool within a big company is more than just a monetary investment. It is a complex process of all the data and integration transfer and time spent on its mastering. But the worst scenario is when after all these processes, you understand this solution lacks the needed features.

To avoid the wrong choice, double-check a tool by these criteria:

• Can it perform and support growing amounts of data? The first and most crucial point is to define if a solution can process increasing user requests globally without any lags in the system. Moreover, a scalable communication tool will ‘grow’ together with your company. For example, it has an unlimited opportunity to add new users as your team grows by keeping the same seamless quality of the communication processes.
• Does it meet security standards? One of the factors proving that a business communication tool will keep your data and operations safe and compliant with the latest ISO standards. Organizations concerned about communication security often choose services with on-premise deployment, data encryption in transit, user access management, in-meeting controls, and admin privileges.
• Does it have all of the integrations you need? Pay special attention to CRM, analytics, social media, and messenger options in the list. Ideally, there should be an opportunity to connect with other communication platforms like Microsoft Teams or Slack.

1. Slack for team communication

The transition to remote work became a challenge for enterprise businesses. They have to provide transparent and smooth dialog between team members globally. Moreover, remote workers also have a list of communication requirements within a company.

Good to know there are proven solutions on the market like Slack.

You’ve Probably Heard of Slack

Rating: G2 4.5/5, Capterra 4.7/5

Slack is secure, flexible software for team communication and collaboration. It works fast and seamlessly, like WhatsApp but on a professional level. Slack has enterprise-level data protection, unlimited workspaces and channels, and integrations with more than 2,600 apps.

Thousands of businesses use this team communications tool worldwide, including Airbnb, Nasa, Uber, and New York Times.

Tools:

• Channels,
• Private messages,
• Tags,
• Video calls,
• Instant messaging,
• File sharing,
• Audio calling,
• Automations,
• Screen sharing.

Pros and cons from Capterra reviews:

Pros

• Super easy to use, for example, create new channels
• Real-time messaging ensures conversations flow smoothly, fostering quick decision-making and reducing email overload

Cons

• Easy to get lost on numerous channels your team creates
• It can be annoying with its notifications

Alternatives: Discord, Google chat, Chanty, Flowdock.

2. HelpCrunch for multichannel communication

Image source: helpcrunch.com

Rating: G2 4,7/5, Capterra 4,8/5

HelpCrunch is an excellent customer service software for implementing an omnichannel strategy within your company. Due to a shared inbox, all conversations from a live chat, email, website chatbot, and social media requests (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Viber) flow to a single space chronologically.

Enterprises like Statcounter, HURMA, Halebop Local, European sperm bank, and RevenueGrid choose HelpCrunch to keep and control all the data in one place. Another reason is HelpCrunch’s chatbot which reduces team workload by providing a conversational self-service.

Features:

• Shared inbox,
• Live chat,
• Email,
• Codeless chatbot,
• Popups,
• Messengers,
• Knowledge base,
• Facebook or Instagram.

Pros and cons from Capterra reviews:

Pros

• Top-notch functionality
• Outstanding online customer support
• Easy to set up
• Cost-effective

Cons

• No Windows App
• The system doesn’t work well on a slow Internet connection

Alternatives: Intercom, Drift, Zendesk.

3. Zoom for video meetings and conferencing

Image source: zoom.us

Rating: G2 4.5/5, Capterra

Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing solution. Large enterprises chose it to achieve streamlined employee communication, flexibility, and simplified management. This solution is easy, reliable, and secure.

Rakuten, WWF, The New York Times, and Oracle RedBull Racing are among its most famous users.

Tools:

• Video meetings,
• Team chat,
• Audio,
• Whiteboard,
• Annotations,
• Polls,
• Breakout rooms,
• Meetings recording,
• Screen sharing,
• Integrations with tools like Google Calendar, Salesforce, and Slack.

Pros and cons from Capterra reviews:

Pros

• Zoom has features for many meeting participants for a reasonable price
• It’s easy to use, intuitive, and integrates with everything you need

Cons

• The quality of videos and microphone sometimes could be better
• The software sometimes glitches, which sucks during a meeting

Alternatives: Google Meet, Skype, Zoho meeting.

4. Asana for project management

Meet Asana, your work manager. But better.

Rating: G2 4,3/5, Capterra 4,5/5

Asana is a project management platform created to help your teams and stakeholders collaborate faster and smoother to achieve business objectives. It provides tools to assign, track and discuss tasks and strategic initiatives in real time. There are over 135,000 businesses that enjoy confident and fast team communication globally.

Since Asana is focused on the scalability and reliability of its platform, you can see among its clients such enterprises as Amazon, Autodesk, ClassPass, Google, and Quora.

Features:

• AI and automation,
• Workflow builder,
• Timeline Gantt chart,
• Kanban boards,
• Shared calendar,
• Reporting,
• Goals setting,
• Forms.

Pros and cons from Capterra reviews:

Pros

• It looks great and is very intuitive and helpful.
• The number of integrated features is outstanding.

Cons

• Some important notifications get lost in the inbox until too late.
• Lack of functions for recurrent tasks.

Alternatives: ClickUp, Notion, Favro, Trello.

5. Google Workspace for team communication and productivity

Image source: workspace.google.com

Rating: G2 4.6/5, Capterra 4,7/5

Google Workspace is an online platform providing rich communication tools to help companies stay connected and organized. The product is easy to use and comes with familiar apps. It perfectly suits enterprise-level businesses because the platform scales up as a company grows. For example, large companies like Atlassian, Telus, and Wayfair use it to stay connected, create and collaborate in real-time.

Tools:

• Video meetings,
• Chat,
• Docs,
• Drive cloud storage,
• Gmail,
• Slides,
• and Sheets.

Pros and cons from Capterra reviews:

Pros

• Affordable pricing
• UX is awesome
• Flawless integrations

Cons

• Problems with Windows 10 compatibility
• Confusing billing system
• Poor customer support

Alternatives: Zoho Workplace, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Teams.

6. SurveySparrow for 360 employees’ feedback

SurveySparrow Overview

Rating: G2 4,4/5, Capterra 4,4/5

When it comes to effective 360 feedback tools, SurveySparrow truly shines. This platform revolutionizes employee assessment, ensuring that it goes beyond being an annual formality. SurveySparrow can provide your employees, supervisors, or peers with an incredibly personalized and engaging 360-review survey experience.

Gucci, Warner Brothers, and Honda are just a few big companies on this platform’s users list.

Features:

• Visual survey builder,
• Reports,
• Personal development plan,
• Track assessment.

Pros and cons from Capterra reviews:

Pros

• This is a beautifully designed and intuitive app.
• The software is flexible and not too expensive.

Cons

• The drag and drop question box is quite buggy and does not correctly snap into the alignment
• Webhooks have trouble connecting to AWS public gateway

Alternatives: Jotform, Typeform, Formaloo.

To summarize

There are only the best of the best in this list. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean that the choice has become easier. Each tool contains unique features, channels, and prices. Thus, when opting for a communication tool, consider your business needs first.

• Your business use case,
• Desired team/clients communication workflow,
• Must-have social collaboration features.

And the most critical part – ensure that it is comfortable to use because it directly influences the quality of communication between your employees and client.

Happy team – happy customers!