How do you go about planning a meeting with friends, asking a family member a quick question or recommending a link to a friend? Do you probably use a private messenger service? Reaching for our smartphones has become a matter of course for us. In the private sphere, the majority of communication takes place via various messenger applications. It's hardly surprising that these are becoming an increasingly important part of our everyday working lives.
Did you know that this form of fast messaging has been around since 2001? Back then, chat systems were known as "enterprise instant messaging". At that time, however, people did not yet have smartphones and services such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.
But what does it look like today and in the future? What opportunities does business messaging offer companies?
The demand for business messengers
In the field of business messaging, technology has developed significantly over the last five years. The reasons? The need for companies to exchange information even faster and implement more efficient collaboration models is growing. In addition, increasing cyber attacks require secure communication solutions for managers, employees and other stakeholders. The platforms must be GDPR-compliant and must not provide a target for hacker attacks or malware.
In the field of business messaging, future-proof alternatives are needed that are intuitive to use, prevent shadow IT, enable uncomplicated exchange and can be adapted to new developments.
Applications such as WhatsApp are user-friendly, but do not fulfill all data protection guidelines. A business messenger such as Microsoft Teams, for example, is more secure.
Business messaging at the heart of communication
More and more companies are turning to business messaging solutions. They want to consolidate data that is difficult to access and optimize error-prone communication channels. By developing "communication hubs", these legacy issues can be corrected.
What does that mean? In this context, communication hub means that a business messenger becomes an important hub through which all communication takes place. The exchange of data also takes place there.
A messenger in the form of a communication hub provides a very good basis for digitizing and accelerating company processes. Both employees and customers can use this central interface for fast communication.
But that's not all: the requirement for the development of sophisticated business messaging services is often to connect other services and cloud systems. This makes it possible for different companies to network and work together without any hurdles.
The big advantages
Get an overview of the advantages of business messengers here:
- Efficient and device-independent collaboration
- Central communication point without time or location restrictions
- High response and interaction rates
- Directness, simplicity and convenience
- Two-way communication channels: e.g. message to the customer and response from the customer
- Increase customer loyalty and satisfaction
- Dissolution of unwanted data silos
- Acceleration of business processes
- Interdepartmental exchange of employees
- Secure collaboration between several companies
Customized business messenger services
Business messengers combine many applications. Whether text and voice messages, content sharing, large distribution lists for group chats, emergency alert systems, chat widgets, real-time location transmission or open APIs - the possibilities are endless.
Business messaging formats that are precisely tailored to the requirements of emergency services and enable a high level of responsiveness have already existed for some time in the field of rescue organizations.
But these applications are not only useful in the healthcare sector. Imagine the following: An employee of a food manufacturer notices a relevant customer comment on a product via social media that could mean a major product defect. Without further ado, he informs the responsible department via group chat as well as an employee who contacts the customer directly via live chat.
In such cases, individualized environments are required that fit the corporate structure. In the future, more and more customized business messengers will emerge that fit the requirements and demands of the project participants.
Intranet and business messaging in combination
Another trend is towards a closer link between the company intranet and business messaging. The systems should interlock to create a comprehensive and meaningful platform for everyone involved.
For example, it should be possible to sort individual channels by topic to make it easier for employees to search for information. The respective content should always be up to date. Similar to a social media platform, employees can share data and exchange news in real time.
AI to optimize your company structures
Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in the area of company-wide communication. Think of automated chats or conversational AI, for example. With AI, it is possible to support employees and offer recommendations for action based on the information provided. For example, sophisticated algorithms can uncover optimization potential in linked CRM and ERP systems and point employees to possible solutions.
One thing is certain: there is still a lot of untapped potential here. Artificial intelligence is still in its infancy. The technology will improve many communication channels and business processes in the future.
Quick information retrieval via smart devices
Smart devices have more and more features and make everyday working life easier, including at the communication level. In addition to smartphones, the demand for smartwatches is growing. Thinking about fitness? That's just one of the possible uses. Imagine, for example, a sales representative who receives a short, customer-relevant message from a colleague via a wearable while they are in the middle of a new customer meeting. He doesn't have to apologize with his smartphone, but can pass the information on directly.
Smartglasses can also be used in a targeted and process-optimizing manner. The advantage? Users have both hands free while accessing information. This makes it possible, for example, for production employees to call up plans while controlling machines.
Business messaging requires a high level of data protection
The more communication systems are interconnected and the more business and private information is available, the greater the scope for cyber attacks. For companies in particular, this is a sore point that should never be underestimated. Recent history shows enough cyber attacks that have been caused by careless handling of data. Having to explain digital attacks and data loss to your own customers and business partners is not only unpleasant, it also shakes the relationship of trust.
The management of data and access should therefore be as sophisticated and secure as possible. An important task of IT departments is to provide communication solutions with modern encryption systems and implement comprehensive security solutions.
Would you also like to establish an ideal business messenger and integrate it securely into your company? We would be happy to advise you.
