Collaboration is Priority in These Updates

Collaboration is a key part of business today, which has led to many developers and providers entering the business of collaboration. These developers are in deep competition with each other, each trying to update their offering to be better than the others’. Recently, Facebook Workplace, Slack, and Google’s Gmail each received collaboration-boosting updates.

Facebook Workplace Improves Communication
If there’s anything that is critical for collaboration to take place, it would have to be communication. To this end, Facebook has created a desktop app to work with the chat element of their enterprise social network, Workplace. Workplace Chat, as the application is called, allows users to share screens and files in addition to the prerequisite text and video capabilities apps of its kind usually feature. There are also integrations with third-party applications in the pipeline for Workplace Chat, which will only help the over 30,000 organizations that leverage Workplace to communicate more clearly and effectively.

Slack Adds Improved Screen Sharing
Slack has always been intended for collaboration, reaching back to when it was an internal tool to assist in game development. While Slack has offered a comprehensive set of collaboration tools, its screen sharing tool is getting a pretty impressive upgrade: interactivity.

After Slack purchased Screenhero in 2014, certain features and elements have been slowly incorporated into Slack’s flagship application, with the latest update as of this writing finally moving the last function over to Slack. Now, paid subscribers will be able to use an improved version of Slack’s remote access capability that enables users to share control of the displayed screen, a useful feature for remote workers. With the ability to make temporary notes, navigate through the shared document, and edit it freely, Slack has given its previous collaboration functions a considerable upgrade.

Gmail Accepting Third-Party Add-Ons
Google plans to make Gmail play nicely with common enterprise applications, potentially improving upon the utility that the email program offers. By accessing the settings button, Gmail users will soon be able to use a variety of tools and programs to incorporate information without having to leave Gmail. With a growing list that includes, among other programs, Trello, DocuSign, Intuit QuickBooks Invoicing, and RingCentral, Gmail will soon have the means to become an invaluable collaboration tool. App developers will even be able to create add-ons for their applications with a write-once code.

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